Why Service Matters is a collection of over fifty essays that Raul asserts will change the way you think about service. What consumers in business, education, and government receive by way of service has gotten progressively worse over time. What is most distressing, however, is that there does not appear to be any cause for optimism that the shoddy service being dished out to consumers will improve any time soon.

That is, not unless and until leaders come to grips with the fact that service to the customer is grounded in four critical success factors or foundational propositions: a leadership that unequivocally believes they are in business, first and foremost, to serve the customer; a strategic planning regimen centered on the customer; an ethic of service to guide the organization to always err on behalf of the customer; and a competent, motivated, supported, and empowered front-line organization.