Last week, I delivered customer service training to the staff of a New Orleans hotel. During a table group activity midway through the class, a participant suggested providing complimentary coffee in the lobby each morning as a way to pleasantly surprise hotel guests.

In response to his suggestion, I overheard another employee say, “If we give the coffee away, then we won’t get pay raises.” Although I did not expose the comment to the rest of the class, it reveals a common misperception among employees: that exceptional customer service is a zero-sum game, whereby, if customers win, then employees lose.

If you believe the Bain & Company research that delighted customers (promoters) are less price-sensitive, have higher repurchase rates, and are responsible for 80-90% of the positive word-of-mouth about a company or brand, then clearly businesses are disproportionately rewarded for exceptional customer service quality. And this tendency is further validated by the  American Express 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer research report that, for the second straight year, found that two thirds of consumers surveyed stated that they are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.

Complimentary coffee may or may not be the best way to delight your customers. The point is that, as you uncover those “little extras” that resonate with your customers, you offer them with the understanding that what benefits customers likely benefits the organization—and its employees.

Here’s a way to motivate skeptical employees who think about providing exceptional customer service in zero-sum terms: Share the above research and remind them that their discretionary effort (doing more than expected) prompts customers’ discretionary spending (spending more than expected).

And since consumer spending and demand are positively correlated, this can benefit employees through increased hours to schedule, overtime wage premiums, eligibility to participate in company-sponsored benefits, job stability, career advancement opportunities, etc. In a hotel setting, guests may further reward exceptional customer service by offering increased tips, referring friends and colleagues, leaving favorable reviews at websites like TripAdvisor.com or Hotels.com, or choosing to purchase ancillary services such as spa treatments or recreational activities.

Oftentimes, the “expense” (whether expending dollars or discretionary effort) required to improve the customer’s experience turns out to be an investment in exceptional customer service that ultimately benefits customers, companies, and employees alike.

Don’t settle for ordinary. Choose extraordinary. (It’s always a choice.) Pre-order Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary by Steve Curtin (AMACOM Books, June 11, 2013)

Illustration by Aaron McKissen

If you want to find out just how bad customer service is, go buy something.

It hardly even matters where you go, who you call, or which website you visit. Sure, there are exceptions—those fabled companies that spring to mind when one thinks about legendary customer service: Zappos, Disney, L.L.Bean, Nordstrom, Ritz-Carlton, etc.

But if you’re not dealing with a very special company, chances are you’re dealing with a very average company in terms of customer service.

Just this week, my wife phoned one of those very average companies, AT&T Wireless, to verify that her data service had been disabled on her stolen iPad.

When she contacted the AT&T rep at the 800 number, she initially had difficulty hearing the rep’s voice. Unsure of whether the issue was on her end or the AT&T call center’s end, she asked the rep, “Can you hear me?” to which the rep answered, “AT&T Wireless. Can I help you?”

My wife responded, “Yes, I need to verify that the data service on my stolen iPad has been disabled but, first, can you hear me okay?” to which the AT&T rep said robotically, “If you give me your wireless number, I can verify that the data service on your iPad has been disabled.”

My wife, confused as to why the rep would not respond to her question about the quality of the call connection, provided the rep with the wireless number and then asked her again whether or not she could hear her clearly.

The rep verified that the data service had been disabled and asked, “Does this resolve your issue?” to which my wife responded, “Is there some reason why you cannot leave your script and confirm whether or not you can hear me clearly?”

The rep mechanically responded, “Your iPad’s data service has been disabled. Does this resolve your issue?”

Frustrated with the rep’s obstinance, my wife responded, “I’d like to speak with a supervisor.”

At this point, the rep said, “Please hold.”

My wife held for five minutes before she realized the AT&T rep had no intention of locating a supervisor but was just continuing her childish game of “You’re not the boss of me” at which point she hung up—frustrated and underserved.

This disappointing situation was avoidable. All the rep had to do was acknowledge my wife and respond to her question but she refused.

So, why is customer service at AT&T and elsewhere so consistently poor? I’ll answer this question in a moment but, for now, consider this:

Many employees define their entire job roles in terms of related job functions. For a AT&T call center rep, that includes: accepting phone calls, verifying accounts, updating accounts, providing information, etc.

Job functions are mandatory and, in many cases, are tied to a job description, policy, procedure, checklist, or script. Job functions are also what employees are paid to do.

