Behind T-Mobile's customer service success

She's blunt. She's flashy. And customer-service chief Sue Nokes is T-Mobile's secret weapon in a cutthroat industry

FORTUNE, October 1, 2007 — Marry me, Sue!" We've just pulled into the parking lot of Albuquerque's Jefferson Commons call center, home to 800 T-Mobile USA customer-service representatives, and outside there's mayhem. Hundreds of screaming, chanting people are standing in front of the building, bedecked in a wild array of hot-pink clothing (T-Mobile's signature color) ranging from T-shirts to cowboy hats to feather boas. They're waving signs, holding up camera phones, and generally acting like starstruck teenagers. One guy's wearing a fuchsia bathrobe; another, in a fluorescent-pink wig, is screaming, "We love you!" over and over.

All this booty shaking and flag waving might seem a bit extreme, given that technically today's event features a middle-aged woman on a routine visit from headquarters. But this isn't just any suit: It's Sue Nokes. She's the flashy, feisty spark plug of a woman who runs sales and customer service at T-Mobile USA, the fast-growing $17 billion subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.