Your Fast Guide to The Container Store’s Foundation Principles Employees at the Container Store, recently voted the best place to work in America (in a poll conducted by Robert Levering’s Great Place To Work Institute, in conjunction with Fortune Magazine), are told to trust their instincts as long as they follow the company’s six principles: Fill the other guy’s basket to the brim. Making money then becomes an easy proposition Man in the desert* One great person equals three good people Intuition does not come to an unprepared mind The best selection anywhere plus the best service plus the best or equal to the best price in our market area Air of excitement *Container Store employees are told the story of a man crawling through the desert gasping for a drink of water. He finds an oasis, where an ordinary retailer gives him water. If it had been a Container Store retailer, employees are told, he would have been told "Here’s some water. Do you also want something to eat? And I see from your wedding ring that you are married. How about we call your family and let them know you’re here." The principle is that you’re cheating the customer if you are not offering them the opportunity to buy more.

Source:  Container Store

Links:  Dr. Leonard Berry analyzes the success of Container Store in his book Discovering The Soul of Service (available in our eBooks Store.) For a ‘try before you buy’ preview, read Dr. Berry’s article in the eArticles Store (Strategy Section)

Your turn. In the spirit of raising performance thresholds in customer service, if you have a Fast Guide of your own to share with eCustomerServiceWorld's Best Practice community, email it to PhilDourado@eCustomerServiceWorld.com.