This morning I stopped by my local King Soopers to pick up a few groceries. One of the items on my list was a pound of sliced turkey from the deli counter. Sometimes I pass on deli meat if there’s a wait but today I was in luck as there was no line!

One aspect of my business involves mystery shop services, so I’m in the habit of evaluating wait times, employee behavior, cleanliness, and other aspects of customer experience. I started my watch.

As I stood in front of the deli counter, I noticed there were four employees present: a butcher preparing the display case in the meat department adjacent to the deli counter and three deli employees busily performing their job functions.

This is an important observation. As I waited, not one of the four employees was goofing off, sending a text, reading a newspaper, or talking with a coworker. All were on task.

While one employee had his back to me, the others were all facing forward. At six feet tall and 200 pounds, I am not a small man but no one seemed to notice me. I waited. Two minutes went by, then three minutes. As I continued to wait, a blog post began to form…

Consumer behavior is fascinating. There are a variety of ways that different customers might choose to deal with this situation. Some customers, in the absence of a bell, will wave their hand or call out to get an employee’s attention. Others, giving the employees the benefit of the doubt and being sympathetic to their side duties, will patiently wait to be acknowledged.

Personally, I’m inclined to walk away. Why should I reward poor customer service with a sale when there are three competing supermarkets within a mile of each other?

After three and a half minutes, I made eye contact with the butcher who smiled and nearly disappeared from view before he halted, recognized that I had been waiting a while, and called out, “Counter!”

The deli employee who approached me did not smile. Perhaps she was annoyed that I had interrupted her side work? She conveyed indifference as she prepared to execute another deli transaction: Take the order, slice the meat, weigh the meat, bag the meat, price the meat, and deliver the meat… “Next?”

Because of her demeanor, I made the decision not to reward King Soopers with a $6.99 sale for a pound of Private Selection Oven Roasted Turkey and decided instead to just pick up only the essential items on my list.

While in another part of the store, I encountered the assistant store manager, Ronnie, and shared my experience at the deli counter. She listened to my description of events, apologized on behalf of the deli employees, and made the comment, “It’s because you’re wearing a white shirt. You blended in!”

Ronnie was good natured and having a little fun—and I appreciate that. I did explain to her, however, that the reason I was overlooked had less to do with my attire than deli employees focusing exclusively on their job functions (the duties and tasks associated with their job roles) and neglecting the essence of their jobs (their highest priority): To create delighted customers.

She listened patiently, then offered to go to the deli counter and pick up a pound of the sliced turkey for me free of charge. I told her that was not necessary but she insisted.

While she was away retrieving the turkey, I checked-out and asked the cashier to charge me for one pound of Private Selection Oven Roasted Turkey and be sure to make Ronnie aware that I had paid for it.

The reason I did that is because there are many cynical employees who believe customers only complain to get something for free. That’s simply not true. Most customers complain because their expectations (for quality, accuracy, timeliness, etc.) were not met.

Ronnie met me at the store exit with the deli meat, smiled, and apologized again. Like many customers in the same situation, I thanked her for her help and left the store.

What happens next is entirely up to me. Will I put the experience behind me and return to King Soopers as I did following this incident or will I vote with my feet and shop across the street?

Of this I’m certain: If I choose to return, the quality of customer service I receive will be determined by whether or not employees choose to view me as a priority rather than an interruption—not the color of my shirt.

Several years ago, I was out to dinner in Orlando with a colleague. At the time, she was the director of training at a large resort and convention hotel located near Disney World.

Her hotel competed for group business head to head with Disney’s own hotels. If you have experienced Disney, then you know how difficult it is for another hotel to win business when competing with them—especially if the deciding factor is the anticipated quality of service that group members will receive as hotel guests.

When I asked Theresa about her approach to customer service training, given her formidable competition on the other side of Interstate 4, she said that a key ingredient was to involve hotel employees in clarifying the difference between their job functions and the essence of their jobs.

Consider the definition of each term:

func⋅tion [fuhngk-shuhn]: –noun The action for which a person or thing is particularly fitted or employed.

es⋅sence [es-uhns]: –noun The most important ingredient; the crucial element.

Depending on the employee’s job role, the functions performed will differ. For instance, the functions of a bellman (e.g., deliver luggage to and from guest rooms, provide information about the hotel outlets and services, etc.) will differ from the functions of a maintenance employee (e.g., perform preventative maintenance, execute repairs, etc.).

Theresa explained that, while employees’ job functions will differ, the essence of their roles was the same: To exceed the expectations of their hotel guests by consistently delivering product and service quality that will result in delighted customers.

Bain and Company, a consumer research firm, equates delighted customers with a category of customers called promoters. Promoters are 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.

Now, Theresa had defined the essence of her employees’ job roles based on their highest priority: exceptional product and service quality. Other organizations may define the essence of their employees’ job roles differently. For instance, my neighbor is the executive director of a halfway house that provides housing for men who are in transition from incarceration to freedom. He told me that the essence of his employees’ job roles is to convey respect towards the clients, his term for the men who occupy the facility.

The challenge for employers is that, oftentimes, employees think that the functions and essence of their job roles are the same. When this happens, employees become transactional and process-focused, treating each customer like the last customer. A factory mentality ensues. In the short-term it may be highly efficient (employees do more things faster) but in the long-term it is ineffective (does not fulfill the organization’s highest priority).

Consider your own organization. Do the employees really know the difference between their job functions and the essence of their jobs? If you’re not sure, just ask. My hunch is that you will be met with blank stares…

This becomes an opportunity for you to have a meaningful conversation with your employees about the difference between the tasks they are responsible for executing and your organization’s highest priority.