I met a colleague at ink! Coffee in Denver last week. I appreciate great coffee as I’ve blogged about before and was really looking forward to trying ink!’s.

My first impression was positive as the barista welcomed me and briefly shared ink! Coffee’s philosophy regarding product quality and freshness.

After determining that I was meeting someone for coffee, she dispensed the coffee into a sturdy ceramic mug—which was refreshing. I took my first sip and was truly impressed with the quality. As advertised, it was rich, smooth and not at all bitter.

About twenty minutes into my appointment, the barista came by our table and mentioned to me that they offer free refills.

“Free refills?” I said. “That’s great! I’d love one. Thank you.”

Then she said something that shocked me.

“Oh…but I don’t get it for you. You have to go to the counter to get it.”

She then justified her response by explaining that we were a team and, as such, we all played different roles. Apparently, her role was to prepare and sell me a cup of coffee and my role was to pause my meeting, get up, go to the counter, and wait in line to request a refill.

ink! Coffee’s slogan is: Coffee. Above all else.

Clearly, this includes customer service.

In the men’s restroom, there is a sign boldly displayed which reads:

THE INK ON ink! COFFEE

In 1994, ink! started in Aspen, Colorado with one cart and a lot of passion. We continue to hand-roast our coffee at high elevation in the mountains which allows us to roast longer at a lower temperature making the coffee rich, smooth and never bitter.

Beans are delivered fresh to ink! stores, brewed into coffee, and served to adoring customers. And because we take pride in freshness, we only keep a pot of coffee around about as long as it took to brew it. Same goes for beans. We never stockpile them.

Our baristas have a passion for great coffee (without the attitude). And most importantly, they know how to make the perfect cup.

At least they’re consistent. This sign really does accurately capture the ink! Coffee culture that I experienced: A focus on coffee—not the customer. Notice the only reference to customers is in the second paragraph where we’re described as “adoring.”

I found this definition of “adoring” at Merriam-Webster.com: To worship or honor as a deity or as divine. In the context above, it would seem that customers are expected to “worship” ink! Coffee. That’s flawed. It’s reminiscent of American automakers’ attitude towards their customers until they began defecting to imported brands at an alarming rate. Only then did Detroit begin to refocus on customers.

In the third paragraph, it’s noted that “baristas have a passion for great coffee…And most importantly, they know how to make the perfect cup.” Both of these references have to do with ink!’s product, not service. In fact, there’s no mention of customer service anywhere—so I really shouldn’t have been at all surprised that the barista had no intention of refilling my cup of coffee for me.

I am a huge supporter of smaller, independent brands that compete against the behemoths and I want to see them succeed. That said, it’s unlikely for a coffee shop (or any other business) to succeed based on product quality alone. Service quality must be part of the equation.

If I were advising ink! Coffee, I would emphasize that its highest priority should be to create promoters of the ink! Coffee brand.

Global consulting firm Bain and Company defines promoters as those customers who are the least price-sensitive, have the highest repurchase rates, and are responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of positive referrals to a company or brand.

Promoters respond to the question, “How likely is it that you would recommend ink! Coffee to a friend or colleague?” by selecting 9 or 10 on a zero-to-10 scale with 10 indicating they are extremely likely to recommend.

Promoters recognize product quality and they expect a commensurate level of service quality. If customers get one without the other, they’re less likely to recommend the company or brand to others. And, by definition, they’re not promoters. They’re either passives (indifferent about your brand) or detractors (responsible for 80 to 90 percent of the negative word of mouth).

ink! Coffee has a great location in Cherry Creek and an amazing product. But the reality is that there is a Peet’s Coffee & Tea and a Starbucks located on the same street. And ink! simply will not succeed in creating promoters and growing market share by focusing exclusively on product quality while remaining indifferent about the customer experience.

Is there an organization that comes to mind when I ask you to consider a predictably poor customer service provider? By this I mean a company or entity you dread returning to because you’ve been consistently disappointed with previous customer service experiences.

