After my internship with Merrill Lynch where I decided my fate was to be an entrepreneur I decided to intern at Nordstrom. Many of my friends and family secretely baulked at the idea of me working at a clothing store which seemed to be something that wouldn’t further advance my professional ambitions. In reality, interning at Nordstrom would prepare me more for my entrepreneurial career than most other prestigious programs. Customer service, to me, is the most important core value of a business and I wanted to learn from the company that does it best.
Customer service goes way beyond the person spending money. It applies to everyone associated with the business, even employees. My first day on the job we got the employee handbook. Expecting to see a tedious list of do’s and don’ts, I was shocked when I received a single 5 x 8-inch card with 75 words:
Welcome to Nordstrom
We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.
Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.
Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.
By trusting their employees, Nordstrom creates an autonomous environment where employees feel like entrepreneurs. At any point, an employee (at any level) can contact the CEO to discuss their thoughts. Unlike many vertically organizaned businesses, Nordstrom can quickly adapt and react to many situations. On the buyer side of the business, customers are treated like royalty. Anything and everything will be done to satisfy the buyer and make sure they leave with ‘The Nordstrom Experience’. Nordstrom is informally organized as an inverted pyramid with 5 tiers. First is the customers because without them, you don’t have a business. Next is the sales and support people, the guys on the front line that make sure the buyers are taken care of. The third tier is the department managers who are responsible for fostering the growth of not only the department but of their employees. The fourth tier consists of store managers, buyers, merchandise managers, and general managers. Last comes the board of directors. It is this emphasis that has been the catalyst to their success.
Similar to Nordstrom, Google has created a very positive atmosphere for its employees and continually uses feedback to better its business. Check out ‘
The Google Life‘ and you will see what it is like to come to “work” at Google. When your employees are happy they are productive, and when they are productive they are creating value.
By studying the greats, you can quickly learn what attributes to their success and you can implement that in your own game plan. Now that I have launched my own company I can put to use all the invaluable lessons of customer service that I have learned. I hope to one day create an environment where employees want to come to work and where buyers will enjoy their time/money spent.
After my internship with Merrill Lynch where I decided my fate was to be an entrepreneur I decided to intern at Nordstrom. Many of my friends and family secretely baulked at the idea of me working at a clothing store which seemed to be something that wouldn’t further advance my professional ambitions. In reality, interning at Nordstrom would prepare me more for my entrepreneurial career than most other prestigious programs. Customer service, to me, is the most important core value of a business and I wanted to learn from the company that does it best.
