“I feel like a number. Feel like a number. Feel like a stranger. A stranger in this land. I feel like a number. I’m not a number.”

Even as companies emphasize the importance of personalizing their service in order to create unique and individualized experiences for their customers, these lyrics from Bob Seger’s 1978 release, I Feel Like A Number seem especially relevant today.

All too often, as customers we lose our identities and become a range of other “names.” Here are a few of the “names” I’ve endured recently accompanied by suggested alternatives that will reinforce gracious and personalized service experiences:

“Room 812″ as in, “Room 812 needs more towels.” (As I stood a few feet away from the representative on the other side of the counter in the lobby of a Kansas City hotel.)

Alternative: “Our guest in room 812 needs more towels.”  Or, if you have—or have access to—the guest’s name, then include it: “Mr. Curtin, our guest in room 812 needs more towels.”

“’05 Expedition?” (This was how I was addressed by the service technician in the waiting area the last time I brought my Ford in for service at the dealership.)

This oversight was avoidable. The dealership that services my vehicle is the same one who sold me the vehicle. They know that the ’05 Expedition is owned by Steve Curtin—not to mention that my name was printed on the service order. This particular maintenance rep just fell into the bad habit of favoring vehicle identities over customer identities.

Alternative: “Mr. Curtin?”


“Internet trouble?” (This was the greeting I received from a maintenance representative when I opened my guest room door at a conference center in New Jersey.)

Alternative: “Good evening Mr. Curtin. I understand that you’re unable to connect to the Internet. May I come in and take a look?”

“2-top” as in, “Are you the 2-top who ordered nachos?”

Now, ideally, restaurant servers should know exactly where each order goes. That said, the reality is that oftentimes in the crush of peak periods—sometimes accompanied by staffing issues, equipment problems, inventory shortages, etc.—communication breaks down and items leave the kitchen for destinations unknown…

When this happens, the server or expeditor simply needs to be gracious—perhaps saying something like this:

Alternative: “Pardon me. Would you be awaiting an order of Chipotle Nachos?”

Similar to the last example:

“Medium rare salmon” as in, “Are you the medium rare salmon?”

I’ve heard that you are what you eat but c’mon—if we really thought about what we were saying, we’d never say this. In the event there is uncertainty as to who ordered what, why not say something playful like this:

Alternative: “Alright, which lucky guest gets to claim the medium rare salmon?”

“12 C” as in, “12 C needs a pillow.”

I understand what’s going on here. Flight attendants are busy and customers are demanding. Short cuts like these provide the efficiency needed to process more customers in less time thus making everybody happy, right? Well, not everybody…

We know from consumer research that customers appreciate being recognized as customers—preferably by name.

Alternative: “The passenger in seat 12 C needs a pillow.” Or, if they have the flight manifest in their possession, they can add the name to personalize the request further:  “Mr. Curtin, in seat 12 C, needs a pillow.”


“Retail” as in, “Are you guys retail?”

This is how I was addressed (along with another customer) as I waited alongside the counter in a cramped retail space at a local tree nursery. You see, each year the nursery hosts my children’s preschool outing to the pumpkin patch. There’s a hayride and a hay maze outside. Inside, where I was, there were Halloween tattoos, stickers, and bags of treats. Since the space is so cramped, you just stand where you can to be out of the way and make room for the kids.

A more appropriate way for this employee to distinguish between customers who were waiting to purchase a pumpkin and those who were just watching their children might have been to ask:

Alternative: “Hello. May I help you with something?” She might have even had a little fun with it due to the occasion: “Happy Harvest! Are you awaiting a cashier or are you in line for a tattoo and a goodie bag?”

“11 o’clock” as in, “Samantha, your 11 o’clock is here.”

Alternative: “Samantha, Steve’s here for his 11 o’clock appointment.”

Here are some other impersonal greetings I frequently receive:

“Two for dinner?”

“Checking-in?”

“Next?”

Consider spending 5-10 minutes during your next pre-shift or department meeting exploring examples with your staff from your own world of work. Then, hold each other accountable. Look for opportunities to catch employees doing it right and coach in situations where they fall short of the standard. As managers, recognize that you too are accountable to consistently model the standard.

