It seems to me that a book like Raving Fans should be where all business students should start. Start the learning process. Start the understanding process. Before they try to influence people, work for just four hours and develop some effective habits for themselves, they should read a book like Raving Fans and think about their customers.

That’s right. One of the best books for business in print educates you not on how to make money, but on what you can do for your customers.  Obviously, without a little thing called customers there would be no business and treating them well, scratch that, treating them like kings should be top priority. Somewhere along the way this minor detail was forgotten. I think we can look at things like Enron, Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers to realize that.

From small business to big business, it’s all about the customer. Always has been, always will be. Written almost 20 years ago, Raving Fans has just as much to offer today as it did in 1993. In fact, the concept of customer service is probably more needed now. As our economy forces consumers to make tough decisions about where they spend their hard earned money, more and more of those decisions will be based on not just price, but also service.

Another point this book drives home is the concept of the “internal customer”. Reminding everyone that your co-worker is also a customer creates a friendly work-environment, which is a much needed break from the horrendous work environments that end up on the evening news.

Do yourself a favor, whether you are an old hat or a newbie, read and RE-read Raving Fans. Today.