When I pose this question to audiences, I tend to hear the same responses: DMV, IRS, USPS… Maybe you’re thinking of one of these—or perhaps you have in mind a cable company, airline, or cell phone service provider?

Now, the easy answer is to exercise your freedom of choice as a consumer and discontinue using these organizations and eliminate the recurring frustration. The problem is that that’s not always possible—or convenient.

In the case of the IRS, doing “business” with them is mandatory. And as long as driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations are required by law, you’ll likely be visiting a local branch of your state’s DMV. The same is true of the USPS. If you miss delivery and have to retrieve a package, send a registered letter, or some other exception, then (at more locations than not) be prepared to wait…

And there are some companies that you may begrudgingly do business with for one reason or another. Maybe your cable services are bundled at a great rate for the next eight months so you’re willing to endure long hold times? Or perhaps you’ve signed a two-year contract with your cell phone’s service provider and so, are willing to tolerate patchy coverage? And you may be willing to relax your grudge against that airline you said you’d never fly again because it’s offering a nonstop flight for half of what your preferred airline is quoting for the same itinerary with connections.

In my case, I gave in to my seven year old, Cooper, and returned to Toys “R” Us last weekend to buy him a LEGO Space Police Galactic Enforcer. Our first stop had been Target but they didn’t carry this particular model. Next, I called Walmart but they did not have it in stock. So I was forced to return to our local Toys “R” Us store.

This particular Toys “R” Us location, to me, is reminiscent of a wholesale club. Its atmosphere (austere), staffing (sparse), and customer service (indifferent) are more suited to a warehouse setting than a retail store. I don’t recall a single hassle-free shopping experience in the past. I do not look forward to returning. From my perspective, it has predictably poor customer service.

Having phoned ahead to verify that they had the LEGO toy in stock, Cooper and I arrived at the Customer Service desk at the front of the store to pick it up.

When I asked the Customer Service employee about the toy and provided my name he said, “If you called ahead, it’s probably in ‘Holding’ at the back of the store.”

Observation #1: The word “probably” does not inspire confidence. The number one reason why customers buy where they buy is confidence.

I said, “Holding?”

He said, “Yeah, ‘Holding’ is where we hold special orders and call-ins. I’ll go back and get it for you.”

Observation #2: When a customer calls a retail store to verify that it has a particular product in stock, provides his name, and states that he’ll stop by later that day to purchase it, (assuming it’s not a swing set or, otherwise, oversized merchandise) that product should be available at the nearest service counter to the front of the store—where customers enter.

He then disappeared for several minutes before returning with the product.

“Great!” I said, “Here’s my credit card.”

Surprised, he said, “Oh, I can’t ring that up for you here. You have to go around to the check-out area.”

Looking at two cash registers behind the Customer Service counter, I asked, “What are these registers for?”

“Oh. Those are only for returns.”

Observation #3: Avoid telling customers that you “can’t” do something or that they “have to” do something. Try a softer approach: “While these registers are for returns, the registers to my left are for purchases.” (I realize we’re talking about Toys “R” Us and not the Four Seasons. Even though you may not work for a luxury brand, there’s no reason why you can’t treat your customers with professionalism and grace.)

Observation #4: Why on earth would you designate the only two cash registers as “returns only” at a Customer Service counter in a retail store—where, presumably, you sell stuff?

So I walked around a long aisle stocked with Nerf products, past the Toy Story 3 display, to the front of the store where, as expected, both checkout lanes were filled with shoppers.

Sensing the irony of the situation, the customer service employee came out from behind his counter, motioned to me, and offered to ring me up at one of the registers located further down in the video game department.

There, he rung up my purchase and asked if I was a member of the Toys “R” Us Rewards Program. (I’m not.) He then made the pitch: There’s no cost to enroll. It just takes a minute to sign up. Shoppers accumulate in-store credits as their spending reaches certain milestones. For instance, for every $150 one spends, he receives a $5 in-store credit that can be applied to a future purchase.

