In today’s economy, consumers increasingly scrutinize the “value for price paid” of a product or service. While extraordinary customer service adds value, many service organizations miss opportunities to provide the “little extras” that create value in the minds of their customers.

Companies that recognize the value of offering “little extras,” and are intentional about incorporating them into the customer experience, can elevate the quality of their customer service. These value-added extras are frequently unexpected and so provide a pleasant surprise that forms a lasting positive impression on customers.

Here are some examples of “little extras” that I have experienced as a customer:

• Chick-fil-A, a quick service restaurant, provides a mint with each order—similar to full service restaurant.
• Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza gives me a two-stamp head start on my pizza loyalty card. Now I’m 17 percent closer to a free pizza!
• Tony’s Market in Denver, CO includes preparation instructions on its meat packaging (e.g., oven/grill temps, meat temps, etc.).
• A New York City hotel I visited encourages its front desk clerks to spontaneously send guests “Connection Cards” intended to welcome them, acknowledge something they shared during their check-in (e.g., where they are from, the reason for their hotel stay, the Broadway show they plan to see, etc.), and provide the clerk’s name and extension number for further assistance.
• The General Motors dealership that services my car always washes it before pulling it around front and delivering it to me.
• Our garbage collector always brings the trashcans from the curb to the top of our driveway.
• The Wine Experience Cafe & World Cellar in Aurora, CO serves its coffee tableside in French presses.
• Starbucks Coffee on occasion offers complimentary samples of ground coffee, pastries, and specialty coffee drinks.
• The professional waiters at Sparks Steak House in New York City are adept at changing the table linens between entrée and dessert courses without removing your wine glasses or exposing the tabletop.

Sometimes these “little extras” are tangible (e.g., Chick-fil-A’s mints) and other times they are intangible aspects of the service experience (e.g., the changing of table linens at Sparks Steak House). In most cases they are unexpected and have the power to transform routine and ordinary transactions into unique and extraordinary service experiences!

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary really is that little extra.

What “little extras” do you offer your customers?

Have you ever received an unexpected upgrade, a complimentary appetizer, or some other pleasant surprise when you were not expecting it? How did it make you feel? I bet you can recall many details from the experience—probably because you’ve reinforced them by sharing the story with others.

Providing pleasant surprises that add unexpected perks to otherwise ordinary transactions, is an effective way to make lasting positive impressions on customers with little or no additional cost.

Here are three quick examples:

• I brought my Ford Expedition into the dealership for an oil change. When the maintenance was completed, an employee pulled it around front and, to my surprise, it had been washed and was gleaming! Wow—that was a memorable final impression of that experience!
• While using a self-service kiosk to pay for my groceries at Albertsons, I was approached by a store employee. She asked if I’d like a complimentary bottle of salad dressing that was being given away as a promotion. I gladly accepted and was pleasantly surprised by a complimentary 16 oz. bottle of Kraft Light Ranch salad dressing!
• And just last week, I stopped by Target to do some shopping. At the checkout register, the cashier rang up my purchases and then handed me a receipt together with a coupon for a complimentary Starbucks latte. Another pleasant surprise!

Providing pleasant surprises can transform bland and ordinary transactions (e.g., oil changes, retail checkouts, etc.) that will soon be forgotten, into unique and refreshing service experiences that will long be remembered!

I had worked a full day in Washington, D.C. and then flew to Detroit for a presentation the following morning. I arrived late at the airport in Detroit and as I exited the terminal with my bags at around midnight, was confronted by a number of aggressive limo drivers.

I passed by several drivers and cars that issued subtle (or not so subtle) indicators that I may regret accepting their service. A few yards further, I was pleasantly surprised by an immaculately dressed limousine driver whose Lincoln Town Car was spotless. I confirmed the fare to the Renaissance Center downtown, handed him my bags, and entered the back seat through a door he held open.

When he returned to the driver’s seat and began to pull away from the curb, he asked me if I’d care for a chilled bottle of water.  Pleasantly surprised, I accepted.  He then asked me what type of music I was interested in. I told him that my taste in music was all over the board but that, at this late hour and with a 30 minute ride ahead of us, I’d appreciate something mellow.

He said, “Here, let me surprise you.” And I nodded off to Tony Bennett singing Because of You…

When we arrived at the hotel, the hand-off to the hotel’s staff was just as seamless and professional as my reception had been at the airport.

Naturally, I rewarded his attention to detail, professionalism, and memorable customer service. Like most customers who are pleasantly surprised by the service they receive, I tipped more than I would have ordinarily and I requested a card in order to schedule a return trip to the airport with him the following day.

How can you distinguish your business from the competition? What can you do to make an impression by pleasantly surprising your customers?

Last week, I worked with the general manager of a Hampton Inn hotel who shared this story:

Shannon, a front desk agent, had recently joked with a repeat guest (with whom she had a nice rapport) about aging. The guest was a bit self-deprecating about his own age and referred jokingly to his need for Geritol.

Unbeknownst to him, Shannon recalled the conversation and had a small bottle of Geritol waiting for him in his guest room when he returned and checked back into the hotel.  Not only did Shannon’s pleasant surprise put a big smile on his face, it reinforced the relationship and genuine interest and affection she had toward him.

