In my seminars, I talk a lot about job function and job essence. To me, recognizing the difference between them is central to understanding why customer service delivery is so predictably poor.

Awareness is key. People don’t know what they don’t know.

The first thing I would do to increase awareness and improve the quality of customer service delivery in any business is to ask my employees this question: “Would you describe for me, from your perspective, what you do—what your job entails?”

When I pose this question to employees I encounter in hotels, shopping malls, supermarkets, or airports, the responses I receive almost always apply exclusively to job function—the tasks or duties associated with one’s job role.

Here’s how a typical conversation with a supermarket employee might go:

Me: “Pardon me. Do you mind if I ask you what you do—what your job entails?”

Employee: “Are you from corporate headquarters or something?”

Me: “No. I’m just interested in what you do.”

Employee: “Well, my job is to sack groceries but when we’re not busy, I bring in shopping carts from the lot and sweep the store. Sometimes I have to check prices or clean up spills. That’s about it.”

Let’s examine this response:

• Sack groceries (job function)
• Bring in shopping carts (job function)
• Sweep the store (job function)
• Check prices (job function)
• Clean up spills (job function)

Every action listed has to do with job function. Rarely do employees reference actions or behaviors pertaining to job essence which, ironically, is their highest priority.

Job essence for employees at most companies is to create delighted customers, promoters—those who will enthusiastically recommend the company or brand to others, are less price-sensitive, and have higher repurchase rates.

While groceries need to get sacked and carts need to be brought in, if these tasks are completed without a smile, without enthusiasm, without attention to detail, or without genuine interest, the customer will notice.

In the absence of job essence, all that exists is a transaction. Transactions are not memorable. Transactional service does not make a lasting positive impression or inspire loyalty.

This begs the question: “Why do so many of the employees Steve interviews only cite job function and not job essence?”

Consider this: Job function is results oriented. Managers are interested in results. Job function is doing what your told. Managers appreciate compliance. Job function is doing what’s expected. Managers don’t like surprises.

Until managers actively model, recognize, and reward job essence, achieving results will take priority over establishing relationships, compliance will trump initiative, and customer service will be characterized by routine and predictable actions.

What they (employees) see is what you’ll (management) get. And most employees see job function being recognized and rewarded over job essence.

For instance, let’s assume the supermarket employee, during his new-hire orientation program, was told how important it was to provide exceptional customer service. Perhaps he was shown a mission statement, a poster, or was given a button to wear that contained the company’s customer service slogan. He was also made aware of his job duties which include gathering the stray shopping carts from throughout the parking lot.

Being enthusiastic about his new job role and wanting to perform well, the employee is conscientious when bagging groceries. He is careful to handle delicate items such as bread and eggs carefully and bag frozen food together to prevent it from thawing too quickly. He also insists on helping customers to their cars—especially when the weather’s bad—even though most of his coworkers avoid this step.

During his first several weeks in his new position, the employee is routinely approached by his manager who asks, “Hey, why are there so many carts in the parking lot?” But he never receives any feedback about the exceptional customer service he provides to shoppers.

So he’s conflicted: “During orientation they told me how important it was to take care of the customer. I try to do that but no one seems to notice or care. The only thing I ever receive feedback on is the shopping carts in the parking lot.”

It doesn’t take him long to learn that the way he’s going to score points with his manager is by spending more time in the parking lot, away from customers, retrieving stray shopping carts.

I recognize that job function is necessary—even critical (i.e., the shopping carts must be retrieved from the parking lot and the floor needs to be swept periodically) but it does not represent the totality of an employee’s job! It only represents a portion of his job. The other portion of his job, which is often neglected, is job essence—his highest priority: to create a delighted customer—a promoter.

When employees are made aware of the essence of their jobs and it’s reinforced (modeled, recognized, rewarded) by their immediate supervisors, then customer service quality will improve, fewer eggs will get broken, and we’ll begin asking the question, “Why is customer service so predictable great?”

It’s my blog. I can dream.

The notion of unique knowledge was first brought to my attention by a colleague from Boston. John was quite interesting and I learned a lot from him by listening to his insights related to topics ranging from history to customer service.

