Last Saturday night, my 12-year-old son requested an order of cheese quesadillas for dinner at the Yard House restaurant in Lone Tree, Colorado. (You should know that, at this particular location, cheese quesadillas do not appear on the menu.) What the server did next was not legendary but it was entirely appropriate.

Most customer service blog posts that begin like this one, predictably end with the server delivering service heroics by letting nothing come between the guest and his requested entrée—regardless of whether or not it’s offered on the menu or the required ingredients are on hand in the kitchen.

But on this particular evening, Phil, our server, chose to be completely authentic, saying, “If it were any other night (besides Saturday), I would ask the kitchen (to prepare an order of cheese quesadillas) but I can see all the orders lined up from here and I know they would hate me.”

After hearing his response, my wife, Julie, looked at me to gauge my reaction and was somewhat surprised by my utter acceptance of his reasoning as our son made an alternate selection from the menu.

After Phil left the table with our orders, Julie and I discussed how much we appreciated his candor. After all, the restaurant was bustling: standing room only at the bar and a 45-minute wait to be seated in the dining room. We agreed that it’s okay for service providers—just as we do in our own work—to deny requests that (from their perspective) will be disruptive to the continuity of the operation and, thus, disappoint coworkers or other customers.

By choosing not to accommodate my son’s request for cheese quesadillas, Phil was making a decision in favor of the operation, his coworkers in the kitchen, and other restaurant guests.

Sure, we all love stories of service heroics where employees move heaven and earth to delight customers but, as Anne Morriss points out in her outstanding book, Uncommon Service, when employees are conditioned to deliver service heroics at all costs, “the cape gets heavy.”

Although the word “no” has been banished from customer service literature, the fact remains that “no” is a proactive word and, yes, there is a place for it—even in customer service.

Illustration by Aaron McKissen

Have you ever heard someone in a committed relationship say that he or she no longer loves the other person?

When questioned, he might say, “I’ve tried. Really I have. But the love just isn’t there.”

It’s no wonder the love isn’t there—because love (the noun) is a result of love (the verb).

In the absence of demonstrating love for another person, there’s only an association, an existence together. Heck, I have that type of relationship with my mailman.

As Valentine’s Day nears, it’s worth emphasizing that in a committed relationship, it’s insufficient to view love as a noun—a feeling that goes back and forth between satisfied and unsatisfied. Love must be demonstrated. Love requires action. Love is a verb.

It’s the same with customer service.

Many service providers view service as a noun—a role, function or department.

As a result, customer service is routine and lifeless.

It’s the difference between a drive-thru bank teller who processes a deposit, ending the transaction with, “You’re all set” compared with a teller who, while completing the deposit, notices there are restless children in the car and chooses to enclose several lollipops in the tube along with the customer’s receipt, saying, “I thought these might come in handy!”

Both noticing the children and choosing to enclose lollipops require effort. These actions are the result of the bank teller demonstrating customer service.

Going through the motions, whether in a committed relationship or with a customer, will result in a bland, routine, and predictable association. This opens the door for a competitor…

Do not view service as a noun. Do not see “serving customers” as performing a role or function that is defined by a script, checklist or some other process.

Service, like love, is a verb. As such, it requires action and effort. It must be demonstrated.

When done well—consistently, with genuine care and concern—you will make a lasting positive impression and ensure that your “customer” will only have eyes for you.

Note to reader: Even I’m tired of reading about Nordstrom’s customer service, but there’s a reason its service is heralded.

I recently stopped by the baby department at Nordstrom to pick up a gift for a colleague whose wife is expecting a baby boy. After considering the selection of newborn pajamas, I chose one, turned toward the salesperson, Chelsea, and asked, “What do you think?”

She smiled and affirmed my choice but, before blindly ringing up the sale, advised, “A newborn size will generally fit a baby up to about eight or nine pounds,” and asked, “Is this what you had in mind?”

After considering her question, it occurred to me that all of my boys were at or above eight pounds at birth. And my colleague, Kevin, isn’t a small guy. Odds are that his baby boy might not be able to wear newborn-sized pajamas much past his hospital stay. So I replaced the newborn size with a 3-month size that I knew would get much more use.

As we approached the register, Chelsea asked, “Would you like to include an accessory, like a rattle or a pacifier?”

Although I had not intended to do so, I stopped and looked at the WubbaNub pacifiers just long enough for Chelsea to share more unique knowledge: “The WubbaNubs are great! Their rubber tips match the pacifiers used in hospital nurseries so babies don’t have to adapt to a different shape once they leave the hospital.”

