When it comes to serving customers, most companies are concerned more with posture than performance.

Posture is based on what companies say they do, their public image. Performance is based on what companies actually do, their results. Would you rather do business with a company that projects exceptional customer service or one that delivers it?

Consider the example of United Airlines. As a former United 1K (100,000 mile flyer), I’ve had lots of experience with the airline as a customer. Over the years, I endured indifferent customer service on the phone, in the terminal, at the gate, and on airplanes. It wasn’t always indifferent. At times it was friendly—even exceptional. But, from my perspective, there was inconsistency between United’s stated slogan, Fly the Friendly Skies (posture) and its actual customer service quality (performance).

At least United had the good sense to change its slogan in 2004 to It’s Time to Fly. Perhaps the airline had more confidence in its ability to consistently depart on time than to consistently provide friendly customer service…

Even McDonald’s, the model of efficiency and consistency, postures with its Double-Checked For Accuracy program. Having four children, our standing order doesn’t change much and usually involves plain cheeseburgers (i.e., cheeseburgers with nothing on them—no pickles, no onions, no ketchup, no mustard). Routinely, we receive “plain” cheeseburgers that include one or more of the above garnishes. To add insult to injury, the bag is usually secured with a bold sticker ensuring the order has been Double-Checked For Accuracy.

If I were advising McDonald’s, I’d recommend that its employees spend less time attaching stickers to bags suggesting that uninspected orders have been “double-checked for accuracy” (posturing) and direct more of their energy and attention to guests and getting their orders right (performing).

According to this recent article in The New Yorker, a survey of more than 300 big companies revealed that while 80% described themselves as delivering “superior” service (based on their stated priorities), consumers put that figure at just 8% (based on their actual experiences).

This demonstrates the chasm that exists between what most companies say they do and what these companies actually do.

Of course, there are exceptions that recognize the importance of aligning stated priorities and slogans with actual performance. FedEx comes to mind. For many years, its slogan was When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. And FedEx’s performance consistently supported that claim. Even in today’s global marketplace, FedEx’s updated slogan, The World on Time matches its performance and reaffirms that it is the go-to company for international shipping.

Zappos is another company whose slogan, Powered by Service matches its performance. What Zappos says it does and what it actually does are one in the same. Zappos has a great deal of integrity. There is a consistency to Zappos. Loyal Zappos customers are confident that their expectations will be met or exceeded—every time.

I’ll close with a metaphor attributed to Gandhi that illustrates the difference between posture and performance.

Imagine the scene in some remote village in India. Gandhi is in a small hut with a single table and the village people are lining up in the square to have a moment with him to tap into his wisdom and to make some sense of the challenges they face.

Eventually, a mother and son made their way to his table and the mother pleaded with Gandhi, “Can you please stop my son from eating sugar. It is affecting his health and I am worried.”

Gandhi got up from his chair and thought for a moment. He then said to the mother, “Come back with your boy to see me in two weeks.” The woman agreed and then she and her son left the room.

Two weeks later the woman returned with her son. Gandhi then spoke with the boy and the boy agreed. The mother, confused, asked Gandhi, “Why did you make me and my son wait to hear something you could have said two weeks ago?”

Gandhi then said, “You don’t understand. Two weeks ago, I too was eating sugar.”

If you studied management anywhere along your journey, then you may recall the seminal Harvard Business Review article by Sterling Livingston titled Pygmalion in Management.

Essentially, the article dealt with the self-fulfilling prophecy (or Pygmalion effect from Greek mythology) in management—a supervisor’s expectation of a subordinate’s performance that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, for better or for worse.

The same thing is true in customer service.

Pygmalion in service suggests that there is a very real self-fulfilling prophecy in the delivery of customer service when an employee’s expectation of company standards and service levels directly or indirectly influences his or her attitude and performance.

Why is customer service consistently better at a luxury or full service hotel than an economy or select service hotel? And why do many high-end retailers have reputations for providing exceptional customer service while discounters generally are known for good prices but mediocre customer service? Why do we tend to receive better customer service at a fine dining restaurant than at a quick service restaurant?

I’m sure some of you are thinking: “Well, Steve, the high-end brands that you’re referring to have chosen to invest more money in their delivery of customer service. It’s reflected in everything from the customer to employee ratio to the fresh-cut flowers in the restrooms.”

I get that reasoning but it only addresses half of the equation.

Every business is made up of processes (like staffing models and restroom accents) as well as the attitudes of its people. And, while there is a cost associated with upgraded processes, there’s no such cost associated with upgraded employee attitudes. They’re free.

Employees choose their attitudes. Positive attitudes towards customers and customer service (conveyed by smiling, eye contact, and adding enthusiasm to one’s voice) are optional—which explains why you and I seldom encounter positive attitudes from enthusiastic and engaged employees.

There’s no reason for a front desk clerk at a Super 8 motel not to smile and welcome a guest similar to a front desk clerk at a Four Seasons hotel. There’s nothing stopping a cashier at Walmart from making eye contact with a customer in the same way a salesperson does while ringing up purchases at Nordstrom. And there’s no excuse for a server at Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta to not add enthusiasm to her voice like a server at Christini’s Ristorante Italiano in Orlando, Florida.

As managers, you tend to get what you expect. Expect your employees to embrace your organizations’ high customer service standards. (They are high, right?) And expect your employees to choose attitudes daily that are positive, helpful, and engaging. (Just like the attitudes you model, right?)

Do this and you will create a Pygmalion effect in customer service that elevates the performance expectations of your employees—regardless of whether or not they work at Nordstrom or Four Seasons.