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Positively Outrageous Service
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Positively Outrageous Service

T. Scott Gross
Kaplan Publishing, 2004
First Edition: 1991
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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

This folksy compilation of stories about people and companies who deliver "Positively Outrageous Service" (POS) has the right mix to prove that people love great service and the companies that deliver it. The stories may meander, but author T. Scott Gross is so popular because he knows how to weave humor, personal anecdotes and actual business stories into a cohesive argument that almost all business is personal and local. This form of bottom-up business advice places great importance upon the front-line employees who represent your business. Gross explains that front-line workers can make or break your brand and your sales, no matter what size your business is. He provides good business lessons, so don’t let the light reading mislead you. getAbstract.com recommends this book to managers of any business in the service sector who want to give their employees the power and motivation to deliver great service.

Summary

Making the Transformation

The idea of giving great service is a transformational process for the employee, the customer and the corporation. Great service is not a lofty concept. It can come from people at all levels of an organization. Often, the people who don’t get the corporate spotlight are the ones who make the greatest impact on customer service.

Take the case of a night clerk at a national motel chain. A guest arrived very late and upset. He told the clerk that his bags were lost and that he had an important 9 a.m. meeting. It was so late that the clerk knew only one store was open that could supply a new dress shirt, a tie and the other items his guest needed. Worse, the visitor had no way of getting to the shopping center and no margin of extra time. So the night clerk gave him directions and his car. The clerk delivered "Positively Outrageous Service" (POS) and the motel chain gained a customer for life.

POS is the result when people who have a natural service instinct do whatever it takes to make a customer happy. Employees who provide POS are not following corporate guidelines or instituting some protocol; they create and implement the best possible...

About the Author

T. Scott Gross is a customer service and management expert who works with large corporations. He is the author of eight books, including Why Service Stinks.

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