A few years ago, The Broker Restaurant in Denver, CO participated in a local radio promotion. As a part of this promotion, the radio station mailed out $25 unrestricted coupons to area residents who completed a survey about their radio listening preferences. Because there were no restrictions, these coupons were essentially treated like cash in the restaurant.

Over the course of the eight-week promotion, tens of thousands of $25 coupons were mailed out to survey respondents and the promotion proved to be very successful at increasing the exposure of The Broker and attracting many new customers.

Toward the end of the promotion, unbeknownst to the restaurant’s owners, the radio station began handing the remaining $25 coupons out to passersby on the 16^th Street Pedestrian Mall as a part of a separate promotion.

As often happens when people are handed unsolicited promotional material on the street, they tend to scan it quickly before tossing it in the nearest trashcan. As a result, hundreds of coupons ended up in the trashcans lining the 16^th Street Mall—some of which were later retrieved by members of Denver’s homeless population.

The Broker Restaurant is located in the old Denver National Bank building and is situated in an old bank vault. The European antiques are dark cherry wood and the vault itself, including the huge round door, remains to make The Broker one of Denver’s most unique and elegant restaurants. According to its website, “Not a day goes by when an observer will not spot some of Denver’s most prominent citizens enjoying lunch or dinner.”

It was in this setting that a homeless man in his thirties and his young son entered during lunch service and seated themselves in the lounge area of the restaurant, prominently located at the base of the grand staircase directly in front of the immense vault door.

A server approached their table and the father inquired about using the coupon he’d found to pay for their lunch. The server was uncertain about how to respond to the man so she accepted the coupon and excused herself to phone restaurant founder, Ed Novak.

After explaining the situation to Novak, the server was instructed by him to honor the coupon and serve the father and son as she would any other guests. During the meal, the server learned that it was the boy’s tenth birthday and came to understand further about the family’s situation.

In reflecting on the experience later that day during a conversation with Novak, the server shared how her initial discomfort with the situation dissolved as she took time to serve the father and son, treating them as honored guests rather than out of place vagrants.

As Thanksgiving nears, this true story is a timely reminder to all of us of the powerful effect our personal service can have on the lives of others. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Everyone has the power of greatness…because greatness is determined by service.”

This Thanksgiving, don’t just be grateful. Look for opportunities to serve others and be great too!

I recently read the book Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y by Bruce Tulgan and was reminded of this generation’s reputation of entitlement. As the title suggests, children from this generation who played sports generally received medals or trophies for participation rather than merit.

Although the exact parameters may differ, there is a general consensus that Generation Y encompasses people born between 1978 and 1990. This generation has also been referred to as Generation Me, a generation that has never known a world that put duty before self and believes that the needs of the individual should come first.

I am not from this generation, so I won’t pretend to be fluent in its unique generational perspective. Having said that, I also recognize that each generational stereotype is a social scientist’s best attempt to define an indefinable group of people—complete with generalizations and inaccuracies. It’s with that caveat that I’ll proceed…

Because I work in the field of hospitality, I was especially interested in what Tulgan had to say about Gen Y and customer service. He obliged in chapter six, Get Them to Care About Great Customer Service. The chapter opens with a provocative quote:

“I get that they really want us to kiss every customer’s (expletive) and swallow my pride and pretend I really care. Rest assured, if this were my business, I’d feel the same way. I’d want my employees to kiss my customer’s (expletive). I can try really hard to pretend, but it’s not my business. If you care so much about your customer’s (expletive), why don’t you kiss it? It’s your business.”

Mmm…

Later, the author rationalizes this generation’s reputation for apathetic customer service:

“Because they spend entire shifts with their coworkers, Gen Yers often care much more about attending to their relationships with coworkers than their relationships with customers. Instead of the customer service mission, their relationships with each other become the context of the job for some Gen Yers.”

One Gen Yer offered this perspective: “You have to understand. I’m here all day. We are here all day. This is my job. My coworkers are my friends, and we are hanging out together all day. Customers are just passing through. They come in here, probably don’t buy anything, or maybe they buy something. But they are just passing through. That’s how I look at it. In a way, to be honest, it feels like they are interrupting my day.”