That’s all I needed to hear before selecting the WubbaNub Elephant and adding it to my order. Later, when I looked at my receipt, I realized that Chelsea’s decisions to express genuine interest in her customer and share her unique knowledge not only guided me to select the proper size jammies, the addition of the pacifier increased her sale by 60 percent!

Imagine if every Nordstrom salesperson increased her sales by 60 percent by sharing unique knowledge about the shoes, clothing, or makeup she sold. Imagine the cumulative effect of your employees choosing to acquire and share unique knowledge with customers. How might this affect your company’s sales?

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

Yesterday, I brought merchandise returns from two different departments into Nordstrom. I entered the north entrance of the store on the second level and approached the nearest salesperson, Stacy, asking, “I have a couple of returns, including an online return. Should I take them to Customer Service on the third level?”

She smiled and said, “Oh, there’s no longer a Customer Service department on the third floor. Any one of us can help you with a return.”

Within the next two minutes I’d completed my returns and was on to the next item on my to-do list, grateful that, due to Nordstrom’s customer focus and efficiency, I was ahead of schedule.

You might be thinking, “Not another blog about Nordstrom’s exceptional customer service! Who are you going to profile next? Zappos?”

However, this is not a story about Nordstrom’s customer service acumen as much as it is a post about the limitations of customer service functions that consumers used to accept—or at least tolerate—when customer service used to be someone’s assigned job function.

Not that long ago, retail customer service departments were nestled in some distant corner of the store. When you arrived with your returns, you could expect a line of customers ahead of you preparing to do battle with the hardened customer service representative on the other side of the counter.

Consumers were trained to have the item’s original packaging (to avoid punitive restocking fees), a valid reason for the return, an original receipt (generally not dated beyond 30 days), a government-issued photo ID, and (assuming the merchandise was charged) the original bankcard used to complete the transaction. And they were prepared to wait, and wait…

Eventually, like the defendants addressing Judge Judy in the courtroom, customers would plead their cases to the surly customer service reps, hoping to, if not qualify for a full refund, at least salvage a merchandise credit.

Today, as consumers increasingly demand a convenient and hassle-free shopping experience (and as bricks-and-mortar retailers increasingly compete with customer-friendly online competitors such as L.L.Bean and Zappos), you’re beginning to see relaxed merchandise return policies (e.g., Kohl’s “Hassle-Free Return & Exchange Policy”), Customer Service counters are moving to the front of the store (e.g., Target, Home Depot, and Lowes), and employees are increasingly cross-trained and cross-utilized to serve customers rather than merely execute a rigid set of job functions associated with their assigned job roles (e.g., Apple Stores and Nordstrom).

Large organizations tend to rely on specialization. Because of this, functions such as human resources, sales, and customer service are often viewed by employees as separate departments and someone else’s responsibility.

Problems arise when managers abdicate the responsibility for recognizing the contributions of employees to the HR department, employees rely exclusively on the sales team to generate revenue, or frontline service providers pass customers off to a customer service department, 800 number, or website to receive service.

Like recognition and sales, customer service isn’t anyone’s job. It’s everyone’s job.

Illustration by Aaron McKissen

Much is said about a company’s responsibility to create an environment that fosters an engaged workforce, one in which employees are fully involved and enthusiastic. And while it’s true that employers should treat their employees fairly, provide them with achievement opportunities, recognize their contributions, and promote cooperative relations with others, employees also have a responsibility.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to my local Home Depot to pick up, among other things, a 3-volt battery for my home’s furnace humidifier. Unlike a standard AA or AAA battery, a 3-volt battery is unique and, therefore, not as familiar to me. To make sure I selected the correct type, I brought the old 3-volt battery into the store with me.

After searching the battery rack, I approached a woman standing in front of the self-service checkout lanes, held up the battery, and asked, “Where could I find one of these?”

Indifferent toward my question, she pointed to the battery rack behind me and said, “Over there.”

About that time, another employee approached me and said, “Here, let’s take a look.”

Together, we scanned the battery rack. Unfortunately, they were out of 3-volt batteries so I left the area in search of some other items that were on my list. When I returned to the self-checkout lanes a few minutes later, I noticed the woman I’d approached earlier leaning back against the center register and yawning widely.

Just then, we made eye contact. To my astonishment, she sighed loudly and said, “I started at 7:30 this morning and it still feels like 7:30. I’m just going to walk out of here. It’s awful. I don’t want to experience this again.” (Those were her exact words.)

