After my wife had returned home from the hospital after delivering our fourth child, she sent me out to the store with a short list of items she needed.  One of those items was Witch Hazel.

I stopped by my local chain drug store and, while I was able to locate the more common items, I was unable to locate the Witch Hazel.  I found an employee at the pharmacy counter (who was drinking a bottle of Gatorade) and asked.  His response didn’t inspire much confidence: “I think it’s by the razors.  I don’t remember the aisle number.  It’s at that end of the store (while pointing).”  As he returned to his Gatorade, I headed in the direction he pointed and came across the razors.

It didn’t seem like the part of the store that would contain Witch Hazel, but I scanned the shelves anyway.  After a minute or two, I tracked down a nearby employee and asked her the same question.  She took me one aisle over and assisted me in the search.  Again, she didn’t seem too confident saying, “I thought we used to stock it around here somewhere. We might be out of it.”

Since we could not find an empty area on the shelves that was assigned to Witch Hazel, I considered searching for the store manager to verify whether or not they were out of stock or the product was located elsewhere.  But, alas, I’d already asked two employees and was beginning to lack confidence in the store itself.

So I left the store and drove across the parking lot to my local Safeway.  I approached the pharmacy counter at Safeway and asked for the location of the Witch Hazel product.  What happened next, in my mind, separates my local chain drug store from my local Safeway:  The employee made eye contact with me, smiled, then said, “Here, let me show you where it is.”

She came out from behind the counter and walked me to the bottles of liquid Witch Hazel.  She bent down to pick one up asking, “Is this what you’re looking for?”  I said, “I’m sorry.  My wife asked for Witch Hazel pads, not the liquid.”  She then brought me to the other side of the aisle and said, “How about these?” as she handed me a container with the pads. I said, “That’s perfect, thanks.”

She smiled and said, “Did your wife just have a baby?”  I smiled back and said, “Yes.  We had a baby boy on Tuesday.”  Again, she smiled and said, “Congratulations!”

This is a great example of an employee reading her customer.  She could see, perhaps by my appearance, that I wasn’t sleeping much and was likely running errands for my wife who was at home recovering from the birth of a child.  How perceptive.  How personal.  What a positive impression she made.

While I cannot speak for everyone, as each of our experiences are so uniquely singular, the next time I need a pharmacy product I will drive past my local chain drug store and return to Safeway.

Who should you service first?  The customer who’s phoning or the one standing right in front of you?  There’s a real double standard here among customers.  When you’re the one calling, you expect the employee to answer promptly and assist you right away without being put on hold.  However, when you’re the one standing in line waiting to be served you may expect that you should take priority over callers.

There’s a take and bake pizza store in my neighborhood that receives lots of phone orders.  Customers then arrive at the store and wait in a line to pick up the pizza order they phoned in.  Eventually they make their way to the front of the line where the employee working the register finally acknowledges them.  At this point customers are at the mercy of the phone.  If it rings, as it often does, they will have to wait another couple of minutes for the employee to take a phone order or two before their pizza is rung up.

On a Wednesday afternoon, it’s not so bad but on a Friday night?  The line of customers waiting to pay coupled with the volume of customers calling in their pizza orders creates tension.  I mean, really, you can sense it when you enter the store and can see it clearly in the body language of customers and employees alike.

Once, after waiting an inordinately long time to pay for my order, I actually considered using my cell phone to call the store and when they answered, saying something like, “Hello.  Hey, do you see that guy standing in front of the register holding a $20 bill?  Uh huh, right—the guy on the cell phone.  That’s me.  And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop answering the phone and ring up my pizza so I can get out of here.”

I’m sure the frontline hourly employee who faces this dilemma likely feels frustrated himself.  Chances are he hasn’t been trained in how to properly handle such situations.  Sadly, this fosters an adversarial relationship with customers who are then viewed by employees as impatient and unreasonable—as opposed to the source of their livelihoods.

Some employees have a penchant for delivering service heroics that become the subjects of many positive customer testimonials and even company lore.  This is an effective way for these employees to express their uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

For our tenth year wedding aniversary, I bought my wife an anniversary ring from Tiffany & Co.  We had planned to stay at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, about an hour and a half from our home in southeast Denver, and I had made arrangements for the ring to be shipped to the hotel from the Denver location of Tiffany.

Well, as it happened, Denver was hit by a major snowstorm the morning of our anniversary and we chose to cancel our plans to drive down to Colorado Springs.  Meanwhile, the ring had already been shipped and was in the process of being delivered to the hotel by United Parcel Service.