Even though it’s free, fast, and I was already two-thirds of the way to my first $5 bonus, I passed. It’s just not worth $5 or $10 for me to return to this particular Toys “R” Us store. I’d honestly rather spend a little more at Target or another retailer where the customer service is not so predictably poor.

And I’m not alone. Last month, American Express and Echo Research compiled research that revealed American consumers are willing to spend, on average, 9% more with companies that provide excellent customer service.

Toys “R” Us is offering me a savings of about 3% to join its loyalty program but they’re completely missing the point of what truly drives loyalty. Loyalty is not reflected in the number of people who enroll in a rewards program. It is evidenced by positive word-of-mouth, repeat purchases, less price resistance, and other tendencies of loyal customers.

Loyalty has very little to do with plastic keychain rewards cards and 3% discounts. It has everything to do with committing to absolute customer satisfaction, making exceptional customer service the focus and priority of your organization’s culture and brand, and inspiring genuine customer loyalty through predictable service excellence.

Last weekend, my 7 year-old was the ring bearer in a family wedding. It was a formal outdoor wedding that required Cooper to wear a tuxedo. (Insight: Most 7 year-old boys resist wearing collared or button-up shirts let alone a full-on tuxedo for 3 hours of picture taking and ceremony.)

For being a great sport, I told him that I’d buy him a toy he’s wanted (LEGO Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle) when we returned to Denver following the wedding.

The first full day we were home, I spent 50 minutes on the phone calling area Target and Wal-Mart stores looking for this particular model. It was painful.

Every call was answered by an automated-attendant. No surprise here. The easiest way to get rid of customers so that you can focus on important work like scheduling, counting banks, stocking shelves, managing inventory, etc., is to send them into an abyss of options hoping that one of these options will appease them or at least prevent them from speaking to an actual person—which is expensive and time-consuming.

The option to speak with a representative was always the last option made available to me. And sometimes there is an audible delay before the automated-attendant finally releases the coveted option. It’s as if the last thing these companies want the customer to do is to actually speak with a company representative who can answer their questions or otherwise address their needs.

Unless the people answering your phones are ill-equipped to do so due to an inadequate selection process, insufficient training, non-existent or unenforced standards, inattentive supervision, and other factors, why wouldn’t you want them speaking to customers? It’s the perfect opportunity to sway comparison shoppers and attract first-time buyers. (Here’s why: Most employees are ill-equipped to answer the phone for the reasons mentioned.)

After navigating the automated-attendant and eventually reaching an employee, most were indifferent towards me over the phone. Indifference is communicated in many different ways. The most obvious way is speaking without any energy or enthusiasm in your voice. It sounds flat and uninterested. Have you ever reached an employee over the phone who matched this description, recognized it, ended the call, and then called back—hoping to get a different employee on the line?  If so, then you know what I’m talking about.

Employees were inattentive when placing calls on-hold. Hold times exceeded two minutes on average before employees rejoined the call with a status update. In two cases, I simply hung up after being ignored for more than three minutes while on-hold. Customer calls should never be placed on-hold for more than 30 seconds without the consent of the caller. A caller’s expectations should be managed. For instance, if you know that it’s going to take 2 minutes or more to find the information the caller needs, let him know that up front. Give him the option to hold or request a number to call with the information as soon as it’s located.

Employees were careless when transferring calls. Two calls were dropped entirely, requiring me to call back and navigate the automated-attendant labyrinth all over again. On one occasion, I was transferred to “Boys” instead of “Toys.” On another, I was transferred to “Fitting rooms.” When I again asked to be transferred to “Toys,” the “Fitting Rooms” employee said, “I can but it usually doesn’t work.” This type of response doesn’t inspire confidence or sales.

Finally, after calling about a dozen stores, I located an engaged Wal-Mart employee who was genuinely interested in helping me. She conveyed this interest through the authentic enthusiasm in her voice and, after personally locating the last LEGO Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle on the shelf, by offering to then deliver the toy to the Customer Service desk at the front of the store to simplify my buying experience when I arrived.

