The former EVP of Walt Disney World shares indispensible rules for serving customers with consistency, efficiency, creativity, sincerity, and excellence.

Lee Cockerell knows that success in business - any business - depends upon winning and keeping customers. In 39 digestible, bite-sized chapters, Lee shares everything he has learned in his 40-plus-year career in the hospitality industry about creating an environment that keeps customers coming back for more. Here, Lee not only shows why the customer always rules, but also the rules for serving customers so well they'll never want to do business with anyone but you. For example:

• Rule #1: Customer Service Is Not a Department
• Rule #3: Great Service Follows the Laws of Gravity
• Rule #5: Ask Yourself "What Would Mom Do?"
• Rule #19: Be a Copycat
• Rule #25. Treat Every Customer Like a Regular
• Rule #39: Don't Try Too Hard

As simple as they are profound, these principles have been shown to work in companies as large as Disney and as small as a local coffee shop; from businesses selling cutting-edge technologies like computer tablets to those selling products as timeless as shoes and handbags; at corporations as long-standing as Ford Motors and those as nascent as a brand-new start-up. And they have been proven indispensible at all levels of a company, from managers responsible for hiring and training employees, setting policies and procedures, and shaping the company culture to frontline staff who deal directly with clients and customers.

Chock-full of universal advice, applicable online and off, The Customer Rules is the essential handbook for service excellence everywhere.