Mmm…

Personally, I think that attributing these customer service attitudes to millions of employees based on their birth year is an injustice to the great majority of frontline employees who “get it” and understand that it’s hypocritical to say that they’re unwilling to accommodate customers properly unless the business belongs to them. Most employees are savvy enough to know that before they can expect to ever have a successful business of their own, they must first perform successfully in another’s business.

Most employees also “get” that customers are not an interruption in their day, they are the reason for their employment. Without customers, there are no jobs. It’s pretty simple.

Tulgan acknowledges that most customer service complaints arise because “the front line is overstaffed—leading to a lack of urgency—or understaffed—leading to a lack of coverage. But usually the cause is that nobody has taught Gen Y employees the basics or convinced them to care about great customer service.”

Let me repeat that last part: Customer service complaints usually arise because nobody has taught Gen Y employees the basics or convinced them to care about great customer service.

I really like the direction Tulgan takes regarding performance management (i.e., coaching, counseling, discipline, recognition) of Generation Y. In fact, it applies to every generation represented in your workforce:

“Never squander the teaching opportunities presented by customer service failures. When these problems occur, it is your responsibility as the manager to intervene immediately and forcefully. Take time with all employees involved in a customer service failure and treat the instance as a crisis: Debrief those involved, identifying the learning opportunities within, and review the steps that should have been taken….

Reward those who succeed, and just as important, withhold rewards from those who fail. Use small rewards and use them frequently, and make sure you tie every reward directly to specific instances of performance.”

Generation Y is integral to perceptions of customer service because its members spend a lot of time in front of customers. Younger workers are disproportionately represented in frontline customer service roles because these roles tend to be entry-level positions.

It’s every leader’s job to accept responsibility for the development of his or her employees, regardless of generation. If you happen to encounter one of the flawed attitudes reflected in the Gen Yer quotes above, first of all, examine your selection process because someone slipped through… Second, ask the employee these questions: What makes you valuable? What value are you adding right now? Why should someone pay you?

Questions like these will force employees to put their job roles and the importance of customers and customer service in their proper perspective.

My family and I decided to try Carino’s Italian restaurant for the first time tonight. When we entered the restaurant, we were “greeted” by the hostess with the predictable, “How many?” before being seated. Our server approached our table within a minute or two, delivering interactive menus and crayons to the kids and menus to me and my wife.

Our server demonstrated the hospitality basics well. She smiled, made eye contact, and added a bit of enthusiasm to her voice. And she did not seem put off by my six-year-old’s tendency to vacillate during his beverage, entrée, and dessert orders.

Even so, there were several events that marred the experience:

• Our server repeated left the table empty-handed while paper wrappers, used paper napkins, plates, and glasses accumulated. One of the reasons we enjoy dining out is that we don’t have to look at the mess that a family of six produces during meals. Eventually, I stacked everything I could reach and asked that it be removed.
• Midway through our meal at around 7:00pm, another server completed what appeared to be her closing sidework (e.g., consolidating salt and pepper shakers, filling sugar packet caddies, etc.) at the table next to us—in full view of the guests dining around her. Instinctively, I checked my watch to see if it was later than I thought. That’s not the reaction you want your guests to have during their meals.
• Later, after our children had ordered dessert, the sundaes came out with no spoons. Remarkably, it took about four minutes for the spoons to arrive (that’s an hour and a half in kid time). By then, without the use of utensils, they had consumed nearly every bit of their whipped cream—and what little remained was on their noses…

As uninspiring as this service was, the low point of the evening came when our server delivered the family style pasta plate that my wife and I planned to split. Carino’s family style entrées are intended to serve 2-3 adults and, knowing that we were sharing this entrée, our server brought a plate for each of us.

She handed me the large plate of pasta and set the two entrée plates on the table in front of me. I asked her if she could serve my wife—as she was seated at the opposite end of the table and we had four kids between us.

Her response floored me: “You do that.”

Now, I realize that Carino’s Italian is a fast-casual concept but it’s not a cafeteria. There were no buffets visible. That makes it a full service restaurant. Our server, in denying my simple request, missed an opportunity to serve her guests and moved what had been a neutral experience to a negative one.

So, even though I felt like there was value for the price paid (our bill came to $56.00 for a family of six—including entrées, salads, drinks, desserts, and a double espresso), I likely will not return to Carino’s Italian restaurant.