This Wal-Mart employee also illustrates the truth that, regardless of a company’s customer service culture, a customer’s satisfaction is heavily influenced by his one-on-one interactions with frontline service providers.

If your business has a phone, it has a phone bill. Never forget who pays that bill. It’s the people who are calling your business for everything from directions and store hours to product availability and host of other questions that cannot be answered by an automated-attendant.

Recognize this and treat your company’s telephone interactions accordingly. Ensure that standards are in place governing the attributes and selection of employees who will be answering telephones. Communicate guidelines for effective greetings, placing calls on-hold, and transferring calls. And support these guidelines through consistent employee observation and feedback.

Your company has spent a lot of money to try and get noticed in a crowded marketplace. If a customer takes the time to look up your number and initiate a call, don’t take the caller (along with her personal spending, referrals, and loyalty) for granted.

Appreciate each and every caller and seize the opportunity to answer the call of service!

Questions? Comments? Leave them here or call me: 303.325.1375

The other day, my family and I went to Dairy Queen for “Something Different” (the DQ slogan).

After waiting in line for a few minutes, our family of six made its way to the front of the line. Looking at the “scrumdelicious” pictures on the menus suspended above the counter, my youngest children could hardly contain their excitement!

Their eyes, wide with wonder, darted from one delectable menu image to the next. They smiled and began to giggle as they realized it was now our turn to order and that, within minutes, they would have their frosty treats in hand…

Smiling in response to my children, I looked up to face the counter employee. In sharp contrast to my children’s faces, her facial expression was matter-of-fact—even serious.

Her greeting consisted of, “Do you know what you want?”

She then robotically gathered information, processed the order, issued a receipt, and completed the transaction.

After we placed our order, my son Cole (age 9) and I waited off to the side for our order while the rest of the family found a place for us to sit on the patio.

I asked Cole, “On a zero to ten scale with zero being rude and ten being very friendly, how would you rate the girl who took our order?”

He said, “Six.”

I asked him why he rated her a six and he said, “Because she didn’t smile.”

I then asked him, “Was there anything else?”

And he said, “Yes, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

What Cole couldn’t put his finger on (because he’s only in third grade) is the leading cause of customer dissatisfaction: indifference.

In one survey, 68 percent of customers said they quit doing business with a company because of perceived indifference towards them as customers.

And here’s what is really scary: Most customer service providers are blissfully unaware of their own indifference. From their perspectives, they are efficiently executing customer transactions.

They may not recognize that what customers tend to remember the most are not the routine steps that make up transactions—they remember the demeanors and unique personalities of the employees who served them.

Behaviors like eye contact, smiling, and adding enthusiasm to one’s voice do more to convey appreciation for customers than any other aspect of a customer transaction.

These are the “little things” that make a lasting impression—and a real difference in customer satisfaction.

Over the past 15 months I’ve been on Twitter, I have contacted dozens of businesses for a variety of reasons.

In some cases I’ve had feedback on a product or service. In other cases I was interested in buying a product or service. A majority of the time, however, I was simply trying to engage.

The accounts I contacted varied from restaurant chains and coffee and wine retailers, to independent authors and consultants. When providing feedback on an experience I had with a product or service, whether positive or critical, I seldom received a response.

On one occasion, I ordered three pounds of coffee from a Washington-based retailer I met on Twitter. After the coffee was three days late in arriving, I sent an @reply to the account. The coffee arrived the next day but I never heard back regarding my comment. That was the last time I ordered coffee from that retailer.

Another time, my family and I had a negative experience at an area location of an Italian restaurant chain. After blogging about it, I forwarded the blog link to the chain’s Twitter account in an @reply. Instead of following up, they ignored the message. We haven’t returned to that restaurant chain.

And since posting this blog regarding obtaining signed books from two well-known Twitter personalities, I have had another request for ten signed books ignored by another Twitter celebrity. That’s okay, there’s no shortage of competing books for me to buy.

And before anyone attempts to rationalize this lack of engagement and poor customer service due to these organizations or people being busy, understand that we’re all busy.

