I am delighted to welcome Zane Safrit as a regular monthly columnist here at Small Business Trends.

In addition to being an all-around nice guy, Zane is the former CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited. He grew that company and its revenues by 80%. And he did it during a time when the entire telephony industry has been beset by disruptive forces — and industry prices dropped by 70%.

Last year we interviewed Zane on Small Business Trends Radio. He told some of his strategies for growing in a falling market. They all centered around putting the customer first. As a result, customers became intensely loyal.

Now — a lot of companies talk about customer loyalty. But to some companies it’s like the Holy Grail — frequently sought, never found. But I knew it was real because I had heard from one of his customers.

On the phone one day in the context of another call, that customer (another business owner I know) wouldn’t stop raving about the customer service from Zane’s organization.

After hearing that unsolicited testimonial, I knew I wanted to approach Zane to write here. But I figured he would say he was too busy. Then one day on Twitter I thought “oh, what the heck — all he can do is say no.” I asked anyway and to my delighted surprise, Zane said yes. And here we are.

Zane’s articles will focus on operations excellence and its role in creating passionate employees and customers. He will bring us from-the-trenches insights.

Zane’s first article is about key tools to give you more time as a CEO.

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