Once in a great while you come across a company that blows your socks off with their customer service and that is exactly what has happened to me over the past few weeks in working with Vanguard investments. What is their secret? Three things:

1. Responsive. I have never had to wait more than five minutes to get a Vanguard representative on the phone. Other investment companies have had me on hold for literally over an hour before I can actually speak to a live human being.

2. Knowledgeable. Every rep has known their products, how to navigate their website, and more importantly – how to get things done in the most efficient manner.

3. Helpful. My last interaction with Vanguard needed a document scanned to them. I did not have access to my computer scanner at the time. The representative asked if I was using an iphone and if so, did I know it had a scanner in the Notes app? He said it was a feature he had just discovered after years of using an iphone and he would be happy to share how to use it. Wow! A little piece of advice that will be immensely helpful in a lot of ways.

The result is a very happy customer that is going to be a loyal customer for a long time. Three things that any company that wants to build loyal customers can set themselves up to do by training their employees and expecting execution. They really are not a secret now, are they?