I priced a bottle of Geritol locally and with tax it’s $5.19. Was that a good use of the hotel’s petty cash? Before you answer, let me pass along some additional information that might help you to make an informed decision. Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail message from the guest that was sent to Shannon’s general manager afterward:

“(Shannon) has made my stay at your hotel very remember-able and I guarantee because of her, whenever I return to visit our branch in your wonderful city, I will stay at your hotel. I will also recommend any of my associates, comrades and even competitors to your hotel.”

Bain and Company, the consumer research firm, refers to this type of guest as a Promoter. Promoters, as their name suggests, promote a brand’s reputation, accounting for 80-90 percent of referrals, are the least price-sensitive, and—not surprisingly—report higher repurchase rates than less-satisfied customers.

Sometimes we over-analyze what it’s going to take (and how much it’s going to cost) to turn customers into Promoters. As Shannon has demonstrated, it actually takes just a little effort and perhaps (though not always) a few dollars to make a big impression on a customer!

Your turn: What can you do today with just a little extra effort to create Promoters of your business or brand?

For my 40th birthday, my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas where we met up with several other couples to hang out by the pool, see a show, and play a little Blackjack.

My wife had made reservations at Caesars Palace which, ironically, was also celebrating its 40th year anniversary. From our first interaction with Joanie at the front desk, I knew this was going to be memorable. She immediately made the connection between the celebration of my 40 years and the hotel’s anniversary celebration.

She noted this when she handed me a room key that contained a holograph containing a black and white picture of the front of Caesars Palace in 1966 and then, when rotated slightly, depicted a color picture from the same vantage point in 2006. During our brief conversation, we joked about the theme song for my 40th birthday celebration: Toby Keith’s hit song, As Good as I Once Was.

Memorable room key in hand, Julie and I headed to our room in the recently opened Augustus Tower. It was then that I noticed our room number: 4089.  When we reached our floor and existed the elevator, my wife took a picture of me next to the large number 40 designating our floor number.

We then proceeded to our room, opened the door, and entered to find that our flat panel television set was playing a music video. That’s right: Toby Keith’s, As Good as I Once Was. Not sure whether that was staged or just a bizarre coincidence but I was wowed! And Joanie wasn’t through yet. Julie and I went downstairs to do a little exploring of the sprawling facility and when we returned an hour later, there was small gift and a handwritten note from Joanie wishing me a happy 40th birthday and a pleasant stay.

So how does this pleasant surprise translate into more revenue for Caesars Palace? For one, it’s clearly documented that there is a relationship between guest satisfaction and ancillary spending in a hotel setting.  In one study, J.D. Power and Associates concluded that guests whose overall satisfaction was a ten on a 10-point scale spent an average of $14 more per day on supplemental goods and services (e.g., food and beverage outlets, gift shops, in-room movies, etc.) than guests who were less satisfied.

In fact, the first night of our stay I recall canceling a reservation that we had made at a well-known sushi restaurant down the street in order to dine at Caesars’ own sushi restaurant, Hyakumi Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar.

And the payoff for Caesars Palace doesn’t end there. A week later, in a note to Gary Selesner, the President of Caesars Palace, I committed to return to Caesars Palace the next time I visited Las Vegas. Now, think about the number of hotels in Las Vegas that are attractions unto themselves. It would be perfectly natural to assume that customers would experiment by staying at a variety of competing properties—many of which are very uniquely themed in order to differentiate themselves from competing hotels and casinos.

Even so, my commitment to Mr. Selesner was “to return to Caesars Palace the next time I visited Las Vegas.” Notice that there are no qualifiers such as: if the location is convenient; if the price is right; or unless your competitors are offering free show tickets to book. My intent is to return to Caesars Palace. Period.

Think about your own experiences at hotels, airlines, restaurants, department stores, etc. How have pleasant surprises such as upgrades, sample appetizers, complimentary alterations, etc. contributed to your positive impressions of these companies and influenced your loyalty and future spending?

Providing a pleasant surprise that adds an unexpected perk to an otherwise ordinary experience, is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Have you ever received an unexpected upgrade, a complimentary appetizer, or some other pleasant surprise when you were not expecting it? How did it make you feel? I bet you can recall many details from the experience—probably because you’ve shared the story with others many times.

My wife was once sought out by a United Airlines flight attendant who thanked Julie by name for flying the airline as she handed her a coupon for a complimentary in-flight glass of wine. Not only was Julie pleasantly surprised, she continues to go out of her way to fly United Airlines, in part, due to positive memories like this one.

Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A restaurants, loves to add service touches that people don’t expect from a fast-food restaurant. Here are just a few pleasant surprises you’re likely to find at your local Chick-fil-A:

• After your order has been fulfilled, you’ll hear “My pleasure” rather than “No problem.”
• At the bottom of your to-go bag of food you’ll find one individually wrapped mint for each meal ordered.
• If you use the restroom, you’ll find that the last sheet of toilet paper is folded into a triangular point—similar to a luxury hotel.

Each of these service touches has the potential to pleasantly surprise customers and, as a result, to make a lasting positive impression!

How about you? Have you provided a pleasant surprise to a customer lately—or been on the receiving end of a pleasant surprise yourself?