If you and I are too busy to clean our homes, we hire a maid. If we don’t have time to cook, we eat out. And if we’re too busy to follow up on customer feedback and sales inquiries, we hire an assistant. No one is above responding to customers or making a sale.

Speaking of busy people, two who took the time to respond to me and to ensure that I received ten signed copies of their latest books were bestselling authors John Miller (@QBQGuy) and Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee).

These guys are not too busy to respond—or make a sale. They are busy professionals with a lot on their plates who not only preach about the importance of customer service, they deliver it.

In summary, here’s a list of Do’s and Don’ts:

Do:

• Engage
• Respond to others
• Capitalize on opportunities

Don’t:

• Be indifferent
• Ignore others
• Miss opportunities

Bottom line: If you don’t like to engage, you’ll like irrelevance even less.

In an earlier post I asked the question, “Why is it okay to behave indifferently toward customers and roll out the red carpet for the division president?” Specifically, why do employees paint, wax the floors, and polish the chrome for the division president and text friends, smoke near store entrances, and complain and banter in the presence of customers?

I have a theory about this. Here it is: Familiarity breeds contempt. Most employees rarely come into contact with and, thus, aren’t familiar with the division president. Oh sure, they may know his or her name but they’re usually not familiar to the point of lowering their guard in the executive’s presence.

Not so with customers. Customer-facing employees come into contact with customers all the time. And whether or not there is personal familiarity with a particular customer, there is a sense of familiarity with customers in general. And where there’s excessive comfort and familiarity, there’s contempt—a lack of respect—and a tendency to take the relationship for granted.

It’s not that employees don’t know what service is or how to deliver it. They do. And they showcase this aptitude in the presence of the division president. The issue is that many seem disaffected by customers—as in, “Oh, you’re just a customer. For a minute there I thought you were someone important, like the division president.”

In the introductory paragraph of this post, I listed three behaviors that I regularly observe in retail settings. These behaviors are chronic. They occur frequently. The only time they are exceptions is when the division president is on-site.

When executives grace the operation with their presence, the floors are spotless, there are plenty of employees scheduled, employees’ uniforms are pressed, there are lots of smiles, and there is a sense of urgency—dare I say, a bit of giddiness and extra pressure to perform?

The best operations don’t distinguish between a scheduled site visit by a division president and the scheduled opening of the store to service customers. Sure, there may be a bit of anxiety associated with the presence of a company executive—that’s natural—but the company’s standards don’t wane in the absence of headquarters staff.

Nordstrom comes to mind as an example of a retailer who puts its best foot forward whether a customer or Blake Nordstrom is entering the shoe department. The last time I was in Nordstrom, an employee from the men’s department walked me to the women’s department in search of an umbrella. When we returned to the men’s department, I decided to buy a bottle of cologne too. It was an impulse buy—in the moment. I didn’t plan to buy it and, in the absence of his outstanding service, I would not have.

Here’s an assignment for division presidents everywhere: If you really want to see how your operations run, stop by unannounced in a ball cap and jeans over the weekend. Don’t embarrass anyone. Just observe and take mental notes about what you see—the positive as well as need areas.

Then, assuming there was a gap (or chasm) between what you observed during your last official visit and this one, take action. Establish or reinforce credible standards to guide employees’ behavior. Make sure that every manager is aware of the standards and actively uses them to manage their employees’ performance. And, perhaps most importantly, hold managers accountable to model these standards at all times. If they don’t, the standards are no longer credible and become unenforceable.

Bob Farrell, author of Give ‘em the Pickle, is fond of saying, “What they see is what you’ll get.” When employees see their managers modeling established standards of service and procedure, they will perform similarly. When this happens, employees will stop texting friends, smoking near store entrances, and complaining and bantering in the presence of customers. And they will no longer seem disaffected by customers. Instead, they will treat them with the same courtesy, respect, and care with which they treat the division president.

Who’s more important: the division president or the customer? You decide and then your employees will follow suit.

