If you studied management anywhere along your journey, then you may recall the seminal Harvard Business Review article by Sterling Livingston titled Pygmalion in Management.

Essentially, the article dealt with the self-fulfilling prophecy (or Pygmalion effect from Greek mythology) in management—a supervisor’s expectation of a subordinate’s performance that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, for better or for worse.

The same thing is true in customer service.

Pygmalion in service suggests that there is a very real self-fulfilling prophecy in the delivery of customer service when an employee’s expectation of company standards and service levels directly or indirectly influences his or her attitude and performance.

Why is customer service consistently better at a luxury or full service hotel than an economy or select service hotel? And why do many high-end retailers have reputations for providing exceptional customer service while discounters generally are known for good prices but mediocre customer service? Why do we tend to receive better customer service at a fine dining restaurant than at a quick service restaurant?

I’m sure some of you are thinking: “Well, Steve, the high-end brands that you’re referring to have chosen to invest more money in their delivery of customer service. It’s reflected in everything from the customer to employee ratio to the fresh-cut flowers in the restrooms.”

I get that reasoning but it only addresses half of the equation.

Every business is made up of processes (like staffing models and restroom accents) as well as the attitudes of its people. And, while there is a cost associated with upgraded processes, there’s no such cost associated with upgraded employee attitudes. They’re free.

Employees choose their attitudes. Positive attitudes towards customers and customer service (conveyed by smiling, eye contact, and adding enthusiasm to one’s voice) are optional—which explains why you and I seldom encounter positive attitudes from enthusiastic and engaged employees.

There’s no reason for a front desk clerk at a Super 8 motel not to smile and welcome a guest similar to a front desk clerk at a Four Seasons hotel. There’s nothing stopping a cashier at Walmart from making eye contact with a customer in the same way a salesperson does while ringing up purchases at Nordstrom. And there’s no excuse for a server at Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta to not add enthusiasm to her voice like a server at Christini’s Ristorante Italiano in Orlando, Florida.

As managers, you tend to get what you expect. Expect your employees to embrace your organizations’ high customer service standards. (They are high, right?) And expect your employees to choose attitudes daily that are positive, helpful, and engaging. (Just like the attitudes you model, right?)

Do this and you will create a Pygmalion effect in customer service that elevates the performance expectations of your employees—regardless of whether or not they work at Nordstrom or Four Seasons.

Last month, I presented a customer service message to a group of managers from Townhouse Inns of Montana, a division of Town Pump, Inc.

During my work with them I learned that the company founder, Tom Kenneally, Sr., began the company in Butte, Montana as a single full service gas station in 1953. It was here that he began to lay the customer service foundation for a company that would later expand into lodging, casinos, car washes, convenience stores, propane services, and more.

Here are just a few examples:

• Tom, Sr. would hand the customer his wristwatch to time his oil change which was guaranteed to take less than 3 minutes or the oil change was free! This gesture demonstrated that he valued his customer’s time and was confident in his own ability to perform the service within the timeframe promised.
• Back in the 1950s, the state of Montana published a vehicle registration directory that listed every license plate number issued as well as the name corresponding to it. In 1953 in Butte, Montanan you can rest assured that Tom, Sr. knew most of his customers by name. However, on those occasions when an unfamiliar vehicle pulled into the service station, he would take note of the plate number and then quickly look up the name associated with it. This way, he could greet the customer by name!
• More recently, Town Pump, Inc. established a charitable foundation with the mission to provide financial support to Montana charitable or governmental organizations with the priority to support and meet basic needs and education for Montana citizens. The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has contributed $1.15 million to Montana food banks alone over the past seven years.

A company’s history is vital to its identity and culture. Current employees take their cues from the patterns forged over time that emerge as company history, legacies, stories, and culture. In the case of Town Pump, Inc., it’s a story of 56 years of service to its customers, employees, and neighbors.

And remember that while 1953 was a long time ago, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your company’s existence. In other words, the stories and legacies that will come to define your company in the future are being created right now!

So the question becomes, “What am I doing right now that will support the kind of service culture that I want to be associated with and remembered for?” Once you’ve identified that, now you just simply need to behave on your good intentions—as Tom, Sr. has done for so many years.