The Customer Comes Second

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Recommended: Personal values in decision making

Who Comes First?

"The Customer Comes Second" is an account of the management and leadership style of Hal Rosenbluth, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rosenbluth International, a global travel management firm that was founded in 1892 by Marcus Rosenbluth, Hal’s great-grandfather. The premise of Hal Rosenbluth’s management style is just as the title of the book suggests; concentrate on your employees first and your customers second. I found the management practices outlined by Mr. Rosenbluth to be innovative and applicable to all types of business, not just the travel industry. I was also very intrigued by some of the creative employment practices used by Rosenbluth International as well as their fight to stay alive in the travel industry following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 (9/11) (Rosenbluth, Prologue xi).

The majority of the book focuses on the process of hiring good people, treating them right, and letting their love and dedication for their company translate into premier customer service. The idea of putting employees first seems simple enough, however in today’s corporate environment it is easy to get caught up in the traditional measures of corporate success and lose sight of taking care of a company’s most important asset, its people.

It all starts with hiring the right people, and the book outlines some great strategies for doing just that. Rosenbluth contends that the most important approach to hiring is to find nice people. Their selection process focuses on finding kind, caring, compassionate and unselfish people as opposed to people with impressive resumes that tout multiple degrees, years of experience and impressive salary histories. It is customary for Rosenbluth International to intervie...

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...of finding good people and treating them right is not new. In fact, if you were to ask ten successful corporate CEO’s what their recipe for success was, all ten would likely mention the importance of finding good people and treating them right. The Customer Comes Second was a fantastic book because it provided real-life examples and anecdotes of just HOW to follow the philosophy of putting employees first and the customer second. The success of the company following the 9/11 tragedy gives substance and merit to the philosophies of Hal Rosenbluth. He does not just tell about his ideas; he explains how to make them work and then backs it up with an incredible story of success at a time when most travel management companies seized to exist.

Works Cited

Rosenbluth, Hal F., and Diane McFerrin Peters. The Customer Comes Second.

New York: HarperCollins, 1992, 2002.

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