It’s Customer Service Week. I suppose I’m obligated to mention it since I work in the field. It’s just difficult for me to get behind an event staged with banners, buttons, and other chotchkies lauding the importance of customers and customer service when the reality is that many customers at participating companies will remain underserved this week, as they were last week, and as they will be next week.

Besides, shouldn’t every week be customer service week?

Let me begin with a fairy tale. It’s about an emperor who unwittingly hires two swindlers to create for him a new set of clothes. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The swindlers promise the emperor the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his lofty position. Although the emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, he pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid. His advisors do the same.

During the course of the emperor’s procession through town, the swindle is exposed (no pun intended) by a small child who shouts, “The Emperor is naked!”

What does this have to do with customer service? I’m using it as a metaphor for the majority of people (employees, as well as customers) who are unwilling to state an obvious truth due to apathy, ignorance, or indifference: that the current state of customer service is unacceptable.

Here are three glaring examples of behaviors that I regularly observe in retail settings that store management appears to tolerate (because these behaviors are chronic):

1.) Routinely, I observe aloof employees checking their text, email, and social media accounts on their phones. Employees have one set of eyes and if they’re affixed to a handset screen they cannot be scanning for customers in need of service.

2.) I regularly walk past employees who are smoking near the main entrances to stores. Not only is this an eyesore, it’s disrespectful to customers and absolutely avoidable for a management team willing to establish and enforce minimal standards.

3.) Frequently, I encounter employees complaining about their schedules, coworkers, and even other customers. Customers should not be subjected to this toxic banter. In fact, customers should not be subjected to banter at all. Employees, in deference to their customers, should cease personal conversations while in the presence of customers. Instead, engage the customer regarding his or her shopping experience. There will be plenty of time for you to resume your conversation with your coworkers later—without making your customer feel non-existent, like a store fixture.

What’s happened to our sensibilities? It’s not okay to check your email or text a friend in full view of a customer. Besides the unsanitary perception, it’s wrong (and illegal in many locations) to smoke near the building entrance where customers must pass through employees’ secondhand smoke to spend their money. And it’s disrespectful—not to mention awkward—to complain in front of a customer or to carry on a conversation with a coworker in the presence of a customer. The emperor’s wearing no clothes and no one seems to want to acknowledge it!

What happens in most cases is that: a.) there are no credible standards in place to enforce; b.) even though standards are in place (usually in the employee handbook that hasn’t been cracked since each page was initialed during employee orientation), mangers are unaware of them or apathetic towards their enforcement; or c.) managers themselves engage in the same indifferent behaviors!

I could have used a lot of words just now to describe this behavior (e.g., poor, unacceptable, reprehensible, etc.) but I chose indifferent. I chose that word because that’s how I perceive these employees behave towards me: indifferently—as though my presence makes no difference and I really don’t matter all that much.

Here’s a litmus test I like to use when determining whether or not an employee’s behavior is acceptable: If I were the division president conducting an on-site visit, would this employee behave the same way? Would his manager tolerate it then?

If the answer to that question is “no” then clearly, instead of being some pet peeve of mine, the behavior is unacceptable. If the division president was on-site, everyone would get the message from management, loud and clear, that there would be absolutely no texting their friends while “on the floor,” no smoking near the main store entrance and no audible complaining or personal conversations with coworkers in the presence of the division president.

Even without the message from management, front-line hourly employees know better than to do these things in front of the division president. In fact, most of them will be on their very best behavior and productivity will likely soar in the days and hours preceding the executive’s visit.

So, why the double standard? Why is it okay to behave indifferently toward customers and roll out the red carpet for the division president? Why do employees paint, wax the floors, and polish the chrome for the division president and text friends, smoke, and complain and banter in the presence of customers? I have a theory about this but I’ll save it for a future post. For now, suffice it to say that this behavior is unacceptable.

I’m sure this post won’t be popular with many employees. That’s understandable because, based on my experience, customer service and, in some cases, work ethic aren’t popular either with the same employees.

