Below are three true stories that illustrate the memorable customer service behavior: deliver service heroics. In order for us to have a common understanding of what it means to deliver service heroics, consider this definition: Going beyond the job duties that are expected of the employee.

1.) Earlier this year, I worked with a client who shared a story about how one of his front desk agents, Shannon, had established a genuine rapport with a repeat guest over many months. The pair laughed together about many things, including the guest’s own self-deprecating comments about his old age. For instance, on occasion he would jokingly refer to his need for Geritol. Unbeknownst to him, Shannon recalled their conversation and had a small bottle of Geritol waiting for him in his guest room when he returned and checked back into the hotel. Not only did Shannon’s gesture put a big smile on the guest’s face, it also reinforced the value she placed on their relationship.

Here’s an excerpt from a letter sent by the guest to the general manager of the hotel: “I recognize great customer service skills and your Shannon is a gem… She has made my stays at your hotel very memorable and I guarantee that, because of her, whenever I return to visit our branch in your wonderful city, I will stay at your hotel. I will also recommend your hotel to my associates, comrades, and even competitors.”

2.) A few years ago, my wife and I made plans to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. I’d made arrangements for my wife’s anniversary ring to be delivered to the hotel in time for our arrival. As it happened, there was a snow storm that day in Denver and we ended up canceling our plans to stay at the hotel.

I contacted the Tiffany & Co. store in Denver with my dilemma and my salesperson, Christine, assured me that she would take care of it. What happened next was legendary. The store arranged for one of its security guards to drive two hours south of the store to Colorado Springs where he located the UPS truck that carried the ring, provided the paperwork necessary to claim the package, and then drove it another hour and a half to our house.

He arrived at 9:00 pm and wouldn’t even accept a gratuity for his extra effort. Of course, I wrote Tiffany’s president about the service heroics and committed to “never purchase a significant piece of jewelry from a jeweler other than Tiffany & Co.” And I meant it.

3.) I recently saw a television commercial for Angie’s list, a company that pre-screens service companies for quality and reliability. In it, a customer phoned her plumber who was working on a repair at her house. She notified him that she was running late and was concerned about her little dog, Molly. Joe, the plumber, then did something unexpected. In the customer’s words: “Joe patiently paraded her up and down the street, sacrificing his time and dignity (he was a large man and Molly was an itty-bitty terrier) until her business was done. That’s why he’s the only plumber I’ll ever use.”

You see, when a hotel desk clerk surprises you with a bottle of Geritol, when a jewelry store security guard delivers a package to your front door in the snow, and when a plumber takes your dog for a walk, they are going beyond the job duties that are expected of them. They are delivering the unexpected—the memorable.

And they are reinforcing the personal importance of their customers. That is, the value these customers bring to the business through personal spending, loyalty, referrals, etc. In every one of the above examples, the customer cemented the relationship with a commitment to repurchase.

So, whenever you have an opportunity to spend a little more time with a customer or, in some other way, perform beyond the limitations of your job description, do it. It will be refreshing for you and memorable for your customers!

Sometimes, through no fault of your own, you find yourself overwhelmed by demanding customers who may feel entitled to immediate attention. Maybe a large tour group just arrived at your hotel or restaurant, or you’re short-staffed due to job vacancies, call-offs, or lean scheduling, and a line is forming…

In these instances, even careful planning and preparation may not result in the seamless service you’d like to provide to all of your customers. But there are ways to achieve stellar service even when faced with long lines and impatient customers:

Acknowledge the customer. Make eye contact and nod. A customer may feel anxious if you don’t acknowledge his presence—especially if other customers are also waiting to be served. Many delicatessens and government offices alleviate this anxiety by issuing numbers and serving customers in order.

Smile—a lot! Customers can easily detect tension in your body language. When they do, it may make them feel anxious and uncomfortable. The well-known communications study by Dr. Albert Mehrabian of UCLA, suggests that 55% of one’s likeability comes from the visual effect—her body language. Saying “I’ll be with you in just a minute” with a serious or critical expression on your face sends a far different message than if the same words were said through a smile.

Communicate early and often. Most customers will understand delays and other setbacks if there is adequate communication during the wait. Flight delays are a classic example of this. When there is adequate and reliable communication between the gate agents and passengers, then passengers can make use of the delay to work, shop, dine, etc. It’s when the communication is inadequate that passengers become restless and upset because they’re unable to venture from the gate area for fear of the plane boarding without them.

Re-deploy and cross-utilize staff. Apple Stores do a great job with this. If you need help on the sales floor, reps are there. When you’re ready to buy, there’s no line to wait in because the same rep can complete the purchase transaction with his hand-held payment device. Is your product stocked in the backroom? Don’t worry about a lengthy wait in some line—he will retrieve it for you personally.

Entertain. Disney does a great job of entertaining its customers while they wait in long lines to experience a ride or other attraction. By having characters interact with the guests or providing overhead flat screen television sets designed to entertain, prepare, and/or engage the guest while awaiting the attraction, Disney effectively reduces the perceived wait time of its guests.

Freebies. I once waited in a long line at a Starbucks store in Virginia. When I finally received my latte, the barista also handed me a free drink coupon. It was a nice touch. Most often, when customers wait in long lines, they feel helpless and taken for granted. In this case, I felt appreciated that my wait had been recognized and deemed unacceptable by the staff.

While it’s impossible to anticipate every variable that contributes to an operation being “in the weeds,” there are times when planning is the difference between exceptional and poor service quality. For instance, if you’re expecting a large group due to an earlier reservation then staff accordingly—even when this requires some creativity (e.g., reallocating staff from other departments or locations, utilizing temporary labor, etc.).