Set the standard high. Avoid using generic labels for your customers. Use customers’ names whenever possible. In doing so, you will be demonstrating authentic enthusiasm for your customers in ways that transform bland and ordinary transactions into unique and personalized service experiences.

Last week, I worked in Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama for a client in the insurance industry. Over lunch she questioned whether or not the essence of an employee’s job could be captured in his job function.

My reply was that job essence and job function were separate and that there is a very real danger to combining them.

To clarify, the essence of an employee’s job is his overarching purpose—his highest priority. Job essence for employees at most companies is to create promoters—enthusiastic customers who will recommend their products and services, are less price-sensitive, and have higher repurchase rates.

Job function refers to the duties associated with one’s job role. For example, a job function of a receptionist is to greet customers who enter the reception area. Some companies script this greeting to ensure employees’ professionalism and maintain consistency.

Scripting and legislating customer greetings may appear to be an effective way to capture job essence (expressing genuine interest in the customer) in a job function (customer greeting) but that may not always be the case.

When I think of ineffective greetings, two companies come to mind: Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza and Best Buy. Both organizations have taken a behavior that is intended to make customers feel welcome in their stores and, by scripting and mandating the greeting, have marginalized its effect on customers.

Oftentimes when I enter Papa Murphy’s to pick up my pizza, employees hear the door chime and say, “Welcome to Papa Murphy’s” but don’t even bother to look up from behind the counter.

Best Buy “greeters” are, interestingly, positioned with their backs to customers as they enter the store. If they’re not busy inspecting customers’ bags, they may look over their shoulder and say, “Welcome to Best Buy.” It makes me wonder what their real function is—greeting customers or preventing theft?

As with the Papa Murphy’s example, this greeting has become institutionalized in the stores. It’s mandatory. It’s expected. It’s monotonous. It’s robotic. And it’s ineffective at making customers feel genuinely welcomed.

A sincere greeting is one that expresses genuine interest in the customer and conveys authentic enthusiasm for serving her. Unless it’s over the phone, it certainly includes eye contact, a visible smile, and, in every case, energy in the greeter’s voice.

While it’s efficient to provide greeters with scripts, it may be more effective to ensure that they recognize the essence of their jobs is to create delighted customers—promoters—and then rely on them to convey this in their own words and actions.

What do you think?

Last week, I visited a leading “big-box” retailer to do a bit of holiday shopping. The first thing I noticed upon entering the store was that a large group of perhaps twenty employees had formed a circle to conduct an informal pre-shift meeting. As I passed by the group, I made a few observations:

• No one in the group noticed me or any of the other customers—including one who was struggling to free a shopping cart from the end of the row—as we passed by.
• The fact that the group was facing inward and process-focused as opposed to facing outward and customer-focused, to me, contradicted its company’s mission statement which includes: “…delivering…an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our…brand promise.”
• I overheard that the previous day’s sales had exceeded the budgeted forecast. That’s good news—especially in this economy! Guess who made it possible? Ironically, the customers who were now largely ignored.
• Guest contact employees are always “on stage.” This group, although it was prominently featured in the very spotlight of center stage, was performing as if it was backstage and there was no audience!

I understand why this company holds these informal “huddles.” It’s a way to keep the lines of communication open between hourly employees and management as well as provide insight into the store’s operations and financials.

It’s also a great way to communicate and reinforce the company’s highest priority: serving customers. Unfortunately, in my view, this is where they missed the target…

Ever noticed the greeting you receive more often than not by the person bagging your groceries at your local supermarket? If your local supermarket is like mine, it probably sounds something like this: “Paper or plastic?”

All too often, appropriate greetings have left the repertoire of most customer-facing employees in the service industry. Appropriate greetings seem to have transformed from gracious messages to welcome customers to robotic questions designed to increase throughput…

Here are some other “greetings” I hear a lot:

“Two for dinner?”

“Checking in?”

“For here or to go?”

As customers, it’s just as easy to lower our expectations of service providers and simply comply with these robotic questions in the same manner. But there’s no magic there. Nothing is happening to engage the customer, to make it memorable, or to build loyalty.

That may be why it’s so refreshing to experience service providers who are less robotic and more unique. These employees get your attention and make an impression by demonstrating authentic enthusiasm for their customers in ways that transform typical bland, ordinary transactions into memorable and unique experiences.

Your thoughts?