Companies need to acknowledge that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. They must establish standards and then hire employees who can meet and exceed these standards. National unemployment is near 10 percent. Employers can afford to be picky. Be picky. Once hired, employees’ performance must be managed. This means that managers must communicate, reinforce, and model these standards—regardless of whether or not the division president is stopping by.

Now, put away the phone, find a different place—far, far away from customers—to smoke, and resolve never to complain or carry on personal conversations with coworkers in the presence of customers again. It’s awkward for customers and undermines customer service.

Take a stand during this Customer Service Week. Look around your operation. If you see the behaviors highlighted in this post in full view of customers or if you detect employee apathy or indifference towards serving customers, call out, “The Emperor is naked!”

Using this as your battle cry, initiate a revolution to treat every customer like the division president—with courtesy, respect, and care. Not just during Customer Service Week, but every week of the year. You will be amazed by the results you see in your customers’ satisfaction as well as your own job satisfaction.

Okay, here comes the Emperor’s procession. Get ready…

I recently bought some fresh fish at Whole Foods Market. As is customary, I waited my turn as customers who arrived before me had their orders fulfilled. When it was my turn, an employee behind the counter smiled, made eye contact, and with enthusiasm in his voice asked, “Did you see something you liked?”

As much as I appreciate quality products and friendly service, so far it had been a pretty predictable shopping experience. Whole Foods isn’t cheap and has a reputation for better than average product and service quality intended to justify the higher prices. When I shop there, I expect for the store to be extra clean, for the products to be extra fresh, and for the staff to be extra knowledgeable and helpful.

On this day, I watched as the employee gathered up the salmon fillets I had selected. He handled the fish with care, applying olive oil and seasoning as requested to each side of the fillets. As good as the service was, so far there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Having oiled and seasoned the fillets, the employee then wrapped them in butcher paper. He then handed them to me over the counter with a broad smile and said, “Here you are. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

I said that I was all set and thanked him for his help. Still, as great as the product and service quality had been, there had been nothing that made an impression—that had stuck out as being particularly memorable. What happened next changed all that.

As I looked at the wrapped fish, I noticed it had been wrapped in a customized butcher paper—made to look like newsprint—bearing the name: Seafood Times. Beneath the masthead were a variety of informative and entertaining stories such as Whole Foods Market Pleads Guilty to Seafood Discrimination and Make Your Kitchen a Safe Harbor.

Instead of bland and uneventful brown butcher paper, I had received something extra: a unique and refreshing version that had been customized by Whole Foods to extend my experience from the store to my home. All of a sudden, what had been a predicable transaction at the seafood counter transformed into a memorable service experience. I now had a powerful memory of my visit and a story to share with others.

When so many retail transactions are characterized by indifference, experiences like this one are a breath of fresh air. Companies that go the extra mile to surprise and delight customers will not only make headlines, they will make lasting impressions their customers will remember when it’s time to buy.

Let’s do a word association. You know how these work: I’ll name a word and you, off the top of your head, identify a set of words that you associate with that word. Ready?

The first word is indifference. What words immediately come to mind?

The second word is enthusiasm. What words immediately come to mind?

When I perform this activity at my seminars, participants’ associations with “indifference” are words like: apathy, don’t care, unimportant, don’t matter, etc. and their associations with “enthusiasm” are words like: lively, energetic, smile, radiant, etc.

Consider this statistic: 68 percent of customers quit doing business with a company because of perceived indifference towards them as customers.

In other words, lots of customers feel as though employees are apathetic and don’t care, and that, as customers, they are unimportant and don’t matter to the company.

What could be leading customers to feel this way? Everyone’s experience is unique but definitely interpersonal communication effects this perception. When employees don’t smile, make eye contact, or add a bit of enthusiasm to their voices, customers notice.

But here’s the good news: When employees do smile, make eye contact, and add a bit of enthusiasm to their voices, customers recognize that too. And because it’s a change from the indifferent service that most customers have come to expect, it stands out as refreshing, unique, and memorable.