What employees oftentimes fail to consider is that their jobs are not defined solely in terms of job function. There’s another half of their jobs that’s made up of job essence. Job essence is an employee’s highest priority. And, for employees at most companies, their highest priority is to create a promoter—a customer who is less price-sensitive, has higher repurchase rates, and recommends the company or brand to others.

This provides insight into why customer service is so consistently poor: While employees consistently execute mandatory job junctions (e.g., accept phone calls, disable data service, adhere to lifeless scripts, etc.), they inconsistently demonstrate voluntary job essence (e.g., express genuine interest, convey authentic enthusiasm, provide pleasant surprises, etc.).

So, the next logical question is this: Why is it that employees consistently execute mandatory job functions but inconsistently demonstrate voluntary job essence?

Here’s why: Because job functions are mandatory! (If they were optional, then they too would be overlooked!) Job functions, as outlined in an employee’s job description, are what she is paid to do. If an employee fails to perform her job functions adequately, she will be reprimanded or even dismissed.

Assuming the employee does receive feedback on her job performance, the feedback will likely be based on her mandatory job functions for which she is paid. In a call center, performance-based feedback may focus on protocol, scripts, and metrics such as: calls per hour, first-call resolution rate, average handle time, average wait time, abandonment rate, and completion rate.

In the absence of feedback on voluntary job essence (e.g., anticipating the needs of customers, expressing empathy, demonstrating flexibility, etc.), employees tend to direct their efforts toward what does get attention. In most work environments, this includes productivity and financial metrics that can be quantified, measured, tracked, and analyzed.

As a result, the AT&T call center rep consistently executes her mandatory job functions for which she is paid (e.g., accepting phone calls, adhering to a script, providing information, etc.) but inconsistently demonstrates voluntary job essence for which there is no additional cost to her employer (e.g., demonstrating flexibility, valuing her customer, creating a promoter of AT&T Wireless, etc.). And the customer is left frustrated and underserved—again.

Unlike AT&T, companies that consistently provide the very best customer service understand that energy flows where attention goes. Leaders inside these companies are intentional about recognizing and reinforcing the fact that every employee’s job role is made up of both mandatory job functions and voluntary job essence—both of which are required to create promoters!

I welcome all questions, comments, bouquets, and brickbats.

[Oh, and don’t just take my word for AT&T’s atrocious customer service. Check out the latest findings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) based on a sample of 250 customer interviews. You’ll see that its score has gradually slid nearly 17% since the ACSI first began tracking it in 1995.]

Last week, I delivered the opening conference keynote address for an insurance association at The Mirage Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

The topic was customer service and one of the behaviors I highlighted was to express genuine interest in your customers by, among other things, engaging them with questions.

After my presentation, one of the attendees asked how to express genuine interest in a customer when you have a line of other customers waiting to be served—either in person or on the phone.

That’s a fair question.

Waiting customers may perceive employees (or other customers) to be insensitive when an interaction continues beyond that which is deemed appropriate. If you’ve ever been exasperated while waiting to be acknowledged in such a situation, then you know what I mean.

Even so, it is possible to deliver exceptional customer service by expressing genuine interest, using appropriate humor, and conveying authentic enthusiasm—even when facing a long line of waiting customers.

As I stood in the taxicab line in front of the Mirage later that morning, for example, I observed a doorman named Folk doing a masterful job of modeling these customer service behaviors while remaining attentive to the fact that there was a continuous line of waiting customers.

As I progressed closer to the front of the cab line, I observed him interacting playfully with his guests and engaging them with short questions and an infectious smile.

As the guest ahead of me was about to get into her cab, Folk put his hand up and said, “Give me a high-five!”

She high-fived him and then positioned the palm of her hand near her pocket and said, “Down low.”

Both laughed as Folk reciprocated with a low-five before securing her in the backseat of the cab and closing her door.

As soon as that cab pulled away, Folk whistled for the next cab in line at the cab stand to pull forward. Even his whistle was different and reflected his unique style and flare.

As he took my suitcase, he asked, “Are you an NFL fan?”

I said, “Yes.”

He said, “In the Detroit game, catch or no-catch?”

He was referring to a controversial incomplete pass ruling that went against the Detroit Lions in their loss to the Chicago Bears the previous Sunday.

