Smart Business Akron/Canton

Focusing On the Keys

George W. Roth measures customer service by whether a client calls back for repeat service. "There's no better recommendation than a happy client who calls you back for more work," says Roth, founder, president and majority owner of Augere Construction Co. Roth and his partner, James L. Stewart II, pride themselves on customer satisfaction - a result of building relationships, good communication and quickly taking care of problems.

Philip Pelusi's Style of Client Care

[...] that his chain of 13 Philip Pelusi Salons has expanded to include 20 partner salons and another 60 that carry his P2 brand of products, he's sharing those lessons to help others provide client service. What he doesn't want to hear is employees asking questions that make customers choose their own solutions, such as, "So, what are we doing today?" Then he brings people to his education center to cover product education and skill certification - but the bulk of training comes down to sof...

The Power of Branding

Joseph Ficalora is much more interested in a company's heritage and brand loyalty than making every bank in his company, New York Community Bancorp Inc., operate under the same name. [...] after acquiring AmTrust, which formerly operated as Ohio Savings Bank, he had many conversations with employees and friends. [...] he quickly found people he didn't even know had Ohio ties. [...] even quicker, he saw the pride and positive emotional connections they had to the bank's former name.