I would characterize John’s knowledge as substantial as opposed to superficial. Conversations with John were deeper and more memorable than superficial discussions that are soon forgotten.

One evening John and I were discussing customer service and he asked me, “Steve, what are some of the names of meeting rooms at your hotel?”

I responded, “Odets, Wilder, Cantor, Jolson…”

John interrupted, “If I were a customer and asked you why the room was named ‘Odets,’ what would you say?”

I thought about it a moment and realized that I didn’t know the significance of the name. I admitted this to John saying, “You know, I just got so used to the name representing a meeting room that I didn’t really give it much thought.”

John was not one to lecture but he did make the point that it’s our responsibility to know the significance of proper names and to learn the histories and stories that reflect the cultures, neighborhoods, and buildings in which we work. This unique knowledge has character, is memorable, and may be the difference between a bland and ordinary transaction and a unique and memorable experience.

Here are a few examples:

Unique knowledge about the chef: “Our chef trained at the prestigious Restaurant School in Philadelphia and apprenticed at Le Bec Fin. She also traveled to France to refine her knowledge of French delicacies such as truffles, escargot, and foie gras. In fact, our Pâté de Foie Gras is our signature appetizer. May I tempt you with an order?”

Unique knowledge about the building: “There’s quite a bit a history in this hotel. In fact, in 1926 the famed magician Harry Houdini escaped from a sealed underwater coffin beneath this very roof when it was the Shelton Towers Hotel.”

Unique knowledge about the neighborhood: “Our restaurant is located in the Gaslamp Quarter which is named after the gas lamps that lined the streets in the early 1900s when the area was a red light district known as ‘Stingaree.’ The name was probably derived from the fierce stingray fish in the San Diego Bay. It was said that you could be stung as badly in the Stingaree as in the bay!”

Unique knowledge about proper names: “Your meeting is being held in the Odets meeting room on the fourth floor. The room is named after the playwright Clifford Odets who wrote the plays Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing. Several of our meeting rooms are named after other well-known playwrights. After all, you are in the Theatre District!”

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

Have you shared or experienced unique knowledge recently?

My family and I recently returned from a four-night stay at the Crystal Peak Lodge in Breckenridge, CO. The only feature of the resort that was more impressive than its pristine condition and luxury amenities was its location alongside the ski lifts at the base of Peak 7.

Yesterday I received an email from the lodge with a link to a web-based customer satisfaction survey. As I was completing it, two things stood out: Lodge management was particularly interested in whether or not guests felt pampered and treated as important.

Identifying these attributes as priorities did not surprise me considering the lodge’s condominium units were priced in the millions. (Disclaimer: I was renting.)

While I love the term “pampered” as it applies to customer service, there’s another word for ‘pamper’ that I prefer: cosset. (I like this word because it’s so unique. When is the last time you read or heard this word?) Too often, employees fail to pamper or cosset when doing so would make a positive lasting impression on the customer.

Whether employees are handling eggs or bread while bagging groceries, folding and placing garments in a shopping bag, or placing a passenger’s luggage on a conveyer belt during his airport check-in, they have opportunities to do so in a way that conveys to customers that they care about their groceries, garments, and possessions, and will handle them as if they were their own.

The second term, “important,” is often misunderstood.

Sometimes at my seminars, participants will push back on the notion of treating certain customers (e.g., United Mileage Plus 1K flyers, Marriott Rewards elite guests, AMEX Platinum Card holders, etc.) differently—as more important than other customers—because of their status.

The point I make when responding to these participants is that “importance” does not refer to one’s importance as a person. It refers to her importance as a customer and the value she brings to the business through personal spending, loyalty, and referrals.

So, the Crystal Peak Lodge was interested in my assessment of whether or not I felt pampered and treated as important.

Over the course of a four-night stay, there were only a couple of things that hit my customer service radar. In both cases, I didn’t say anything at the time. Like most customers, I generally just observe without making a fuss.

Interestingly, both of the issues I noted involved missed opportunities by the staff to pamper (or cosset) and reinforce the guest’s importance as a customer.

