A blog reader recently shared this story:

My family recently moved, but our kitchen was not completely finished. Making meals was difficult so we ordered take-out from a local New York Butcher Shoppe that offered a Wednesday meal special: basically $22 to feed a family of four to six, making this a very good deal.

The first time we tried it, the meal itself was great, but the side dish (advertised as broccoli salad) had pork in it. As someone who used to be Kosher and now just does not like pork anymore, I was disappointed to see it in a vegetable salad. I know this is the south, and pork shows up in ice cream due to its popularity. But still, a broccoli salad?

The next week, when we asked about pork in the side dish, they admitted it did have it but offered to substitute their (AMAZING!!!) mac and cheese. This alone is good customer service, but here is the kicker…

What makes this extraordinary is that the next week when we went to pick up the latest meal deal, they said without prompting, “Yes, the side dish has pork in it but we made a non-pork version just for you.”

Needless to say, they have ensured loyal customers in the future.

~Ilene B. (Atlanta, GA)

So, as it turns out, all the good folks at New York Butcher Shoppe had to do to earn Ilene’s loyalty was express genuine interest in her by recalling the way she prefers her broccoli salad. Too often, service providers convey indifference toward customers who share preferences that are outside the norm, aiming instead to satisfy the majority. Non-conforming outliers like Ilene are labeled by frontline employees as high-maintenance, hard to please, or even as “difficult” customers.

I prefer to view these customers, these exceptions, as providing opportunities to deliver exceptional customer service. If nine out of ten customers are happy with pork in their broccoli salads, then the tenth customer (who would prefer not to have pork in her salad) shakes things up! She wants something a little different. To me, this makes my interaction with her unique. It’s more interesting and memorable than the previous nine orders.

By accommodating her special request with a smile as opposed to a sigh, Ilene won’t feel as though she’s imposing, being difficult or hard to please. And because she is made to feel comfortable in her noncompliance, she will be more willing to return—even if this means displaying similar, discerning, behavior in the future.

Of course, when she no longer has to mention any of her individual preferences because of the relationship she has established with the service providers and their penchant for anticipating her needs, then there’s no coupon or discount valuable enough to lure Ilene (and her future referrals and spending) away.

In 168 BC the Greek ruler, Antiochus led an attack on Egypt. Before reaching Alexandria, his path was blocked by a Roman envoy, who delivered a message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and Cyprus, or consider themselves in a state of war with the Roman Republic.

Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council, whereupon the Roman ambassador instructed a soldier to draw a line in the sand around Antiochus and said, “Before you cross this circle I want you to give me a reply for the Roman Senate” – implying that Rome would declare war if the Greek ruler stepped out of the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his options, Antiochus wisely chose to withdraw.

The above story recounts the origin of the “line in the sand” metaphor depicting confrontation, adversarilism, and an ultimatum. And, while this conflict took place more than 2,000 years ago, similar showdowns between service providers and customers occur daily in a variety of forms. Here’s one particularly egregious example from a disillusioned supermarket employee.

Customers are not the enemy. Instead of fostering an adversarial service culture by refusing to make exceptions, admonishing customers, reacting defensively, and enforcing customer-unfriendly policies, service providers should embrace customers for who they really are: the source of their incomes, group health insurance, and retirement nest eggs. (Don’t kid yourself. All of these benefits—in addition to the last pair of shoes you purchased for yourself or your child—were made possible by your customers’ spending.)

The next time you detect a line in the sand between you and your customers, consider inviting them across. That way, you can be on the same side.

This is the final post in a series that has identified 10 different customer service advantages that have emerged from my analysis of customer satisfaction data. Maybe you have capitalized on one or more of these advantages in your own business? The tenth advantage is to recognize that exceptions require exceptional customer service.

How are exceptions ordinarily treated?

Consider the couple who arrive at a popular restaurant on a Friday evening without a reservation. Does the hostess work her magic to accommodate them or is she dismissive due to their nonconformance, presumption, and naivety? (“Can you imagine? Showing up here, on a Friday night, without a reservation, expecting an open table? The nerve of some people!”)

Just this morning, I flew into Denver International Airport and stopped by Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli for a sandwich. As I approached the counter, I heard the customer ahead of me ask if the bread for his sandwich could be sliced thinner than those visible slices that had been pre-sliced.

(Ordinarily, the employees at Heidi’s slice the sandwich bread off the fresh-baked loaves when preparing the customer’s order. At the airport location, due to the sporadic volume of customers, the bread is sliced in advance and stored in clear plastic tubs to keep them fresh. The pre-sliced bread behind the counter was quite thick and, as I learned, the customer had recently been diagnosed with TMJ syndrome—chronic pain that restricts how wide he can comfortably open his mouth.)

The employee responded that the bread had been pre-sliced and could not be sliced thinner. The customer moved down toward the register, content to simply order a drink and a bag of chips.

About that time, I noticed the open kitchen to the left where there were dozens of loaves of bread being stored on racks. I asked the employee behind the counter if one of those loaves could be used to accommodate the customer who required thinner bread slices.

At first she said no because, according to her, the automated bread slicer used produced slices of a standard thickness.

Then I asked her if she had a bread knife behind the counter.

At this point, she appeared to connect the dots and suggested that she may be able to honor the customer’s request after all.

