cover image Exceeding Customer Expectations: Lessons on Creating Lifetime Customers from Enterprise, America's #1 Car Rental Company

Exceeding Customer Expectations: Lessons on Creating Lifetime Customers from Enterprise, America's #1 Car Rental Company

Kirk Kazanjian, . . Doubleday/Currency, $24.95 (233pp) ISBN 978-0-385-51832-1

This love letter to Enterprise Rent-A-Car is also a comprehensive case study on how a company grows from an idea into a multibillion-dollar corporation within its founder's lifetime. But just as the company's first "We Pick You Up" commercial was aimed at both company insiders and consumers, this book has the feel of an internal communication on the company's 50th anniversary. Despite excessive enthusiasm and a somewhat repetitive writing style, Kazanjian (The Market Masters , etc.) does offer insight into how a company can succeed by remaining focused on motivating employees to satisfy customers completely. Drawing on examples from Enterprise's history, he emphasizes that focusing on customer satisfaction must permeate every aspect of operations. While Kazanjian's themes are not revolutionary, he convinces that helping employees improve service to customers attracts more customers, so the company and its profit-sharing employees prosper. (Jan.)