The first issue occurred during an encounter with three front desk employees. The lodge offers private movie theaters for guests and I had reserved one for my family to watch the new Narnia movie. Although each theatre has access to a kitchen containing a microwave to prepare popcorn (brilliant!), there was nothing to put the popcorn in (a missed opportunity).

When I inquired about containers for the popcorn at the front desk, I was told to “check upstairs” (presumably, the restaurant may have something…). Seriously? Is this response supposed to make me feel “pampered” or “important” —as three employees remain comfortably seated behind the desk?

The second issue occurred when I called the front desk from my unit to ask about trash and recycling disposal. (Since I was renting the unit directly from the owner, there was no daily housekeeping service provided.) Rather than offering to send a housekeeping employee to my unit to retrieve the bags, the employee gave me directions from the $1.8M unit in which I was staying to the trash room in the parking garage. I found that odd…

Again, is this response supposed to make me feel “pampered” or “important”? I certainly didn’t feel that way as I hauled two bags of waste from my fifth floor unit down to the trash room in the parking garage.

In reflecting on my experience at Crystal Peak Lodge, while its management may prioritize having guests feel pampered and important, ultimately this will happen or not happen based on the actions of employees. This reinforces a core truth in the debate over who’s ultimately responsible for poor customer service, management or frontline employees: Regardless of a company’s service culture or standards, excellence (e.g., making a customer feel pampered or important) results from employee choice.

That choice may be to dispatch a housekeeper to collect the waste from a guest’s condominium unit or to get up from your comfortable chair, invite the guest to rejoin his family in the theater, and go in search of popcorn containers.

It’s pretty simple when you think about it.

What’s your opinion about where the responsibility to deliver exceptional customer service lies—with management or frontline employees?

I welcome all questions, comments, bouquets, and brickbats.

From time to time, seminar participants ask me, “What’s the best way to deal with difficult customers?”

My standard answer is: “They’re only difficult if you’ve labeled them that way.”

I prefer the adjective “discriminating” in place of “difficult.” Consider the definitions of each:

Discriminating: discerning; noting differences or distinctions; perceptive; having excellent taste or judgment

Difficult: hard to please or satisfy

Oftentimes, when customers complain it’s because their expectations haven’t been met. This is not an indication that a person is hard to please. It’s a signal that he has noted a difference between what he originally expected and what he ultimately received.

Too often, employees go on the defense is these situations. You can see it their faces. Their smiles fade and they may fold their arms. As they begin to speak, the tone of their voice becomes a bit more serious—even condescending as they retreat to the safety of “policy” and “terms and conditions.”

Yesterday, I observed a visibly disappointed customer at Office Depot. He was upset that, in the middle of processing his order, an employee in the print center left for several minutes to assist a customer in another part of the store. Eventually, he was approached by a store supervisor.

He wasn’t hard to please. He simply noted a difference between what he originally expected (timely fulfillment of his print order) and what he ultimately received (an unexpected delay without explanation).

I observe these confrontations on occasion and am always pleased when employees are willing to let the customer vent and take the time to really listen for understanding. More often than not, customers simply want to be heard and have their complaints be acknowledged and validated.

A great technique to demonstrate that you fully understood the customer’s complaint is to paraphrase (not parrot) the facts and feelings you heard while the customer vented. An apology may also be in order—whether or not you were at fault.

For example, the Office Depot supervisor could have responded to the customer with, “I apologize that you had to wait while Mark assisted another customer. It’s frustrating when there’s no communication about how long the wait will be.”

The supervisor may then choose to complete the print job personally and, perhaps, discount the order to compensate for the unexpected delay.

Upon completion, the supervisor should reinforce her earlier apology, make the customer aware of the discount applied to the order, and express appreciation for the feedback by saying something like, “My name’s Laura. I’m a supervisor and will share your experience with the entire team in order to improve our responsiveness and communication in the future.”

It’s true. Some customers are more discriminating than others. But these customers are not “difficult.” They present unique opportunities for employees to heighten their sense of urgency, attention to detail, and follow-up in the pursuit of excellence.

Thanks for reading. I welcome all questions, comments, bouquets, and brickbats.