I went to Walgreens pharmacy yesterday to pick up some medicine for my sick daughter.

I drove up to the window and asked the pharmacist for the prescription. She looked in the computer and said, “We have no record of that prescription.”

I mentioned that the pediatrician told us she was going to call it in two hours earlier. The response: “We have no record of that prescription.”

I asked how prescriptions were received. Was it by fax or electronically? She said, “We just finished processing all our faxes.”

Flustered, I picked up my cell phone and called my wife to confirm that the prescription had been sent. While on the phone, the pharmacist returned to the window and said that the prescription would be ready in 30 minutes.

What?

When customers are looking for help, they don’t believe you unless you actually go and check.

So what do you have to do to go and check?

Acknowledge that the computer may not have it yet, but that you’ll go check manually.

Explain that sometimes there is a delay in these things.

Customers are looking for reassurances that everything is in order and that you actually know what you are talking about.

If you recite the same excuse repeatedly, it undermines customer trust.

So if things aren’t where you’d thought they’d be, double check. Double check and explain to the customer what is happening and why things may be the way they are.

Showing that you are putting in some effort will reassure the customer that yes, you know what you are doing and that you actually care about the customer.

The founders of 37signals, a company that makes web-based applications for small businesses, have compiled their years of wisdom and lessons learned in their book Rework.

Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have very strong opinions about how businesses should be run. Their ideas run counter to the conventional wisdom and that is exactly why you need to pay attention.

37signals has previously put out two very good books, Defensive Design for the Web and Getting Real. These two previous works were more focused on building websites or web applications. However, Rework is broader in its appeal and relevance.

Rework is a collection of essays that are applicable to any business, business owner, and even those working as employees.

If you’re familiar with the 37signals blog or have seen either of the authors present at a conference, many of the concepts in the book will be familiar. However, Rework consolidates all these nuggets of wisdom in one place so you don’t have to dig through blog or video archives to extract the principles for your business.

In addition to the insightful and thought provoking essays, the book is full of great illustrations that help visually convey the powerful message each essay contains.

Some of my favorite essays in the book include:

Scratch your own itch – if you build a product or service for yourself, you’ll best know what it needs versus having to guess what your target market wants

Less mass – cut free from the long-term contracts, debt, and other commitments that reduce your ability to change and react quickly

Focus on what won’t change – don’t chase after the latest and greatest fade, stick to the customer care-abouts that don’t change over time

Sell your by-products – in the process of doing your job, you create something, even if it is knowledge that you can share with others

Good enough is fine – quit polishing your product endlessly before launching it to the public, the sooner it is out there the sooner you can sell it and learn from it

Don’t copy – copying your competition is a losing game, you are always playing catch-up

Put everyone on the front lines – when everyone at the company knows the needs, care-abouts, and frustrations of the customer, then you can best serve customers

Decisions are temporary – you can always change your mind later and that is fine

Recommendation: Read This Book

Rework will make you rethink a lot of what you assume is the standard way to do business and work. The essays are short, concise, and to the point. There is no fluff to bore you or distract you from finishing the book.

Read the book and see how you can take the principles you’ll learn and shake up how you work for the better.

You can buy Rework on Amazon.com