Last week, my family and I traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend a family reunion. While in Lincoln, we stayed at a full service hotel downtown. When we arrived at the hotel, we unloaded several bags from our vehicle onto the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Minutes later, a bellman passed by without saying a word and entered the main lobby from the sidewalk.

My wife and I fully expected that he was getting a luggage cart to assist us with our bags. When he did not return, I went inside the hotel and encountered him standing just inside the lobby. He looked at me and asked, “Can I help you with your bags?” Already, I was annoyed because he clearly saw my bags on the sidewalk yet I still had to track him down for assistance.

Now that we were being helped, we no longer felt ignored but did feel as if this bellman was treating us indifferently—as if we were just another “check-in” or transaction. It’s not that he did anything wrong during the remainder of the check-in process, it’s just that he missed several opportunities to anticipate our needs and make a lasting positive impression.

For instance, one of my boys complained about the weight of his backpack. The bellman just stood there as I relieved my son of his backpack and hung it on the luggage cart. A minute later, while I went back to the car to retrieve a cooler, my wife corralled our four children in front of the elevators to take a group picture of them. She commented to me afterwards that she wished she had asked him to take a picture that would have included her—another missed opportunity for him to make a positive impression.

Later, when we were in the guest room, the bellman simply offloaded the luggage near the door, accepted his tip, and bid us adieux with the transactional industry farewell, “Enjoy your stay.”

He failed to observe other cues that would have made the difference between an ordinary check-in and a memorable service experience. Although a cooler, Pack ‘n Play® travel crib, and wine tote were all visible cues, he appeared aloof from any customer service opportunities these items may have presented. In the first ten minutes after his departure I had already retrieved ice for the cooler (which required accessing the 4th floor as there was no ice machine on the 3rd floor where our rooms were located), phoned housekeeping for a sheet to line our toddler’s travel crib, and gone in search of wine glasses.

With so many missed opportunities, the potential for a unique and memorable customer-focused experience faded and we were left with an ordinary and forgettable process-focused transaction. As happens far too often, many service providers are lulled into the monotony of processing “each customer like the last customer” and, in so doing, treating the customer like just another transaction (in my case, just another “check-in”).

Service providers must recognize that each customer presents a unique opportunity to make a favorable impression. By committing to energize their customer service delivery by looking for visual cues, anticipating customers’ needs, and offering the unexpected, service providers will capitalize on opportunities to provide unique and memorable service experiences.

I recently stayed at a full-service hotel in Scottsdale that offered a nice workout facility with treadmills and stationary bikes that faced a set of wall-mounted flat screen televisions. The audio for each television was accessed individually at the exercise equipment in order for each guest to listen to his/her preferred channel. To access the audio, one needed headphones that could be obtained at the front desk.

One evening, while I was awaiting a colleague in the lobby, I overheard a conversation between a front desk representative and a hotel guest. The guest had gone to the workout facility and realized that he needed headphones in order to access the audio of the television channel he had selected. When he asked for a set of headphones, the representative said, “I’ll need a photo ID in order to hand out the headphones.”

Now, think about the realities of this situation. You have a guest who’s paying about $200 to stay in the hotel for the night, who has likely spent the day working and/or traveling to Scottsdale, and who is probably looking forward to a workout before facing another long day in the morning. The guest has changed from his work clothes into shorts and a t-shirt and has left his car keys, driver’s license, wallet, etc. in his hotel room.

The guest explains that, under the circumstances, he does not have a photo ID with him and offered his name and room number in addition to showing the representative his room key. The rep held firm to policy saying, “Our policy requires a photo ID in order to give out headsets. We’ve lost a lot of them in the past.”

Now examine her response. Several things caught my attention:

1.) The word “policy” is contradictory to good service. Customers do not want to hear about policies that stand between them and what they want. Sure, there are necessary policies. For instance, those intended to address legal, ethical, and safety concerns. It’s also advisable to have policies in place to protect the company’s assets (as in this case, involving the headphones).

That said, let’s consider the math in this illustration and see if we can identify the real asset. How much for a set of headphones—like the ones the airlines offer free of charge? I just checked on-line and found a set of Coby Ultra-Lightweight Stereo Headphones for $4.79—and that’s if I only bought one set. In quantity they’re even cheaper.

Now, let’s try and get past how difficult customers are when they fail to adhere to our policies and take an objective look at what this customer represents in financial terms:

At $200 per night (assuming no ancillary revenue from in-room services, food and beverage, gift shop sales, etc.), after you deduct the costs of preparing the room, in-room amenities, etc., you can figure the hotel captured around $125 in gross profit which may dwindle to around $15 per guest room per night in net profit for the company.

Obviously, the real asset in this example is not the headphones—it’s the customer. Managers (who devise these policies) and front-line employees (who get stuck enforcing them) need to “get” this. Policies must take into account the customer’s perspective and reinforce the value that the company places on its customers. Doing so will create more opportunities to satisfy customers, gain their loyalty and referrals, and grow the business.

2.) Requiring a photo ID in these situations is inconvenient and insensitive. Most customers making this request will be standing there in their workout clothes and will have left their wallets containing photo IDs back in their rooms. Knowing this reality makes the requirement of showing a photo ID impractical for hotel guests who do not want to hassle with returning to their rooms, waiting on elevators, and perhaps waiting a second time at the front desk if a line forms while they are retrieving their photo IDs.