I contacted the Tiffany store in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center with my dilemma and my salesperson assured me that she would take care of it.  What happened next was legendary.  The store arranged for one of its security guards to drive two hours south of the store to Colorado Springs where he located the UPS truck transporting the ring, provided the paperwork necessary to claim the package, and then drove the ring another hour and a half to my house.

He arrived around 9:00 pm and would not even accept a gratuity for his extra effort.  Of course, I wrote Tiffany’s president in New York City about the service heroics and committed to “never purchase a significant piece of jewelry from a jeweler other than Tiffany and Co.”  He wrote back in acknowledgment of my letter—and in appreciation of my loyalty.

I’ve heard similar testimonials from others when presenting customer service training around the country.  Without exception, the one element that each of these stories has in common is the customers’ unconditional loyalty to the company involved.  There’s no coupon or incentive program out there that’s strong enough to lure these customers—and their future spending—away.

Conveying authentic enthusiasm that adds a bit of a spark to an otherwise predictable transaction is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Three years ago, I ordered an omelet from an omelet maker at a Marriott hotel in Atlanta, GA.  He was wearing an apron that he meticulously pressed an accordion-like pattern into each morning before work.  It was so remarkable that you had to ask him about it.

And the personality that he put into his outstanding uniform carried over to the personality in his service as an omelet maker.  I still recall his name, Ulysses.  Seriously folks, how many of you can recall these types of details from an interaction you had with an omelet maker three years ago?

Ulysses is genuinely filled with enthusiasm and authentically conveys this enthusiasm to customers in a way that is unique, perhaps even singular, and matches his style and personality.

Authentic enthusiasm may be animated or may be reserved, but it will be real.

Offering a sincere and specific compliment is an effective way to recognize customers and make the service experience memorable.

For example, you might say, “That’s a gorgeous watch. Is it a Tag Heuer?” And then, assuming you have a genuine interest in and knowledge of watches, demonstrate your enthusiasm by adding something like, “Have you seen the new Link Calibre S that Tiger Woods endorses?” This customer will appreciate that you recognized his watch and, if you’re talking with either a watch or golf enthusiast, your interaction is bound to be memorable!

Just the other day, a Starbucks barista complimented the customer ahead of me in line by saying, “I love your necklace!” The customer smiled, picked up her beverage and said, “Oh my gosh—thank you!” in the most delighted tone. It was only 8:00am and yet I believe the employee had already made her day!

I’m not suggesting that you should manufacture compliments in order to better serve your customers. The opportunity to offer a sincere and specific compliment will not present itself during every customer service interaction—and insincere compliments are awkward. Just be on the lookout for those opportunities to genuinely recognize a customer’s attire, hairstyle, jewelry—even the behavior of their young children.

Customers will appreciate the recognition and you will be memorable—which certainly beats the alternative!

Expressing genuine interest in the customer that exceeds the functional requirements to complete the transaction is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

For instance, a bilingual employee who speaks Spanish may say, “Bienvenido. ¿Cómo está usted?” to a customer she overheard speaking Spanish to a colleague. Or perhaps a well-traveled employee could ask a specific question based on where the customer is from that communicates his interest in the customer. If the customer is from Kauai, for example, and the employee recently vacationed there, then he might say, “Kauai is amazing! I recently traveled there and explored the entire island from the Waimea Canyon to the Na Pali coastline.” This customer will likely smile and engage in some conversation about his homeland, perhaps sharing a local’s perspective on a place this employee should be sure to visit during his next trip to Kauai.

But you don’t have to be bilingual or well-traveled to express genuine interest in your customers. To me, when Nordstrom employees walk around the counter to hand me my purchases—while smiling, making eye contact and sincerely thanking me for my business—they are expressing genuine interest in me as a customer.

The opposite of expressing genuine interest is to ignore or express disinterest in serving customers. Have you ever felt ignored as a customer? Have you ever felt like an interruption in a service provider’s day (i.e., “If customers would just stop bothering me, maybe I could get some work done around here!”).

Customers can easily detect when employees are genuinely interested and engaged versus apathetic and merely going through the motions. According to one study, 68% of customers quit doing business with a company because of perceived indifference toward them as a customer. They didn’t say that the service provider was blatantly rude or obnoxious—the word was indifference.

Customer service reps who make me laugh create positive memories for me—of them, the service experience, and the company or brand they represent. Using appropriate humor is an authentic way for employees to express their uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Here’s an example from my local Starbucks drive-thru. I pulled up to the speaker to place my order and the conversation went something like this:

Me: “I’d like a Double Shot with Energy.” (Note: Energy is a supplement that Starbucks adds to its beverages upon request.)
Barista: “I’m sorry but we’re out of Energy this morning.”

