It 's solving a customer's problem or complaint and sending him out the door feeling like he has just done business with the greatest company on earth. It's taking an unhappy customer from hell to heaven in 60 seconds or less.

Advertising will get a customer through the door to your business once, but it is service that will keep them coming back. Advertising is aimed at the masses; customer service is aimed at the individual. Service recovery creates word-of-mouth advertising that is 100 times cheaper and more powerful than traditional advertising.

What we're talking about is improving customer service. Virtually any company can benefit from this.

You can't tie employees' hands with cumbersome policies and procedures and expect them to provide exceptional service. It's also important to let employees know that it is OK to make a mistake in the process of working to win customer satisfaction.

Making empowered decisions means taking risks. Many employees fear being reprimanded, or even fired, for making what management might view as a bad decision.

They fear that, if employees are empowered to make decisions, their roles in the organization will be diminished or eliminated.