Recently, I was reading the book Love Your Patients by Scott Louis Diering, M.D. and came across the following passage:

“Everyone is important. Every person you meet is very, very important. Every patient’s problem, every concern, every appointment, every minute is very, very important. Everything is important to someone. All we need do is recognize that importance. Enthusiasm is the easiest way for our patients to know that they are important.

When we act with enthusiasm, our patients will know that we truly take them seriously. We must ‘get into it.’ Many of the techniques and suggestions (referenced above) show our enthusiasm: We nod our head, make eye contact, and listen intently. We do these things to show our patients that they are our biggest concern.

It does not matter how many other more urgent problems we have to deal with. It does not matter that our last patient and our next patient are dying. What matters is, while we are with this patient, we are not distracted, bored, uninterested or unconcerned…

The best ways to show our enthusiasm are to thank our patients, to ask some non-healthcare questions about them, and to let them know that we are glad to see them…

Someone may criticize this view. They may say small talk distracts us from real patient care. They are wrong. Our business is people. The more we know about our patients, the better we can serve them.”

Many job roles, regardless of industry, become process-focused and routine over time. Service providers systematically go about their tasks and may unwittingly convey indifference towards the customers they serve.

Always look for opportunities to convey authentic enthusiasm: smile, make eye contact, add enthusiasm to your voice, ask engaging, non-routine questions and let your customers know that you’re genuinely happy to serve them.

In doing so, you will be expressing your uniqueness by adding personality to an otherwise routine and indifferent transaction. Best of all, you will be seen by customers as memorable—which certainly beats the alternative.

Language, it seems, has become pretty casual in many customer service settings. I’ve had waiters refer to me as “man” and hear “no problem” from frontline employees, as well as their supervisors, in a variety of situations.

We can all think of alternatives to referring to a customer as “man” so I won’t belabor that, but what about “no problem” in response to a customer’s request or sign of appreciation.

Many participants who attend my seminars don’t immediately understand why saying “no problem” to a customer should be avoided. It’s understandable. Most people are comfortable with saying “no problem” rather than “you’re welcome” after receiving a request for service or compliment.

“No problem” really means “No problem for me.” It means “I did it because it did not cause me a problem. I served you because it did not interfere with me.” That is very different from “you’re welcome” which means “You are welcome to my service to you.”

Besides “you’re welcome” here are some other alternatives to saying “no problem” in response to a customer’s request for service or sign of appreciation:

• “My pleasure.”
• “Right away.”
• “Absolutely.”
• “Certainly.”
• “Of course.”
• “Definitely.”

Responses like these send a message that you are enthusiastic and genuinely interested. They demonstrate confidence and conviction. Responses like these convey a sense that you are engaged and truly want to serve the customer.

And the negative associations don’t end with “No problem.” The use of seemingly neutral words can also make a big difference.

Using a hotel example, imagine the employee is conveying to the guest when his or her hotel room will be available.

Consider the statements below. What differences do you see in them?

• “I will have a room ready for you in five minutes.”
• “I will have the room ready for you in five minutes.”
• “I will have your room ready for you in five minutes.”

Although only one word has been changed, each statement has a different emotional impact. The first conveys nothing definite: It could be any room, just as it could be anyone’s room. The second implies that at the least, a specific room has been allocated to the guest. But notice that control of it has not yet begun to pass. The third example says that not only has a room been identified but, in effect, it already belongs to the guest. The only issue remaining is how long it will take to have it ready.

Suppose you were the guest in the above scenario and the employee had said “a few minutes” instead of “five minutes.” What effect would that have had? From the employee’s point of view, very little. From the guest’s point of view, however, perhaps a lot. Five minutes is objective. It conditions the customer’s expectation of time and provides a clue to how proficient the experience will be.

Words convey meaning. Employees must be made aware of the (sometimes subtle and other times significant) impact that their choice of words has on how customers are made to feel (important or unimportant) and the positive impression they will remember—or the indifferent transaction they will soon forget.

How about you? What are some communication faux pas you regularly experience as a customer?