Exceptional customer service is always optional.

Whether or not to deliver exceptional customer service is a choice made by employees—independent of the service culture in which they work. It’s a conscious decision that employees make to exceed the expectations of their customers every day, on every shift, during every customer service interaction.

It’s easy to spot the employees who have made this choice. They’re the ones who are looking up, facing customers, smiling, engaged, moving with purpose, and speaking courteously—with enthusiasm in their voices.

Mediocrity is also a choice—sometimes by default. As the rock band Rush so eloquently wrote in its song Freewill, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

And it’s easy to spot those who have settled for mediocrity. They’re the ones who are looking at the clock, convey indifference towards customers, are disengaged, move at a sluggish pace, and speak to customers casually—the way they might address peers in a social setting.

In the book SWITCH by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, I came across a great example of an employee who made the decision to end mediocrity and begin providing exceptional customer service at the hosting company, Rackspace.

In the past, the company’s customer service quality languished due to an unresponsive service department at the other end of a cumbersome automated telephone attendant. Calls were routinely dropped or misdirected into a labyrinth of cryptic options resulting in unresolved hosting issues and escalating customer frustration.

But then, after being tracked down by an exasperated customer, it occurred to company founder Graham Weston that Rackspace couldn’t sustain a business based on dodging its customers. That day, he made the decision to be exceptional.

In the words of Chip and Dan Heath:

“Perhaps the most dramatic change made by (Rackspace) was also the simplest. Rackspace, like all hosting companies, had a call-queuing system. (“Your call is important to us. Please press 1 for recorded tips that don’t address your problem. Press 5 to leave us a message we won’t return. Press 8 to repeat these options.”) The call queue is perhaps the most basic tool of customer support.

(Rackspace) threw it out.”

The company recognized that when customers call, that means they need help, and the phone must be answered. Without the automated attendant, it became impossible to ignore customers’ calls. The phone would just keep ringing until somebody answered it.

According to founder Weston, “When a customer has a problem, we shouldn’t deal with it when it’s convenient for us. We should deal with it when it’s convenient for the customer.”

The decision to provide exceptional customer service paid off. In 2001, Rackspace became the first hosting company to turn a profit. Over the next six years, it averaged 58 percent annual growth. By 2008, Rackspace had passed AT&T as the highest-grossing firm in the industry.

Exceptional customer service is always optional. So what’s your choice?

Your voicemail greeting may be the first impression that callers (including customers) have of you and your business.

Don’t miss your opportunity to make a lasting positive impression by recording a predictable voicemail greeting that lacks personality and may make callers feel rushed and unwelcome.

What you said: “This is (name) of (company). I’m presently out of the office or away from my desk…”

What they heard: “Blah, blah, blah…”

This is the standard greeting that has been adopted by many corporations as policy. These greetings are as lifeless and monotonous as the pages on which they are scripted in the company SOP manual.

Better: “Greetings! You’ve reached the voicemail of (name). Today is the twentieth day of June and I will be in the office…”

Ten years ago, I worked with a colleague who updated his voicemail message daily with the above greeting. By adding this unconventional opening to his greeting, Mike left a lasting positive impression on me. He was exceptional. So was his voicemail greeting. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

What you said: “Please leave me a brief message.”

What they heard: “Don’t waste my time.”

Okay. I’m sure you’re busy. So are the rest of us. In fact, I bet many of your callers are even busier than you and yet have taken the time to call you and leave a message. You should be grateful to them.

Better: “Please leave me a message of any length.”

Invite callers to communicate the reason(s) for their call and any meaningful details in a way that’s not harried or rushed. People face enough deadlines in life. Invite them to breathe.

Voicemail software that has an inordinately short recording time may cut callers off prematurely. If this describes your voicemail software, look into it. Give callers more margin, not less. They will appreciate you for it.

What you said: “I’ll return your call at my earliest convenience.”

What they heard: “I’ll call you back when I feel like it.”

Even though we all know it’s the truth, you don’t need to broadcast to callers that you will return their calls when it’s convenient for you. Imagine a waiter saying to you, “I’ll return with your waters at my earliest convenience.”

How arrogant! I’m sure that most people who use this farewell don’t even think about it. They have heard it for so many years in others’ voicemail greetings that they simply accept it. To me, it sounds more like a dismissal than a farewell.

Better: “I will contact you as soon as I return” or “…within one business day” depending on your situation.

Let’s face it. The only reason any of us use these scripts in our voicemail greetings is that they are common practice. They have been institutionalized—we don’t question them. We simply record our voicemail greetings, check them off our lists, and then move on to something more important.

How about you? What message are you sending with your voicemail greeting?

It’s happened to most of us. Your appointment ran a bit longer than expected. You check your watch. You know it’s going to be close.

There is a sense of urgency as you plan your route to your car, weaving in and out of pedestrians on the sidewalk as you look ahead to the next crossing signal. It’s flashing. If you hustle, you just might make it…

A minute later, as you approach your parked car, you notice the piece of paper pressed beneath your windshield wiper and you think, “I’m too late…”

Out of breath from your gauntlet, you tug the notice out from beneath your wiper blade and prepare for the worst.

