Institute board member John Bachmann, in seeing Edward Jones honored for its customer service, points to lessons learned from Peter Drucker

Drucker Institute board member John Bachmann, a senior partner at Edward Jones, was quick to point to lessons learned from Peter Drucker after the financial-services firm was honored recently for its dedication to customer service.

In its March 3 edition, BusinessWeek named Edward Jones as the highest-ranking brokerage firm in its second annual roster of “Customer Service Champs.” Edward Jones was also the top-ranked brokerage last year.

The St. Louis-based firm ranked No. 8 among 50 national and international companies that, according to the magazine, “know how to keep front-line folks happy, make tech investments that help rather than hinder consumers and have leaders who make service a priority.”

“At its annual spring company meeting,” the magazine reported, “Edward Jones added a new honor in 2007 for branch administrators who excelled at customer service. Based on feedback from more than 330,000 households, the company’s top 300 performers met a few months later to swap strategies, which are now being taught in training.”

Bachmann, who during a 24-year stint as managing partner oversaw the growth of Edward Jones from 200 offices in 28 states to more than 9,000 offices throughout the U.S. and around the world, credited Peter Drucker with helping shape the firm’s strategy.

“The roots of Jones are planted firmly in the Drucker soil,” Bachmann said. “Drucker is the source, and Jones is a reflection of Peter’s principles in action.”

Drucker-who taught that “there is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer”-began advising Bachmann and Jones in 1981.

For more on the “Customer Service Champs” rankings from BusinessWeek, click here.