For a while in the 1990s, gurus on how to make a company great pushed aside traditional management chestnuts on command and control, mass advertising, and shareholder value. Instead new recipes on customer service marketing were all the rage. “The customer is king” was the motto. Company execs, especially CEOs looking to score in the newly fashionable customer sensitivity ratings, signed up for every manner, and style of customer surveys, slogans, service metrics, and training courses. Even some emboldened company bosses launched no-excuses warranties where customer claims for defective products, late deliveries, pricing mistakes, and even customer errors in applications were instantly acknowledged with prostrate apologies. To resolve customer claims, cash and credits were issued without fuss or feathers. Of course, such altruism only endured as long as the economy was robust, margins strong, and serious competition threatened to woo the most lucrative...(Read Full Article)