3.) Saying that “we’ve lost a lot of them in the past” implies that customers are irresponsible or dishonest. It’s critical to never offend customers by (even unwittingly) implying that they are irresponsible or dishonest. If we offend customers, then we are disrespecting them. Most customers will make allowances for lapses in service. Few will make allowances for disrespect. When disrespected, customers will go out of their way to change providers and will share the negative story with anyone who will listen.

The guest in this situation was appalled at the desk clerk’s reply and lack of empathy. He did not want to spend the next 6 or 8 minutes returning to his room to access his photo ID only to find that the equipment he intended to use was now being used by another guest. His body language told the story: palms flat on the counter, heavy sigh, followed by an abrupt turn away from the rep in the direction of the workout facility.

This guest decided not to joust with the employee who was standing firm on “policy.” Instead, he resigned himself to an audio-less workout—content to read lips on CNN and make his best guess at what the correspondents were reporting.

As service is my business, I find myself observing lots of situations like this one and, on occasion, advocating on behalf of customers. In this case, I offered my photo ID to the rep and requested a set of headphones. She promptly handed them to me and I said, “Great. Now that gentleman will be able to listen to the programming in the workout room.”

Realizing my intentions, she reverted back to “policy” stating that if the headphones were not returned to the desk, then my room account would be charged $80!

When I approached the guest in the workout facility a minute later, you should have seen the look of astonishment and appreciation on his face. It made my day. And to think, the gal at the front desk could have enjoyed the same feeling but instead dutifully enforced a customer-unfriendly policy.

Look around your own business. Are there any customer-unfriendly policies in need of revision or, better yet, elimination?

Last Monday I sprained my lower back while playing tennis. If you’ve ever tweaked your lower back to the point that getting in and out of a chair requires grit, you know the pain and discomfort I’m talking about.

For the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday, I pretty much followed the basics for this type of injury: ice pack, lay on my back, simple stretching with leg extensions, and moderate walking on a level surface. So far, so good.

The problem was that by Wednesday morning, I wasn’t feeling much better than Monday night. Concerned, I phoned my HMO to seek a referral from my primary care physician to see a specialist. I’m aware that protocol dictates that one must first schedule an appointment with his or her primary care physician in order to then receive a referral to a specialist but, since I’ve had the same physician for a number of years, I expected to receive a referral following a phone call—as I’ve been able to do in the past.

When I called, I entered my health record number as requested and was placed on hold for a couple of minutes which is pretty standard. When the call was picked up by an HMO rep, she asked me to verify some information and then told me that, since I did not have a primary care physician, I’d have to be transferred to the physician selection line.

Confused, I said, “I have a primary care physician. I’ve been seeing the same doctor for the past four years.”

The rep then informed me that my primary care physician had transferred to open a new facility and I would need to choose another primary care physician before scheduling an appointment to receive treatment. She informed me that the physician selection department was currently not open and provided me with a direct line to contact them after 8:00am.

Okay, so I waited until after 8:00am before calling the physician selection department in order to select a new primary care physician so that I could schedule an initial appointment to receive a referral to see a specialist who could do something about the pain in my lower back.

When I called this number, I received the following message:

“Hello and thank you for calling (HMO). You have reached the physician selection service department. Our business hours are from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. If you have reached this message during these hours, we are currently assisting other members. Your call is very important to us. Please leave a message with your name, phone number, and medical record number, and we will return your call no later than the next business day. Thank you so much for calling and we look forward to serving you.”

After calling back several more times hoping to get a rep on the phone, I left a message with the information requested shortly after 8:00am on Wednesday. Today is Thursday (“the next business day”). It’s noon and I still have yet to hear back from the physician selection service department who “looks forward to serving me.”

Each month, I pay $1,100 for my family’s health insurance and, fortunately, it’s an exception when I need to call upon health services. But this week, I’m in need of medical attention and have not been able to identify a new primary care physician—let alone get scheduled to see one.

At this rate, the soonest I’ll be able to see my primary care physician is tomorrow, Friday, assuming he or she has availability. Until then, due to the nature of my injury, I’ll get by with the home remedies listed above and Advil.

The author, Peter Glen shares an amusing tactic to get the attention you deserve as a customer when you can’t locate employees or are otherwise feeling ignored and underserved:

“…when you find that you can’t get help, just stand there and scream the word (“HELP!”) as loud as you can. You will see people come running who haven’t moved in years. You will be serviced, solicited, fawned upon. They will sing to you, if that’s what you want, or anything else you want, as long as you don’t do that again. You have embarrassed them by reminding them of their jobs, and they are also afraid someone else might hear and want the same thing.

Screaming HELP at the top of your lungs…confronts the situation, calls a halt to routine, and starts alarms ringing everywhere. You get attention, suddenly and completely. You have just staged a small but specific revolution.”

So maybe I should drive to the HMO clinic, enter the lobby, and shout, “HELP! HELP! Is there a doctor in the house? HELP!” But somehow I think the doctor they would refer me to would specialize in something other than back pain…