I told him that I’d heard some of the chatter but had not seen the play so I really couldn’t comment.

Before closing my door, Folk asked, “Where are you from?”

I said, “Denver.”

Smiling, he said, “Oh, a Broncos fan! Come back and see us!”

He then turned his attention to the next pair of guests in line to express genuine interest and perhaps use a bit of appropriate humor, while conveying authentic enthusiasm for serving others.

Not only did Folk make his guests smile, he made many lasting positive impressions—the kind that turn passive, disaffected customers into engaged promoters like me who are responsible for 80-90% of the positive word-of-mouth about a company or brand, are the least price-sensitive, and tend to repurchase again and again and again…

And that’s no mirage.

Many companies use terms like “guest” and “partner” to convey the intimacy they have with their customers but the reality is that most employees, when given the opportunity, do not behave as though they are serving a valued guest.

If you’d like to test this assertion, simply show up at your choice of retailer after it has closed for the day. Assuming you can make eye contact with an employee through the locked glass door, see if she is willing to do more than point at her watch and mouth the words, “We’re closed.”

Now, this is where corporate types jump in using words like: policy, procedure, overtime, security, protocol, etc. While all of their points are valid, it doesn’t mean they’re right.

To illustrate, imagine that you had planned a baby shower at your home from 1:00 to 3:00pm and that one of your guests was delayed for some reason and didn’t arrive until 3:15pm—after the event had officially ended and the other guests had left.

Would you refuse to open the front door and simply make eye contact with her through the glass side light panel, point to your watch, and mouth the words, “The party’s over”?

Of course not.

Then why is it acceptable to treat “guests” like that in a business setting?

If you’re going to cite the above list of policy, procedure, overtime, security, protocol, etc. as your justification for this behavior, at least stop referring to your customers as “guests.”

Instead, call them what they really are to your closing staff: a nuisance—an interruption; someone we accept money from during business hours but whom we’d prefer not to see after closing time until the next business day.

Just last week I was in Logan, UT. Being a coffee enthusiast and having read about the mountain grown, Triple Certified coffee at Caffe Ibis, I made it a point to stop by on the day of my arrival.

I showed up at 6:45pm and learned that the store closed at 6:30pm. I peered through the glass door and made eye contact with an employee who pointed to her watch and mouthed the words, “We’re closed.”

Before I returned to my car, however, an energetic employee named Natalie unlocked the front door and engaged me.

I mentioned that I was in town for one night from Denver and had hoped to try a cup of Caffe Ibis coffee that I had read so much about and pick up a pound of beans to take back home.

She said, “The machines are off and the register is closed but let me see what I can do.”

A few minutes later, she appeared with a steeping (literally) cup of coffee and a pound of Double French Roast Blend coffee beans.

I thanked her, paid her $15 in cash, and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee back in my hotel room.

The following day, on my way out of town, I returned and spent another $28.05 on a latte, ground Espresso Roast Blend, and a Caffe Ibis t-shirt. That’s $43.05 in revenue from a guest that many employees would have labeled a nuisance—an interruption in their day.

And my purchasing hasn’t stopped. I’m back in Denver but enjoyed the coffee so much that I’m planning a repeat purchase of Double French Roast Blend coffee beans from their website. My potential future value to Caffe Ibis is significant.

If the first employee was my only impression of Caffe Ibis, I would have left empty-handed, kept my $15, and may or may not have returned the following day to spend another $28.05. And if I hadn’t experienced its coffee in Logan, I certainly wouldn’t be ordering it by the pound on-line.

This is key: Did the first employee do anything wrong? No. She was following policy. I get that. She was also behaving in a way that is usual, ordinary, and expected by most customers.

Natalie, on the other hand, treated me like her guest. She behaved in a way that was beyond what is usual, ordinary, and expected by most customers. She was refreshing and unique. As a result, she not only made a positive lasting impression, she made a sale!

More key points:

1.) Natalie recognized that, while her job function was to complete the closing checklist, the essence of her job—her highest priority—was to serve her guests.

2.) Her decision to open the locked door and engage me, unlike the completion of the closing checklist, was optional.

3.) And finally, her willingness to go the extra mile cost her employer nothing—it was free! In fact, it resulted in $43.05 in additional sales (and counting…).

Natalie created a promoter (that’s me).

