I was in New York City for a business trip a week or so before my 10-year wedding anniversary. One afternoon, I stopped by the Tiffany & Co. flagship store on 6^th Avenue to look at anniversary rings.

A thoughtful representative named Duncan showed me several rings as he explained some of the nuances of color, cut, clarity, and carat weight.

The rings looked magnificent beneath the showroom lights. I recall that of the half dozen or so rings that I looked at, there was one that I kept going back to. Duncan noticed it too. And, of course, it cost 25 percent more than the others.

After about 30 minutes together, I thanked him for his time and told him that I wouldn’t be buying the ring today. I mentioned that I had an appointment in two days with a representative at the Denver location of Tiffany & Co. He congratulated me on my 10-year anniversary and wished me luck in finding the perfect ring.

Two days later I arrived at the Denver location of Tiffany & Co. and met with a representative named Cynthia. Cynthia brought me into a private room to show me a set of anniversary rings that she had selected based on the criteria we discussed. As she revealed each successive ring, she would say something like, “Now, this ring combines the color you are hoping for with the mounting we talked about.”

After introducing several rings in this way, Cynthia produced the final ring saying, “Now, this is the ring that you were especially taken by when Duncan was showing you rings at the 6^th Avenue store on Tuesday.”

I was absolutely floored! I said something like, “Huh? What? How did you…?”

Cynthia sensed my astonishment, smiled, and then explained that she had received a call from Duncan shortly after I’d left the 6^th Avenue store and that together they had made arrangements for the ring to be shipped overnight from New York City to the Denver location of Tiffany & Co. in time for my appointment.

Duncan and Cynthia worked together to deliver customer service that was completely beyond the realm of customer expectation. I had no reason to expect that the ring I’d looked at in New York would be among the options made available to me in Denver.

Does this level of customer service influence sales? Guess which ring I bought?

I wrote to the president of Tiffany and Co. about his employees’ legendary service and committed to “never purchase a significant piece of jewelry from a jeweler other than Tiffany and Co.”

After customers make such a commitment, there is no coupon or incentive program out there that is strong enough to lure them—and their future spending—away.

How about you? What retailer or brand are you committed to and why?

Earlier this evening, between dinner and dessert, my two-year-old son began singing the ABCs Song from his high chair. Not once, but again and again as he was cheered on by his siblings and me each time after completing the song’s finale: “…Next time won’t you sing with meeeee?”

His face lit up every time he was acknowledged at the end of his song. And then, as if it was the very first time, he launched into another rendition of the ABC Song. And what did we, his audience, do throughout each new performance? We smiled, nodded, encouraged, and clapped as though it were the very first time we had heard Carter sing the song.

It reminded me of when customers ask us questions we’ve heard a hundred (or thousand) times before. Common questions such as, “Where are you located?” or “How does your rewards program work?” or “What beers do you have on tap?”

The tendency is to begin answering the question even before the customer has completed his sentence. Sometimes the response is rushed in order to move onto other, more important, questions or priorities or is delivered in a way that is robotic. Efficient, yes, but ineffective.

Customers deserve to be acknowledged in unique ways. It may be the fortieth time you’ve heard the question today but it’s likely the first time this customer has asked it. Respond to their questions in ways that communicate a sincere desire to serve.

And here’s another benefit to tuning into customer questions—even the common ones: a chance to sell!

Take the three common questions above for example. Each question provides an opportunity to make a sale. When a customer calls and asks where you’re located, you have a chance to make a friendly first impression over the phone and to facilitate the customer’s drive to your location by providing clear directions with easy-to-spot landmarks.

Seriously, think of all the times that you’ve contacted a business for directions and because of the robotic, apathetic, or indifferent response, you made a decision to go elsewhere. It happens—a lot.

When a customer asks how a rewards program works, that’s your opportunity to shine, learn more about the customer’s use of your products and services, and enroll her in the program. She benefits from the program’s perks and your company benefits from her continued loyalty and future spending.

The alternative is to default to a script that you’ve spewed countless times in the past as you hand the program brochure to the customer before moving on to other priorities. The recipients of these rote pitches generally toss the program materials as soon as they round the next corner.

And the final example above, “What beers do you have on tap?” provides a great opportunity for engaged servers to sell high-margin draft beer or to upsell customers to a larger size—and a higher profit margin.

How many times have you heard a server respond in one breath, “BudBudLightCoorsCoorsLightAnchorSteamAmstelLightSamAdams andBass” or, worse, point you to the back of the menu? I recall times when servers were visibly irritated by the question. Their body language said, “Ugh…not again.”

Years ago I read the book, Hey, I’m the Customer: Front Line Tips for Providing Superior Customer Service by Ron Willingham. One of the quotes from that book that stood out to me was to “tune the world out and the customer in.” Whether “the world” refers to being preoccupied, distractions, or even the monotony of answering the same question again and again, you owe it to your customers to tune them in.

Think back to the beginning of this post. Imagine if, instead of acknowledging my two-year-old son with applause, I had said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…ABCs. Look Carter, you’re my fourth kid. Do you know how many times I’ve heard the ABC Song? Here, eat your ice cream.” Efficient, yes, but ineffective.

