Is it possible that a business that calls itself a discount brokerage house is setting trends in customer service? Scottrade, a financial services company that got its start some 20 years ago, is built around the notion that customer strategy is paramount. And its 1.7 million customers are enjoying the benefits of this strategy. Scottrade does not have a customer service department. All of its 1,700 employees are customer service representatives. There is no IVR system for customer calls. Every call to the 800 number gets routed to the local branch nearest to the caller and branch employees handle the calls themselves. So how has all this been working for Scottrade? A large part of its business comes from customer referrals. During the past 12 months, Scottrade’s customer assets grew by $4.7 billion to $55.7 billion; active customer accounts grew 12 percent to 1.66 million from 1.48 million; and revenue grew by 70 percent to $789 million. And in 2006, the company was recognised by BrandWeek magazine for leading the investment industry in customer loyalty. Read more from Informationweek Magazine. Also of interest: Forrester Rants on Customer Service.