When this recently happened to my wife while on business in Cheyenne, Wyoming, she removed the notice and read the following:

Howdy Pardner!

WELCOME TO CHEYENNE

The Patrol Officer has noticed that you have violated one of our parking ordinances. This ordinance OVER STAYING THE ALLOTTED TIME is usually punishable by hanging, but seeing as how you are a visitor to Cheyenne we want to make your stay here as enjoyable as possible, so the offense will be overlooked this time. (Besides we couldn’t round up a posse in time for the hanging.)

If we can be of any assistance during your stay in Cheyenne, please call 637-6331. If you have any comments, please fill in the area below and mail by pony express or stop by the main ranch house at 2101 O’Neil Avenue and take a look around.

What a relief! How delightfully unexpected! This may be the first time that a patrol officer brought a smile to my wife’s face by leaving a notice on her windshield.

I recognize (as does the city of Cheyenne) that humor doesn’t offset the expense of running a city. But it does provide a laugh and makes a lasting positive impression on visitors to Cheyenne who will likely share this positive experience with others.

Whether you received a parking citation and fine or this “Howdy Pardner!” notice, you will likely remember the event either way—for evoking feelings of frustration, anger, and loss in the case of a ticket or delight, relief, and surprise in the case of this refreshing parody.

How do you want to be remembered by your customers?

What can you do in your place of business to transform something that may be creating predictably unpleasant memories into something that inspires smiles and lasting positive impressions?

It’s a shame when service-based organizations use safety, liability, and policy as justification for delivering average customer service.

• “Your safety is our highest priority” is the mantra of most airlines.

On the surface, it appears noble. The airlines have done a masterful job of limiting customer service in the name of safety (e.g., “The flight attendants are primarily here for your safety” now prefaces the “If there’s anything we can do to make your flight more enjoyable…” announcement).

I expect the next update they make to the message will be: “The flight attendants are solely here for your safety. If there’s anything you need to make your flight more enjoyable, make a note of it and be sure to bring it with you next time. Enjoy your flight.”

• And many businesses disappoint “due to liability.”

In healthcare, for instance, many physicians are reluctant to utter either the “I’m sorry” of sympathy or of responsibility for fear their words will be used against them by a plaintiff’s lawyer. So caring and empathy take a backseat to liability. Get well soon.

And hotels frequently decline to jump-start guests’ car batteries “due to liability.” I understand the need for safety and liability considerations. I also know that if a guest at my home (or, in some cases, a total stranger) requested a jump-start, I wouldn’t say, “I wish I could but, due to liability, I can’t help you. Have a nice day.”

I disagree that this justification would resonate with anyone in need of a jump-start—especially a hotel guest who has a flight to catch.

• And customer satisfaction is often compromised with the words: “It’s our policy.”

Whether you’re talking about retail (e.g., return policy restrictions), restaurants (e.g., policies that restrict split orders, substitutions, separate checks, etc.), or another business, most use policies as standardized mechanisms to guide employees’ decisions and behavior and to shape customers’ expectations.

Most policies are well-intended, carefully written protocol that are uniformly applied by employees and universally resented by customers. Here is a real-life example demonstrating how one hotel’s policy prevented a guest from listening to music or television programming during his workout in the hotel’s fitness center. Enjoy your stay.

Certainly there are valid reasons for instituting safety, liability, and policy considerations within a business. My point is not to do away with them.

I appreciate that hotel doormen do not permit unattended, parked vehicles in the driveway. I realize they’re not trying to be difficult. They are honoring a law that ensures access to the hotel by emergency vehicles—a valid safety measure.

Likewise, I applaud establishments that recognize when a guest is inebriated and refuse to serve him another bourbon and water. Not only is it a liability issue, it’s the right thing to do for everyone involved.

And there are many policies that are constructive and serve the best interests of the customer as well as the business. For example, if my checkbook goes missing, I have a new appreciation for check cashing policies requiring photo identification.

The issue is not the existence of safety, liability, and policy considerations. It’s the reliance on these considerations when employees’ common sense and good judgment would suggest otherwise.

When airline passengers are denied attentive in-flight service, when restaurant patrons are unable to have their preferences fulfilled, and when hotel guests paying $200 per night cannot be entrusted with a $4.74 set of headphones, it’s evident that these businesses value protocol more than their employees’ good judgment or, remarkably, their customers’ satisfaction.

For many years, Nordstrom, the retailer known for exceptional customer service, offered its newly-hired employees a famously uncomplicated handbook to assist in guiding their decisions at work.

It contained a single rule:

1.) Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.

By encouraging its employees to use their good judgment to serve customers as opposed to volumes of safety, liability, and policy considerations, at Nordstrom you are far more likely to hear things like “Yes”, “I’m happy to” and “Let me see what I can do” as opposed to “No”, “We can’t” and “It’s our policy.”

The same is true for companies like The Ritz-Carlton Hotels & Resorts, Lexus, Zappos, Rackspace Hosting, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, USAA Insurance, L.L.Bean, and others renowned for their product and service quality.

The best organizations understand the difference between placing trust in a manual or in people. The best people choose to work for organizations that place trust in them. And most customers, when given a choice, will choose to do business with the best people.