So the next time you receive “that question” (you know the one), refuse to go on autopilot. Instead, pause, make eye contact, smile, and then, with a bit of enthusiasm in your voice, respond as though it’s the very first time you’ve heard the question. Look for opportunities—even in seemingly predictable questions—to learn more about your customers, to add value, and to increase sales.

Here’s a story I came across on-line. The author, Jack Bastide, gave me permission to include it on my blog as an example of how expressing genuine interest in customers translates into increased customer satisfaction and—ultimately—sales!

“About 3 years ago we bought two Jeeps. A Grand Cherokee for myself and a Liberty for my wife.  We bought them at two different dealerships. The guy that sold me my Jeep handed me his business card and I never heard from him again.  I don’t remember his name and I don’t remember the name of his dealership.

The person who sold my wife the car is Martha from Courtesy Jeep. I haven’t seen Martha in 3 years but I remember her very well. Why do I remember her?

• She sends me birthday cards
• She sends my wife birthday cards
• She sends us holiday cards
• She even sent us a happy anniversary card for the one-year anniversary of our Jeep!

So if somebody was to say to me, “Hey, I’m looking to buy a Jeep. Where should I go?” Who would I recommend? Some guy I don’t even know or Martha? Martha, of course. It’s a no-brainer!”

My take-away? It’s worth the extra time and attention it takes to express genuine interest in your customers. Aside from building relationships, it’s unexpected—a pleasant surprise—and lets customers know that you value their business, referrals, and loyalty.

Earlier today I stopped by my local Safeway supermarket. I was picking up the necessary ingredients to make a pretty unoriginal meal: spaghetti and meat sauce. Deciding it might be interesting to surprise my family with a unique twist on a common meal—in our household anyway—I looked at the seasoning packets in the baking aisle to see if they had one for Italian meatballs.

I wasn’t finding exactly what I was looking for and must have telegraphed this with my body language because, about the time I was going to give up and settle for boring old meat sauce, an employee named Kristi approached me to see if I needed help. I explained what I was looking for and together we scanned the selection one more time without finding exactly what I needed.

Kristi then said, “I’m sorry we don’t have what you’re looking for. I have my own recipe for Italian meatballs in my head.” I asked, “Can you tell me some of the basic ingredients? Then I’ll try to make it myself at home.”

She then provided me with a list of ingredients and corresponding quantities from her personal recipe! I was delighted and thanked her for taking the extra time to help me.

But it doesn’t end there. About five minutes later, Kristi approached me in another part of the store saying, “I almost forgot…you’ll also need 3 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese.”

I was so impressed with her thoughtfulness and the genuine interest she expressed in my desire to serve Italian meatballs to my family for dinner. Not only did she stop what she was doing in the baking aisle to assist me and—ultimately—share her personal recipe, she also had the thoughtfulness to reflect on the recipe to make sure she hadn’t left anything out. And when she realized she had, took the initiative to find me in the store and share the missing ingredient!

While memorable customer service may not always translate immediately to increased sales, it did in this case. Remember, I was prepared to settle for boring old meat sauce (which I already had at home) after not finding what I was looking for on the shelf. In fact, it turns out that I already had most of the ingredients for Kristi’s recipe at home. But there were two items, saltine crackers and Parmesan cheese, that I didn’t have. Those items totaled $7.

Just imagine the potential of a supermarket staffed by engaged employees like Kristi.  What if every customer who telegraphed a need through his or body language as I did was approached rather than ignored? Maybe a percentage of these customers could be directed to another part of the store where the product they’re hoping to find is stocked? Or perhaps, assuming the store does not carry exactly what they’re looking for, some number of customers could be induced to try an alternative like I was?

Can you begin to see the potential?

I recently brought my car in to Discount Tire here in Denver to purchase a new set of tires.  The rep suggested a suitable tire and then began to put together a deal.  This included a credit for my old tires, a road hazard warranty, free installation, and free quarterly rotation and balancing for the life of the tires.  So far, so good.

Then, before presenting me with the total, the rep asked me a question: “Mr. Curtin, does your wife ever drive this car?”  I said, “Sure.”  He then said, “Would adding a feature called ’siping’ to the tires in order to provide extra safety by increasing road traction while decreasing braking distance by 200% be important to her?”  Naturally it would.

Although I’d never before heard of siping, I added the $10 per tire treatment and increased the amount of the sale by $40.  It turns out that siping involves scoring the tire with tiny grooves that increase the tire’s elasticity and grip on the road.  Now, some of you skeptics may think I was taken but that’s not the way I see it.  From a psychological standpoint, I feel assured that these tires will do the best possible job of gripping the road in the elements and braking to a stop quickly when necessary.

For me, safety is a priority when buying tires.  Guess who else knows that safety is a high priority for me—and most of its customers?  That’s right: the people at Discount Tire.  Now I don’t know what their profit margin is when this feature is added but I imagine it’s pretty high.

Now consider your own customers.  What’s important to them?  Safety?  Comfort?  Speed?  Accuracy?  Convenience?  Something else?  Think about the products and services that you offer.  What sort of value-added enhancements might you make available that your customers will feel good about purchasing?

Not every customer will bite but if it’s positioned correctly and matches one or more of the priorities of your target customers, enough will to make it well worth your while.