Our typical business environment is plagued with mediocrity. For the majority of businesses the benchmark for operations is simply “find the lowest common denominator” and price easily wins out over value. In this cacophony, however, there exists a class of individuals who wake up every morning and ask themselves “What can I do differently, what can I do better?”.  Whether it be Chip Conley at joie de vivre or Bob Parsons at GoDaddy.com, these are the people who have a passion for their work and deserve credit for constantly pushing the edge and regularly redefining what we call reality.  In the world of Customer Service Management, these are our Customer Service Superstars and we’re here to celebrate their existence and share their knowledge, beliefs and experiences!

Customer Service Superstar – Chip Conley

I recently had the honor of chatting with the Service Superstar, Chip Conley.  Chip is the CEO of joie de vivre hotels, the USA’s second largest boutique hotel chain, as well as the author of several books, including Peak, Marketing That Matters and Rebel Rules.

What makes Chip’s contribution unique, and why I am selecting him for the Service Superstars series, is that during the dot-com crash his was one of the very few companies who didn’t define their survival strategy around lay-offs.  Instead he cut compensation for management, took a three year salary hiatus for himself, and grabbed the bull by the horns to challenge conventional thinking by making his organization one driven by passion instead of fear.  Instead of layoffs there was a deep and serious questioning of the key human drivers and how to rationally and intelligently apply them to the business setting.

The result was nothing short of spectacular, as joie de vivre gained market share throughout the dot-com crash and exited the crisis stronger and more focused than ever.

In this interview, we’ll be digging into his book, PEAK – How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, in which he developed a business model tied to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as his answer to an economic downturn.  I hope you enjoy the interview!

Do you have a Customer Service Superstar? Do you know some individual or organization who you feel consistently delivers the best in service?  We would love to hear about this Service Hero and contact them for a podcast interview.

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