One Size Fits One: Building Relationships One Customer and One Employee at a Time

Book by Heil Gary Parker Tom Stephens Deborah C

A billion–dollar paper manufacturer in Wisconsin works closely with a small stationery store halfway across the country to better ensure that the company′s products will sell at the retail level.
∗ An Internet browser company distributes its products free to the masses, resulting in a market share of paying customers and a worldwide community of prospective buyers of services and products.
∗ An irate customer in Berkeley, California, places a $10,000 ad in the Wall Street Journal to protest what he considers shoddy treatment by a large coffee company–and ultimately receives 6,000 responses from other dissatisfied customers to his toll–free telephone number.

Love it, hate it, fear it, or wish it would just disappear, we are entering an era where one size no longer fits all–or even a few. We find ourselves in a highly personalized, customer–driven environment where now "one size fits one." The only business objective that makes any sense is a long–term relationship with each profitable customer.

Today′s customers have vast power to collaborate with you to build your businesses, but if they′re not happy, they will walk away faster than ever before–or actively undermine you. How can you win the unshakable loyalty and trust of these savvy customers?

One Size Fits One: Building Relationships One Customer and One Employee at a Time received critical acclaim from the business press and the endorsement of top CEOs by laying out the ten rules for what customers want–in their own blunt words–and showing how your company can begin to develop the personalized relationships necessary to build loyalty. This updated Second Edition places a much stronger emphasis on distributed leadership throughout an organization, which is needed to build enduring customer relationships.

It presents the organizational structure you need to support such a distributed leadership, thereby creating greater customer/employee relationships and a better, stronger company.

Certainly no company can deliver "one size fits one" value without loyal employees committed to creating exceptional value for each individual customer. One Size Fits One explains why yesterday′s workplace mentality no longer works and shows how relationships inside organizations must change to successfully unleash the power of truly committed employees, using entertaining examples and anecdotes from real life.

In a world where "one size fits one," no one will have to settle for the ordinary, and any business that provides it will be unable to survive. One Size Fits One is a source of inspiration for all managers, providing a template for beginning the odyssey–one customer and one employee at a time.

Praise for the First Edition

"It′s a book that should be read every year. With customers today having more choices than ever before, how you serve them could be the difference between keeping or losing those valuable customers and your business. One Size Fits One will help guide you."–Chandler Barton, Chairman, Coldwell Banker Corporation.

"A powerful, must–read map for discovering a valuable and elusive treasure: customer loyalty. One Size Fits One will transform you into a demanding consumer and passionate service provider to customers, associates, and employees."–Chip R. Bell, author, Customers as Partners and Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service.

"One Size Fits One will show your organization how to treat every customer like they′re your only customer."–Roger Dow, Vice President and General Sales Manager, Marriott Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, and coauthor, Turned On.

"If you are in the service business you have to read this book! Gary is one of the few people in this field who truly understands that the environment you create for your employees largely dictates the quality of service your customers will receive."–Kim Jeffery, President and CEO, Perrier Group of America Inc.