There are rules and there are rules. Most salespeople don’t follow them. Most service people don’t follow them. Oh, they follow the policy rules that companies make to protect themselves. I’m not talking about those rules. I’m talking about the rules that attract customers, keep them loyal, generate profits and generate referrals. Those are the real rules.

Policies and sales have little in common. Policies don’t attract customers. They repel them.

My last two flights on US Airways have been less than stellar. Unfriendly, unprepared people “doing the best they can” or “just doing their job.” In retrospect it’s laughable, but in the heat of the moment, it’s maddening.

You’d think a company such as US Airways, fighting for survival, would pull out all the stops to serve its customers better to sell more tickets. Not even close.

I won’t bore you with the details, but last night I asked for the phone number of a “boss” at the Charlotte airport. I called the preferred number given to members of the company’s elite frequent-flier program. (I have been a member of that group since its inception, and just received a letter of congratulations for being one of its 500 top customers.) They call it the “chairman’s” number.

I asked the nice woman at the chairman’s desk to have this guy call me, and she “couldn’t guarantee anything,” so I asked her to e-mail me his number. Silence. After a long pause she said, “We don’t have email, Mr. Gitomer.” “You’re kidding, right?” I said. “I wish I was,” she sighed. “Anyone ever ask you to e-mail them?” I asked. “Every hour of every day,” she said.

Pathetic.

Now understand that not having e-mail is, in my opinion, not a problem. It’s a symptom. The problem is that US Airways and many of its brethren have no understanding of what it takes to attract the business they so desperately need.

Consider the following: Lousy food. No high-speed computer access in its clubs (some airlines finally have it in their clubs, but US Airways is still “investigating it”). Poor service. Unfriendly people. Fewer pillows and blankets on overnight flights. The company calls it “cost cutting.” It’s actually “costing” the airlines millions in lost revenues and loyal customers.

Businesses don’t recover from financial ruin by cutting costs. They do it by building sales. What good is cost cutting without a revenue base? That’s Economics 101.

Remember the last chief executive of American Airlines who cut costs and eliminated employees and then gave himself and the board millions of dollars in bonus money? He was forced to resign. Has anyone heard from him? I hear he’s now a waiter at Shoney’s.

It never ceases to amaze me that big companies sit in meetings and actually think their policy decisions are good. Policies are designed to frustrate both employees and customers. Let me take my money and vote for the competition.

Here are a few lessons for policy-happy executives.

1. It’s always about the service. Attracting customers is hard. Keeping them is harder. Creating positive word of mouth is the hardest of all.

2. Don’t milk, cut, or save just because profits wane. Attract harder. Serve better.

3. Treat customers great and treat your employees better than your customers. The employees are the ones to carry the message to the front lines of customer communications.

4. Make your policies have answers and solutions that lead to a positive outcome in every customer interaction.

Why am I on this rant? Why am I the last angry consumer? It’s customer service week. Do you hear any chief executives on Lou Dobbs saying “we’re going to serve better? ”

Go shopping or call any retail business. See if you notice any difference. I don’t. And I wish I did.

Free GitBit. Want more ideas on customer loyalty? Let me give you the loyalty formula to help you serve better. Go to www.Gitomer.com. Register if you’re a first-time user, and enter the word “loyalty” in the GitBit box.

President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, Jeffrey Gitomer gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.