Maybe it’s not a staffing issue. Perhaps it’s a logistical issue. If so, anticipate the processes that you’ll need to address before the group arrives. In the hotel industry, that may be the arrival process (i.e., guest registration, baggage handling, etc.). A restaurant may suggest a prix fixe menu which will streamline the ordering process, resulting in more efficient table service during the event.

Most businesses benefit from receiving lots of customer traffic. When the traffic comes, whether anticipated or not, you must be prepared to address and serve your customers in ways that reflect the service priorities of your business.

I read a Wall Street Journal article this week by Timothy W. Martin titled, Choice Advice From Meat Cutters. The article highlighted the benefits of training butchers at leading supermarket chains to engage customers as a chef rather than as simply a meat cutter. The difference separates a memorable, customer-focused experience from an ordinary, process-focused transaction at the meat counter.

As the scale of operations have grown at most supermarkets, many meat cutters disappeared from the meat cases to backrooms where interactions with shoppers were limited to announcements over the intercom. Their roles shifted from a familiar butcher who formed close bonds with shoppers, remembering names and preferences (people-focused), to an anonymous meat cutter whose priority was churning out enough hamburger patties and chuck steaks to fill meat cases (process-focused).

In the article, Frank Thurlow, director of meat and seafood merchandising at Winn-Dixie Stores, observed, “Meat cutters have a reputation for not being the most personable, outgoing types of individuals. I mean, we sit in the back room all day and cut up animals.”

So, how do you address this perception and change it in order to increase sales at the meat counter while boosting employee morale and job satisfaction?

There are many factors including vital processes such as the selection and onboarding of employees. The quality of customer service provided by an employee will never exceed the quality of customer service he or she is ready, willing, and able to deliver. The scope of this blog post cannot take into account every variable, so I’ll just focus on the obvious one: sharing unique knowledge.

Unique knowledge is not the same as job knowledge. Job knowledge is necessary for an employee to be proficient in his or her job role. It is expected by the customer and, generally speaking, is transactional—not memorable. Unique knowledge, when provided by the employee, is unexpected, refreshing, valued, and memorable. It’s the sizzle!

To illustrate the difference, read this testimonial from Aram Dakarian, meat manager at Jewel supermarket in Chicago: “Before, I’d tell customers just to squeeze out the blood and add some salt and pepper (job knowledge).” Now he eagerly offers cooking tips (unique knowledge). For example, for baked chicken, he recommends olive oil with a dash of lemon pepper. For steaks, a garlic or peppercorn seasoning rub, or two hours soaking in a wine sauce marinade.

Instead of simply sharing job knowledge: A flat-iron steak is cut from the shoulder of a steer, he can add more value by sharing unique knowledge: How to properly grill a flat-iron steak and the difference between dry (grilled or broiled) and wet (simmering or braising) cooking.

Grocers are banking on shoppers’ willingness to pay higher shelf prices in return for general dinner advice. And there is also a benefit to employees as described by Mr. Dakarian: “Now, I’m getting more in-depth with the meat, looking at it more like a chef. It makes me feel good.”

While customers appreciate nice employees, they value knowledgeable employees. And the more unique knowledge employees possess, the more value they bring to the customer experience.

Our clothes dryer stopped working late last week and the part I ordered from GE was not scheduled to arrive until Monday. Having four kids, a functional dryer over the weekend is a must!

So we washed our clothes and, afterward, brought them to a neighbor’s house to dry in her dryer. As my wife was leaving our neighbor’s house she said, “Just give me a call when the dryer stops and I’ll come back and pick them up.”

About an hour later my wife received a call from our neighbor and went over to retrieve the clothes. When she arrived, she found the clothes neatly folded and stacked inside the laundry basket. Wow!

We were delighted by the generosity and thoughtfulness of our neighbor. Our expectation had simply been to borrow her dryer and retrieve a basketful of clothes and yet we were pleasantly surprised as our expectations were exceeded. Our relationship grew stronger and a lasting memory was made.

Now, consider the implications of treating customers in this way. Most companies are in the business of creating promoters—those customers who are the least price-sensitive, have the highest repurchase rates, and are responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of positive referrals to a company or brand. Simply meeting expectations does not produce promoters. Promoters result from consistently exceeding expectations and, when possible, delighting customers!

A great example of a company that consistently exceeds customer expectations is Zappos.com. At Zappos, exceeding customer expectations is the cornerstone of its marketing, preferring to rely on positive referrals and repeat purchases from its legion of promoters rather than expensive ad campaigns. In fact, 75% of Zappos’ sales come from repeat customers. In an October 17, 2008 interview in Advertising Age, Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh said, “We actually take a lot of the money that we would have normally spent on paid advertising and put it back into customer experience. We’ve always stuck with customer service, even when it was not a sexy thing to do.”

Each Zappos new hire—everyone from the chief financial officer to the children’s footwear buyer—is required to go through four weeks of customer-loyalty training. In addition, Zappos offers free delivery, free returns, and a 365-day return policy to demonstrate its commitment to exceptional customer service. It even quietly upgrades the experience by accelerating shipping from four-to-five-day to second-day or next-day, in order to pleasantly surprise customers.

Meeting expectations is predictable, process-focused, and transactional. Exceeding expectations is unexpected, people-focused, and experiential. My wife and I were delighted when our neighbor pleasantly surprised us by exceeding our expectations. Acts of service like this strengthen relationships and create lasting memories. They are what turn neighbors into friends.

By looking for opportunities to take an extra step and pleasantly surprise your customers, you can have a similar effect—turning customers into promoters.