As I watched 14 hard-working businesspeople win seed money to start or expand their businesses in Africa, I was excited for them. I was also afraid for them. Excited, because they had made it through a judging process that started with some 750 competitors. Afraid, because now that they have capital, they really have to do it! They have to hire, plan years out, deal with red tape, and find customers.

One book I just read might help them on thinking about the customers’ place in their overall plans.

When more and more large and profitable companies get away with dreadful customer service, it might seem silly to argue that attention to customers offers a competitive edge for small businesses.

But Barry Moltz and Mary Grinstead argue just that in their book “BAM! Bust A Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World.” They provide compelling evidence that good customer service adds value, helps the smallest firms differentiate themselves from the crowd, boosts chances of survival for new startups, and gives them a solid footing from which to earn later profits.

Challenges abound. The authors point to the obvious one – when companies start and have a limited customer base, it is easy to satisfy customers; the hard work comes when the company’s customer base grows. Changing business environments also present a challenge to customer-service. For example, the spread of self-service and the ascent of social media means call for rethinking what a customer really considers good service. Probably the toughest challenge, the authors say, arises from the culture of disregard for customer satisfaction at many companies and from myths that linger and affect other companies.

Moltz and Grinstead bust many cliches, such as “the customer is always right” or “good customer service means the same thing to everyone,” and provide good advice, based on the experience of successful firms. They tell you how to derive real value from empowering customers. But their book rejects the accepted “wisdom” that customer service is all about listening to buyers. It is two-way dialogue, they say.