In my earlier years, I thought I was going to be a lawyer. I sure didn’t plan to be a customer service strategist. But through serendipity and a strong interest kindled by early front-line jobs, I’ve had the good fortune to work in one aspect of this field or another since the late 1980s. As entrepreneur/partner, then owner/CEO of International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), and now as a writer and speaker, it’s been fun to watch customer service evolve into what it is today: a powerful brand differentiator.

I’ve enjoyed meeting and talking with Tugboat Institute members these past few years — if you’ve been to a Tugboat Institute Summit, we may have crossed paths a time or two. One thing Evergreen CEOs have in common, beyond their commitment to the 7Ps: Most don’t have significant investor money to throw at customer service (a good thing because, as with other aspects of building a strong business, that’s not often the best approach). Yet, service is exactly where the 7Ps really play out.