There are plenty of other restaurants out there with higher standards for table service whose servers are also willing to serve.

The title of this post is a quote from the French philosopher, Voltaire. It expresses the notion that we must not accept that “good” performance is equivalent to “the best” performance—in fact, they’re enemies.

I’m convinced that most service providers are content to deliver “good” customer service. Their rationale may be based on the assumption that by meeting customers’ expectations, they will create satisfied customers.

Bain and Company, a consumer research firm, has a name for satisfied customers: passives. Passives, as the name implies, are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are easily wooed by the competition. These customers are disloyal, tending to make buying decisions based on convenience and price considerations—as opposed to brand loyalty.

Customers who are merely satisfied are generally the product of company cultures that reward efficiency, such as many fast food restaurant chains and big box retailers. These operations are process-focused, transactional, and pride themselves on product and service consistency from location to location.

Contrast the majority of service providers content to deliver “good” customer service with the rare exceptions that aspire to deliver “the best” customer service. Companies such as Disney, Zappos, Nordstrom, and Lexus come to mind.

Instead of attempting to meet customers’ expectations, these companies aspire to exceed expectations. Instead of producing merely satisfied customers, these companies create delighted customers!

Bain and Company has a name for delighted customers as well: promoters. Promoters 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.

Promoters are the product of company cultures that reward excellence. These companies are customer-focused, experiential, and pride themselves in delivering product and service excellence from location to location.

Too many businesses accept that “good” (or, more realistically, adequate) customer service is good enough.

Is your business always the most convenient and least expensive option for the customers you serve? Is it ever? Is your company content to produce passive customers or would you prefer a legion of promoters? Is your company’s goal to be good or to be the best?

There is a clear difference between the two that yields predictable results. Voltaire observed this difference 200 years ago and your customers can see it today.

Several years ago, after the birth of our first child, I began pouring pancake batter in unique shapes that our son would recognize from his world. When he was very young, I poured shapes ranging from puppies to pacifiers. As he grew older, I adapted the shapes to his interests—whether dinosaurs or chess pieces.

And holidays always provide fodder for themed shapes. I pour shamrocks in March, firecrackers in July, Jack-O-Lanterns in October, and candy canes in December. The kids love them and enjoy making requests for made-to-order shapes. Breakfast transforms from a predictable meal, a base to be touched each morning, to a festive event where the family lingers and memories are made.

I got to thinking about how this equates to customer service. According to research by Beyond Philosophy, a customer experience consulting firm, 44 percent of consumers described the majority of customer service experiences they have as “bland and uneventful.” These are the process-focused transactions that are marked by apathy, routine, and indifference. To me, that sounds like eating a bowl of Cornflakes. Even though you’ve eaten, and may even be satisfied, you’re not going to remember it.

Contrast that with pancakes in the shapes of dinosaurs—or whatever shapes are meaningful to you: your college mascot, a symbol of your favorite hobby—such as a tennis racquet or a chess piece, or even a pet. Would you describe this breakfast experience as “bland and uneventful?” Is a pancake in the shape of a rook forgettable if you’re a chess enthusiast? I think not!

Now, ask yourself, how does this concept apply to my business? How can I be intentional about transforming a product or service offering from one that may be perceived as process-focused, routine, and uneventful (i.e., a bowl of Cornflakes), into one that is seen as customer-focused, refreshing, and memorable (i.e., a pancake in the shape of a T-Rex)?

Here’s just one example: I know of a bank’s voice mail system which concludes a long menu of options by saying, “If you’d like to hear a duck quack, press 7.” Now, I’ve listened to my share of predictable voice mail directories but have never come across something as refreshing as this. I’d call back just to let my preschooler listen to the duck quack!

If this sounds like it’s going to require extra time and effort, you’re right. It’s definitely faster to prepare a bowl of Cornflakes and easier to pour round pancakes. But remember, they’re forgettable. Even so, you don’t have to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and invent this stuff. Look around for inspiration. It’s everywhere.

Talk with others about unique experiences they’ve had with companies that have made lasting impressions on them. Look for opportunities to surprise and delight your own customers through your company’s products and services.

Just like shaped pancakes, the possibilities are endless and the memories, priceless.