Customer service is a make-or-break proposition for most enterprises. If you do it well, you’ll build a loyal tribe of customers. If you don’t do it well, your unhappy customers will make sure everyone knows—and that can bring even the most prominent companies to their knees.

Because customer service is so important, there’s an entire industry built around the discipline. But sometimes, I think all those complex processes and thick books on customer service are too much. No doubt, there’s a great deal of helpful information there, but who has time to read it all? Wouldn’t it be a good idea to spend your time serving instead of constantly analyzing?

I believe customer service comes down to a few fundamental common-sense principles. If you follow the principles (along with other business best practices), you dramatically increase your chances for success!

How did I happen to come up with this opinion? Quite simply, I learned it from my dad, Myles Davis. He was a janitor for over 40 years and cleaned some of my town’s most successful business buildings. As I was growing up, I often went with him to work, where he taught me the principles of his success—and put me to work. These principles can be applied to just about any enterprise or personal endeavor, and I’m excited to share them with you!

In the pages of this book, I’ve gathered all of my dad’s secrets for success, along with other principles I’ve picked up over the years as a football player for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers and as a businessman, coach, and inspirational speaker. At the end of each customer service tip, you’ll find a “Mop Minute”—a list of reflections and actions that will help you apply the principles to your organization and team.

If you take these actions, I promise you, my friend, you’ll win the customer service game. Then with a bit of luck, you too will become as successful as my hero: the man with the mop.