1. A man without a smiling face must not open a store.

Anonymous. Chinese proverb.

2. As soon as I spend time with the people who deliver our service, or the customers, I feel rejuvenated and can come back to anything.

Barbara Cassani (b.1960) U.S. former C.E.O. of Go. Referring to Go, the budget airline, Marketing (August 2000)

3. How can you bring prices down to below people’s wildest dreams and surprise them with the service and the way the whole experience feels.

Barbara Cassani (b.1960) U.S. former C.E.O. of Go. Referring to Go, the budget airline, Marketing (August 2000)

4. I like the way we work really hard behind the scenes to make it look eas up front.

Barbara Cassani (b.1960) U.S. former C.E.O. of Go. Referring to Go, the budget airline, Marketing (August 2000)

5. That’s what I say about restaurants-the back part is manufacturing, the front part is retailing, the theatre is what holds the whole thing together.

Terence Conran (b.1931) British business executive, retailer and founder of Habitat. Quoted in The Adventure Capitalists (Jeff Grout and Lynne Curry; 1998)

6. The decision to do that extra bit must be embedded in the company’s culture.

Tom Farmer (b.1940) British chairman and C.E.O. of Kwik-Fit. Management Today (July 1999)

7. In the best institutions, promises are kept, no matter what the cost in agony and overtime.

David Ogilvy & Mather. Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963)

8. Electronic shopping doesn’t mean we still won’t want to get out of the house on a Saturday afternoon. The digital age may not mean errands but more away-from-home entertainment.

Nancy Peretsman (b.1955) U.S. investment banker. “Smarter Than Herbert’s Dog,” Forbes Global (Dyan Machan; 1999)

9. I would advise young companies, particularly the small dot.com companies to pay close attention to their service levels.

Lillian Vernon (b.1927) U.S. entrepreneur and C.E.O. of Lillian Vernon Corporation. “Mentor FAQs,” Inc. (2000)

10. In time, good service became almost a reflex in IBM.

Thomas J. Watson, JR. (1914-93) U.S. C.E.O. of IBM. A Business and its Beliefs (1963)