The customer, overhearing our conversation, approached me and said, “Thank you. Now I can order a sandwich. By the way, what’s good here—besides the service?” *wink*

How many customers do you think will request thinner slices of bread at the airport location of Heidi’s today? Two? Three? Four? I’m not sure but I can say this with certainty: These requests will be infrequent. They will be exceptions. And exceptions require exceptional customer service.

Most employees don’t choose to deliver poor customer service; they just don’t choose to deliver exceptional customer service.

Instead, most service providers (like the restaurant hostess and Heidi’s employee depicted here) are content to simply occupy customer service job roles and execute a set of mandated job functions—blissfully unaware of the opportunities they forfeit daily to take initiative in the moment of choice to delight their customers.

What has your experience been?

Have you ever noticed the tendency of frontline employees to become defensive—even surly—when you bring a problem or misunderstanding to their attention?

Unless your business has chronic, unresolved issues (in which case, you may want to update your résumé), problems and misunderstandings are exceptions. By definition, exceptions do not conform to the general rule. This makes them infrequent. That’s why they’re exceptions.

When exceptions occur in your place of business, how are they typically handled?

In many cases, exceptions such as misunderstandings or unmet expectations, when brought to the attention of frontline employees, create a palpable communication barrier that neutralizes employees’ smiles, eye contact, and enthusiasm to serve.

It’s as if a customer’s misunderstanding, when expressed, drives a wedge between him and the employee. Instead of seeing the situation as an opportunity to serve, many employees recoil and judge the customer as being difficult or misinformed.

Here are two examples from guests of a leading hotel chain that I came across while trolling TripAdvisor.com:

As a [member of your loyalty program], I was on the Concierge Level with access to the lounge. My stay was from Thursday to Tuesday … the Concierge Lounge was closed from Friday 12 noon to Sunday 5pm. On top of that, nowhere were the hours posted on when any sort of food/service was provided (hours on when the lounge was open is posted, but who really cares if you can go there, without food?). Hours were not mentioned upon check-in, when visiting the lounge, or in the room. Two times that I went, I had just missed the food service. On both occasions, the attendants never once said, “Oh, I’m sorry you just missed our food service. Is there anything I can get you? So you know, we provide food between xyz hours).” Yes, I could have asked, but it made me feel a little cheap, to have to ask about the free food.

This feedback is priceless—especially the final comment about the guest being made to feel a little cheap. I can think of many different feelings hotels would like to inspire in their guests but “cheap” isn’t one of them.

Here’s the lesson I receive from this feedback: When a hotel’s Concierge Level guest misses the food service in the Concierge Lounge, it’s an exception. And exceptions provide opportunities for exceptional customer service.

Too often, employees view customers who “screw up” and misinterpret published hours of operation, pricing, directions, etc. as being difficult (i.e., “If only they’d read!”) when these customers should be treated exceptionally well. After all, due to a misunderstanding, their expectations have not been met.

In the case of the Concierge Level guest, why not make him aware of the Concierge Lounge’s hours of operation for the future (preferably by offering him a pre-printed card so he doesn’t have to try and remember them) and then provide a certificate for a complimentary breakfast in the restaurant?

And if he responds that he’d planned to take a plate back to his room to eat while working, then invite him to order room service and take care of the charge to make up for the misunderstanding. After all, when you consider the future spending of a delighted member of your loyalty program, all of a sudden $15-$30 seems quite negligible.

Now, some will say, “But what about the precedent you’re setting?” This concern, usually expressed by people who’d prefer to point to a sign or policy rather than go out of their way, never materializes. After all, it’s an exception.

Here’s another comment from a hotel guest that illustrates the same point:

We were very disappointed in the surliness of the [restaurant] managers both mornings… When checking in to our “breakfast included” room, we were told that breakfast was from 7 to noon. Oops – those hours were only for the [Thanksgiving Day] holiday, and Friday was ‘normal business hours’, which we discovered when we arrived at 10am on Friday for our breakfast. The male manager did not greet us with hello, but with a snapped “we’re closed for lunch”, but then allowed us to grab some food as they were still cleaning up the buffet. He directed us to “sit right here”, set some water without ice on the table, and we were scurried through the buffet under the watchful eye of a non-friendly female manager. No one offered coffee, juice, etc – yes, it was a tad late but we weren’t really causing them any trouble.

Once again, here’s a situation where guests are punished due to a misunderstanding. Instead of viewing this as an opportunity to make a positive lasting impression on their guests, the managers involved forgot their manners and treated them poorly.

In both cases, hotel guests experienced problems due to misunderstandings. Hotels, like most companies, have lots of moving parts and misunderstandings and unmet expectations are inevitable. And unless these problems are systemic, they’re exceptions and should be embraced as opportunities to pleasantly surprise guests.

According to a study by J.D. Power and Associates, when a hotel guest’s problem is resolved perfectly, it results in overall satisfaction averaging 80.7, compared to only 74.9 if there was no problem to begin with.

And the more satisfied a hotel guest is, the more he’ll likely spend. The same study found that guests who rate their overall satisfaction as a ten on a ten-point scale, on average, spend about 40 percent more on ancillary services (e.g., hotel restaurants, gift shop, business center, etc.) than guests offering a rating of six or seven.

So guests who experience a problem and have it resolved perfectly may be more satisfied than guests who do not experience a problem. And guests who are more satisfied tend to spend more money.

When frontline employees make this connection, guests who show up late for breakfast or question a room charge, will not be labeled as “difficult” and treated as such. Instead, these guests—these exceptions—will genuinely be seen as providing opportunities for exceptional customer service.