Some might say that this employee’s behavior exposes The Home Depot’s inability to create an environment that fosters an engaged workforce. To me, this encounter reinforces the truth that the quality of an employee’s work environment is not determined by the effectiveness of his or her employer’s engagement strategies. Rather, it’s ultimately decided by the employee’s chosen demeanor and willingness to expend discretionary effort in the service of others (customers and coworkers). There’s a point at which the company’s responsibility to create an engaged workforce stops and the employee’s responsibility to demonstrate that he or she is engaged starts.

Like the listless Home Depot employee, we’ve all had days that have crept along at a snail’s pace. And there have likely been times when we’ve all wished to be someplace other than work. At times like these, we must be intentional about exercising enthusiasm in the moment of choice. Doing so will reenergize us, enliven the service that we provide others, and accelerate the clock!

Consider our Home Depot friend. When I first approached her with my 3-volt battery, instead of lazily pointing in the direction of the battery rack and saying, “Over there,” she could have expressed genuine interest by requesting the sample battery I held up and, while escorting me to the battery rack, said, “This is an unusual battery. What’s it for?”

Then, after learning that I have a home furnace humidifier and assisting me with the battery, she could have said, “How often does your system advise that you replace the filters?”

This question could lead to all sorts of possibilities. For instance, what if I responded, “Filters? Isn’t there just one filter?”

She might have answered, “Depending on their size, home furnace humidifiers have at least two filters: one filters the air, the other filters the water. Most manufacturers suggest that you replace each filter twice a year.”

By sharing her “insider” (unique) knowledge about the proper maintenance of a home furnace humidifier the employee not only adds a spark to her customer encounter, she also better serves the customer through her counsel, and creates an opportunity to generate more sales for her employer. Everybody wins!

Employers have a responsibility to treat employees fairly, provide achievement opportunities and recognition, and promote cooperative employee relations. Beyond that, it’s up to employees to exercise enthusiasm in order to renew their personal energy, enliven the service they provide to others, and make the workday hum.

How do you exercise enthusiasm at work?

Illustration by Aaron McKissen

The other day I went through the line at my local supermarket with, among other items, an open bag of potato chips. (Potato chips weren’t even on my shopping list but they looked so good and salty on the end-cap display, I just couldn’t resist.)

After scanning the bag of chips, the cashier handed the open bag back to me. I did my best to seal the bag before placing it in one of the existing packed grocery bags inside my cart. I then asked the cashier how often customers come through his line with an open bag of chips or nuts.

“All the time,” he said. “On weekends it’s ridiculous.”

At that moment, it occurred to me that this store was missing a “ridiculous” number of opportunities. Why not provide snacking customers with an unexpected pleasant surprise by offering them an inexpensive chip clip at the register? Perhaps the clip could be customized with the store’s logo, phone number and website? Or, better yet, magnetize the clip and print a suggestive message like, “Grocery List” beneath the store’s logo.

Eventually, customers are likely to place the magnet on their refrigerators to (as suggested) secure their grocery lists. Most consumers have two or more supermarkets located in their vicinity. In some cases, competing stores are directly across the street from each other. If a store’s logo is prominently displayed in the customer’s kitchen and is associated with a pleasant surprise (unexpectedly sealing his open bag of chips at the register), that might be just enough to influence him to turn right instead of left during his next grocery run.

Customers value pleasant surprises and, due to the nature of surprises, that which is unexpected tends to create a powerful lasting impression. What can you do in your own business to pleasantly surprise customers, causing them to remember you the next time they’re ready to repurchase?

Illustration by Aaron McKissen

John Wooden, the legendary former UCLA basketball coach, said, “Don’t confuse activity with achievement.”

This insightful quote reminds me of the common misunderstanding plaguing service industry employees (management and non-management) everywhere: they confuse activity (executing job function) with excellence (demonstrating job essence).

So many managers race to their superiors with spreadsheets that reflect accuracy, efficiency, and productivity, basking in the affirmation received (usually by executives who are a management level or two removed from real, live customers). But the spreadsheets only tell half the story (the half resulting from job function). The other half of the story (resulting from job essence) is told by customers. But not everyone listens to customers…

Why does management tend to gravitate to spreadsheets and the familiar results of job function? The primary reason is because these metrics are objective. As such, they are simple to quantify. Managers can check their math and take confidence in the numbers. These results are also expected by management and other stakeholders. (After all, they were forecasted and budgeted months earlier.) And they are mandatory, measuring the results of what employees must execute at work—what they are paid to do.

