Customer Service

at Marymount High School honoring the seniors, including my daughter Elizabeth.  The event was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel and called for a little “beautifying” for both of us.  The primary focus was on Elizabeth, but I had put a little thought into what I was wearing and even purchased a new pair of shoes to wear with a new outfit.  I bought the shoes on Friday at a local department store.  The store happened to be having a shoe sale, and even though it wasn’t terribly busy, the man who waited on me complained vehemently throughout our transaction about having to work that department during the sale and how disorganized everything was and how frustrated he was.  Well, I let him rant but didn’t really appreciate that this was my shopping experience.  

On Sunday morning Elizabeth and I competed for the shower, blow dryer and mirror space and struggled to be ready to leave by the appointed time of 10:10am.  At 10:09 I was actually ready! (A miracle for me).  I grabbed the shopping bag holding my new shoes, pulled out the box and opened it and………almost started crying.  There was only one shoe in the box!  I couldn’t believe it.  After I recovered from my shock and disappointment, I had to quickly rethink my outfit and subsequently left the house late and flustered.  (FYI--the luncheon was beautiful and touching and a great kick off to what I’m referring to as “the crying season” as we head toward graduation….).

To get back to customer service, I know we’re not always perfect, but I truly believe that each and every person at Village Books works there because they want to.  We have a lot of fun with each other and you, our valued customers.  We know you have many choices of places to buy books, and want to make your experience at Village Books positive and special so you will come back again and again.

This got me thinking about business books.  We don’t have a huge business section, but try to stock key titles, including the following (and will happily special order any title you are interested in):

Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven Levitt (Morrow, 2006, $27.95).  Leavitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives  -how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want the same thing.

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay, 2002, $14.95).  The principle that when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or “tipping point” is reached, changing the world. 

Gladwell is also the author of Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Little Brown, 2005, $25.95).  The author shows how the difference between good decision making and bad has nothing to do with how much information can be processed quickly, but on the few particular details on which people focus.

Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap….and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins (Harper, 2005, $11.95).  A blueprint for transforming good companies into great ones.

Why We Want You to Be Rich : Two Men-One Message, by Robert Kiiyosaki and Donald Trump (Rich Press, 2006, $24.95).  An entertaining and informative book of philosophy on why some people get rich and others don’t.  Kiiyosaki is the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money –That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (Warner, 1998, $16.95)

Banker to the Poor : MicroLending and the Battle Against World Poverty, by Muhommad Yonus (PublicAffairs, 2003, $15). The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s revolutionary ideas couple capitalism with social responsibility.


And two oldie-but-goodies, Who Moved My Cheese , by Spencer Johnson (Penguin, 1998, $19.95) – a simple parable filled with insights designed to help readers change quickly and prevail in changing times – and The One Minute Manager , by Kenneth Blanchard (Morrow, 1982, $19.95).

Please visit us soon, in person or on-line, and experience our special customer service.  And may you always have two shoes in the box!