As I collect stories about customer service, it occurs to me
that our notions of good customer service play out in the folklore of our
nation, and no one stands taller in the folklore of America than Abraham
Lincoln.

Before he was President, and even before he was an attorney,
Lincoln managed a small country store. Two anecdotes from this period account
for Lincoln's nickname, "Honest Abe."

On one occasion, while doing his bookkeeping at the end ofthe day, Lincoln realized that he had...