Not so with job essence. Job essence is often subjective. As such, it is difficult to quantify. Managers are uncomfortable with ambiguity. And unlike job function, job essence is unexpected by customers and is voluntarily demonstrated by employees, reflecting those qualities (e.g., energy, enthusiasm, flair, etc.) that employees choose to display—for no additional cost.

I recently received an email from a blog reader that summarized a negative experience she had with an employee of a wireless carrier. Instead of accepting responsibility for a mishap and offering to resolve the issue, the representative she dealt with was defensive, took the situation personally, and retaliated against her.

As the employee blindly adhered to company policy (which is often worded to protect the financial interests of the company, not the consumer), he was dutifully executing job function and, in so doing, was likely affirmed by management. The numbers for his location (at least for the immediate fiscal period) will look incrementally better with each financial concession he deters.

But if we consider the big picture (beyond near-term results), it’s not quite as rosy for the company. Here’s why: This blog reader has already shared her negative encounter with me and probably several others (only she’s naming the company and location in question). Her loyalty to the brand is likely neutral at best—meaning that when an opportunity to defect presents itself, she won’t hesitate to leave. She’s also less apt to take advantage of the carrier’s promotions during her contract period because of her dissatisfaction with the company’s customer service. These promotions are designed to increase sales. If she’s choosing to ignore them, well, they’re not accomplishing their goals.

Had the employee chosen (it’s always a choice) to demonstrate job essence (e.g., expressed genuine interest in the customer by making eye contact, listening, and responding empathetically; provided a pleasant surprise by proposing an appropriate concession; or delivered service heroics by going above and beyond…), he likely would have created a promoter who would sing the company’s praises to whoever would listen, be fiercely loyal to the brand, and at least consider the various pitches made by the company to add this or that feature to her mobile plan.

Don’t confuse job function with job essence and, just as Coach Wooden did with his players, you can achieve disproportionate success with your customers.

While directing the 1956 epic film The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille challenged a large group of extras portraying the Israelites to energize their performance, shouting, “Alright now. Give me everything you’ve got people! Don’t be extras. Be a nation!”

DeMille’s exhortation of the extras reminds me of the ongoing challenge facing service industry managers to motivate employees, many of whom regularly display their indifference by leaning, standing around, or simply going through the motions at work, treating each customer like the last customer. Their “performances” lack energy, passion, and commitment.

If this describes some portion of your staff, take action! While DeMille used a commanding presence and a megaphone to inspire his actors, service industry managers can motivate employees in other ways:

Model the behavioral standards that are expected of your frontline staff. Great service starts with great leadership. If you are in a leadership role, your credibility will match your consistency. What employees see is what you’ll get.

Treat employees fairly in relation to the basic conditions of employment. I watched an episode of Undercover Boss where a rogue supervisor docked employees two minutes for every minute they clocked in late returning from their lunch breaks. In one cafeteria scene, an employee abruptly ended her conversation and ran full speed in the direction of the time clock to avoid being penalized. This practice epitomizes unfair treatment and fosters unhealthy employee relations at work.

Recognize employees for contributions made to the business. One Gallup survey revealed that 65 percent of employees report receiving no recognition for their work in the previous year. If you are surprised by this finding, understand that saying an occasional, “Good job” doesn’t cut it. Employees deserve sincere and specific feedback from their immediate supervisors.

Encourage participation. Involve employees by actively seeking their input and ideas. Ask questions of employees and then listen to their responses. Stephen Covey termed the need to be listened to, to be understood, as “psychological air.” According to Covey, the highest level of listening is to listen with the intent to understand the other person. Most of us tend to do the opposite, seeking instead to be understood ourselves.

Create and manage an inclusive work environment based on respect and mutual trust where differences are valued, even celebrated. If left to chance, work groups tend to devolve into cliques whereby dysfunctional pecking orders are established by title, uniform, shift, department, and other factors.

While megaphones serve a purpose on a movie set, it’s insufficient to exhort staff without first providing a work environment that fosters engagement. By reinforcing the above principles, managers will create the conditions necessary for employees to shift from simply portraying dispassionate “extras” to becoming “a nation” of enthusiastic service providers!

As a manager, how do you inspire top performance? Or, as a non-management employee, how are you best motivated to perform?