Me: “Yeah, I can hear it in your voice.” : )
Barista: “Oh wait! I lied. I found some more Energy!”
Me: “Yeah, I can hear it in your voice.” : )

I then pulled up to the drive-thru window where I was greeted with:

Barista: “Was that a Grande Double Shot with Energy?”
Me: “Yes. Sorry—I don’t think I mentioned the size.”

Barista: “That’s okay. I’m psychic. I heard it in your voice.” : )
Me: “Ha! Ha!”

Compare this exchange with a typical drive-thru interaction at a quick service restaurant. What’s different about it? It was so unique to me that I’ve already shared the story with dozens of people and have blogged about it. When so many retail transactions are characterized by indifference, experiences like this one are a breath of fresh air!

I welcome your comments—if you have the energy! ; )

Sharing unique knowledge that goes beyond the common, mundane, and expected information (i.e., job knowledge) is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Unique knowledge is not the same as job knowledge. Job knowledge is necessary for an employee to be proficient in his or her job role. It is expected by the customer and, generally speaking, is transactional—not memorable. Unique knowledge, when provided by the employee, is unexpected, refreshing, valued, and memorable!

To illustrate, allow me to share a true story: One evening a former colleague and I were discussing customer service and he asked me, “Steve, what are some of the names of the meeting rooms at the hotel where you work?” I responded, “Odets, Wilder, Cantor, Jolson…” He interrupted, “If I were a customer and asked you why the meeting 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 Odets. I admitted this saying, “You know, I just got so used to the name representing a meeting room that I didn’t really give it much thought.”

My colleague made 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—from the customer’s perspective—may be the difference between an ordinary transaction and a unique experience.

I took his advice to heart and later learned that the Odets meeting room was named after the playwright Clifford Odets who wrote the plays Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing. Several of the hotel’s meeting rooms were named after other well-known playwrights. Having this unique knowledge to share with customers enabled me to provide a richer, more interesting experience for them and certainly beat the alternative response: “I don’t know.”

How about you? What unique knowledge do you possess that is relevant to your workplace and will leave a lasting impression on your customers?

Providing a pleasant surprise that adds an unexpected perk to an otherwise ordinary experience, is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Have you ever received an unexpected upgrade, a complimentary appetizer, or some other pleasant surprise when you were not expecting it? How did it make you feel? I bet you can recall many details from the experience—probably because you’ve shared the story with others many times.

My wife was once sought out by a United Airlines flight attendant who thanked Julie by name for flying the airline as she handed her a coupon for a complimentary in-flight glass of wine. Not only was Julie pleasantly surprised, she continues to go out of her way to fly United Airlines, in part, due to positive memories like this one.

Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A restaurants, loves to add service touches that people don’t expect from a fast-food restaurant. Here are just a few pleasant surprises you’re likely to find at your local Chick-fil-A:

• After your order has been fulfilled, you’ll hear “My pleasure” rather than “No problem.”
• At the bottom of your to-go bag of food you’ll find one individually wrapped mint for each meal ordered.
• If you use the restroom, you’ll find that the last sheet of toilet paper is folded into a triangular point—similar to a luxury hotel.

Each of these service touches has the potential to pleasantly surprise customers and, as a result, to make a lasting positive impression!

How about you? Have you provided a pleasant surprise to a customer lately—or been on the receiving end of a pleasant surprise yourself?

The results are in from the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study. According to the study, hotels are feeling the double economic pinch of less leisure travel and higher operating expenses costs. They are trying to manage their costs at the same time they meet ever-higher customer expectations, but that effort hasn’t been totally successful. In 2008, overall satisfaction with hotels is down notably in four of the six segments measured by the study.

In my own 2008 survey regarding factors contributing to the decline in customer service industry-wide, the number one contributor to the decline was workforce optimization—which is just a fancy way of saying that operators are keeping a close eye on labor costs which account for roughly half of all total operating expenses in the hospitality industry.

Presumably, operators are faced with the dilemma of reduced guest satisfaction resulting from lean scheduling during these difficult economic times that reduces the ratio of employees to guests—leading to longer waits in line, on hold, etc. There’s no doubt that this becomes a balancing act as lines begin to form and guests grow impatient…

That said, I’m frequently reminded that it doesn’t cost any more for a guest-facing employee to smile, make eye contact, and have some “life” in her voice. These basics cost nothing at all and, regardless of staffing levels, may mean the difference between mediocre and stellar service from the guest’s perspective.

A penny for your thoughts? (I used to offer a nickel but times are tough!)