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You already know that the customer is always right, right? But these days -- given the speed and interactivity of the Internet, the explosion of customer choice, the emergence of new competitive pressures, and the constant expansion of customers' expectations for service -- just giving customers what they want isn't enough. You also have to anticipate needs, to solve problems before they start, to provide service that wows, and to offer responses to mistakes that more than make up for the original error. To find out what it takes to deliver great customer service, Fast Company asked 15 experts for their insights. Here are their answers to the question:

Elizabeth Spaulding

Vice President of Customer Satisfaction
L.L. Bean Inc.
Freeport, Maine

Our premise is simple: If any product doesn't meet a customer's expectations -- whatever they may be -- we will replace it, repair it, or refund the customer's money. This policy goes back to 1912, when Leon Leonwood sent out his first 100 pairs of the Maine Hunting Shoe, promising to refund customers' money if they weren't satisfied. Ninety pairs of those shoes came back because the quality was insufficient -- and he sent refunds for all of them. It almost broke him; he had to borrow money from his family to recover. But he improved the product.

Today, if a customer calls and wants to return a Maine Hunting Shoe, the first thing we do is find out what that customer's expectations were when buying the shoe. Did she expect it to last 10 years? If the answer is yes, then there's no question: We'll replace the shoe. If it turns out that she expected it to last only one year, then we'll repair the shoe. The point is that the customer determines the expectation. Not us.

How can we afford to back up that kind of guarantee? It goes back to L.L.'s golden rule, which we have posted in every office: "Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit. Treat your customers like human beings, and they will always come back for more."

And 99.9% of our customers are totally honest. They're just like your neighbors. And when you realize that your customers are just like you, the whole dynamic of your interaction with them changes.

Elizabeth Spaulding (espaulding@llbean.com) joined L.L. Bean 10 years ago as a senior manager of product sourcing. She became vice president of customer satisfaction in 1996. The $1 billion retail company conducts more than 20 million interactions with customers each year, with telephone orders accounting for 70% to 80% of its business. L.L. Bean's flagship store in Freeport, Maine occupies the site of Leon Leonwood Bean's first store, which opened in 1917.

Mark A.Wallace

President and CEO
Texas Children's Hospital
Houston, Texas

Finding ways to help sick children and their families feel better goes far beyond being a mere 'service': It's part of the children's recovery. After all, if children can feel the same level of nurturing and security that they feel at home, then they're going to get better a whole lot faster.

We've learned two important things about serving sick children: They need the opportunity to play -- to have a distraction from their illness -- and they need easy access to their parents.