During a recent trip to Lakeshore Learning Store in Lone Tree, Colorado, I debated which set of Giant Soft & Safe Dinosaurs to buy my preschooler for Christmas. I chose the set containing a pterodactyl. As I laid the package on the counter, the cashier, Pete, affirmed my choice, exclaiming, “Oh yeah. You have to get the set with the pterodactyl!”

Then, noticing the stegosaurus in the mix, he added, “And this set also contains a stegosaurus. Did you know the stegosaurus was named the state dinosaur of Colorado?”

I said, “I had no idea. But thanks for letting me know because now I have a story!”

During our brief exchange, Pete demonstrated that his job is made up of two parts: job function and job essence.

Job functions refer to the tasks or duties associated with his job role such as ringing up purchases, processing payments, and providing sales receipts. Job functions are mandatory. Pete is paid to execute job functions. And customers expect for retail employees to carry out these types of job functions.

The other part of Pete’s job on display was job essence. Job essence refers to an employee’s highest priority at work, which, for most service industry employees, is to create a promoter. A promoter is a customer who is less price-sensitive, has higher repurchase rates, and is responsible for 80-90 percent of the positive word-of-mouth about a company or brand.

Job essence provides the story. Pete’s decisions to convey authentic enthusiasm about the set containing the pterodactyl and share unique knowledge about the stegosaurus reflected the essence of his job. Unlike job function, job essence is voluntary and there’s no additional cost to an employer for employees to display it. And since job essence is often unexpected by customers, it tends to leave a lasting positive impression.

Not all employees recognize that their jobs are made up of two parts. Many employees operate under the assumption that their jobs are made up entirely of job functions. If you’re skeptical, just ask your own employees to describe for you what their jobs entail. My hunch is you’ll receive a list of tasks or duties associated with their job roles (i.e., job functions). And there will likely be no mention of job essence.

While employees consistently execute mandatory job functions for which they are paid, they inconsistently demonstrate voluntary job essence for which there is no additional cost. That’s why encounters with employees like Pete are so rare.

When the majority of retail transactions, especially during the crush of the holiday shopping season, are process-focused and forgettable, it’s refreshing to meet a cashier like Pete who, by choosing to reflect job essence, creates experiences for shoppers that are customer-focused and memorable.

Have you met any ‘Petes’ this holiday shopping season?

On Monday of this week I attempted to return a Price Pfister kitchen faucet purchased last year to Lowe’s Home Improvement store. The cashier, Karen, understandably denied my request citing Lowe’s 90-day return policy and the manufacturer’s 12-month warranty. (Although I no longer had the receipt, I estimated that 19 months had elapsed since the purchase date.)

I then asked to see a store manager (not to pursue a refund—even I didn’t expect that). My only motivation was for the manager to listen to my grievance about the faucet and acknowledge my reasoning for not returning it sooner.

Background: In April 2011, I purchased a ceramic sink and the faucet in question from Lowe’s for around $1,000. I then paid a plumber another $200 to install both. After 3-4 weeks, I noticed the faucet was loose at its base but was unable to determine how to tighten it. Assuming the plumber would have answers, I called him back out to my home. He was able to locate and secure the set screw at the base of the unit. While hidden from view facing the backsplash, he pointed it out in the event the problem resurfaced.

After paying another $65 to the plumber, I resolved to not put another cent into the faucet and sink upgrade. From that point on, whenever the faucet was noticeably loose at its base, I simply tightened the set screw with an Allen wrench. I estimate that I was tightening the screw about once a month. I considered returning the faucet sooner but that would have required uninstalling it and reinstalling a new one. And that would cost even more money.

So, I lived with it until last month when I bought a replacement faucet that I had installed by the same plumber. He asked what I wanted to do with the old Price Pfister faucet (which had less than two years of use). Even though it was well past Lowe’s 90-day return policy and the manufacturer’s 12-month warranty, I’d heard great things about Lowe’s customer service quality. So, I took a chance and had the plumber box up the old faucet.

And that brings us back to my experience this week at Lowe’s. The store manager, Gil, listened to my story, examined the faucet (paying particular attention to the base of the unit and the set screw in question), obtained a part number, and cheerfully issued a merchandise credit worth $171.07.

Wow!

Ironically, the day before I was unable to obtain a $27 refund from Dairy Queen for a disappointing ice cream cake that I purchased five hours earlier and for which I had a receipt. (Here’s the story with all the gory details.) But I was able to receive $171.07 in store credit from Lowe’s for a faulty faucet that I purchased 19 months ago for which I had no receipt!

How was your last refund request handled?

Illustration: Aaron McKissen