Promoters are customers who not only buy your products/services, they wear your t-shirts, are less price sensitive, and recommend your business to others (as I’m doing now).

While the first employee’s service was ordinary, expected, and made me feel like an interruption in her day, Natalie’s was extraordinary, unexpected, and made me feel like a valued guest.

Care to comment? Be my guest.

Personal importance is often misunderstood at the frontline service provider level in the hospitality industry. I’ve had participants in customer service classes who challenge the notion that anyone should be treated any differently than anyone else. Some see acknowledging one’s personal importance or “Elite” status as favoritism. Others see it as an affront to their own social status, as though they are of a subservient class.

My response to these participants is that by personal importance, we are not suggesting a social hierarchy whereby customers are treated as more important people. Personal importance implies the acknowledgment of their importance as customers and the value they bring to the business through personal spending, loyalty, referrals, etc.

The best illustration of personal importance that I’ve come across lately comes from the book, The New Gold Standard by Joseph A. Michelli:

A guest of The Ritz-Carlton wrote a letter to the company president, Simon Cooper. In the letter the guest recalled:

“One of your employees and I got on an elevator in your building. I pushed the sixth-floor button and he pushed none. Instead of getting off with me on the sixth floor, your employee simply said, ‘Have a nice day.’ Upon exiting the elevator, I asked, ‘Where are you going? Aren’t you getting off here?’ Your employee replied, ‘No, I’m going back down to the fifth floor.”

The guest goes on to write, “I couldn’t believe it—how do you find people who are so invested in placing the needs of their guest above their own?”

The opposite of placing the needs of customers above your own is to place your needs above theirs. This happens all the time when companies cite “policy” as the rationale for not meeting the needs of their customers. Other times, customers may perceive that they’re being treated indifferently—like they don’t matter—and feel as though their business is being taken for granted.

One survey revealed that 68 percent of customers quit doing business with a company because of perceived indifference towards them as customers. That’s shameful!

So, ask yourself these questions: What might my staff and I be doing that may be, perhaps unwittingly, communicating indifference towards the customers we serve? And, what actions can we take immediately to acknowledge the personal importance of our customers?

Honestly, I never thought I’d be writing a positive customer service story about a cable company in my lifetime. Cable companies, in my mind, have always been grouped together with poor service heavyweights like the postal service, IRS, and DMV.

My Twitter conversation last month with @ComcastBill changed all that. For the uninitiated, Twitter is a social networking website where you can post short messages of 140-characters or less. You can choose to follow the Tweets (short messages) of other Twitter users, and they can choose to follow yours.

Below is the chronological series of Tweets that made up our Twitter conversation. Note that my initial message at 8:59 AM on Feb. 26th was addressed to no one. I just launched it out into the Twittersphere. Fortunately for me—and the productivity of the remainder of my day—@ComcastBill was “listening.”

8:59 AM Feb 26th from txt
Comcast is out at my home. Tried resetting modem. No luck. Forced to find a good cup of coffee and Internet connection elsewhere.

9:06 AM Feb 26th from web in reply to enthused
@ComcastBill @enthused can i look into for you

9:11 AM Feb 26th from web in reply to ComcastBill
@ComcastBill Wow! Didn’t expect that. I just arrived at It’s a Grind in Aurora, CO and accessed my Twitter account. I’ll DM (means “direct message” in Twitter speak) you w/ details.

9:17 AM Feb 26th from web
@ComcastBill Not able to DM you. Can you DM me or send e-mail to info@stevecurtin.com? Thanks!

9:19 AM Feb 26th
@ComcastBill There, got you. I phoned Comcast (local service #) and an auto attendant lead me through the process of resetting my modem… (cont.)

9:20 AM Feb 26th
@ComcastBill (cont.)… No effect though wireless signal is strong!? My home # is (home telephone #). Thanks for any help you can offer from Pennsylvania!

9:29 AM Feb 26th
@ComcastBill @enthused I think the connection just came back up, can you confirm? I am showing everything good.

9:31 AM Feb 26th
@ComcastBill I’ll check it out in ~an hour when I return home. Either way, excellent service! And if you’ve been to my site, you know I’m a critic! ; )

9:33 AM Feb 26th from web
@ComcastBill @enthused having DNS issue in CO right now try changing your DNS to (DNS #) and (DNS #)

12:21 PM Feb 26th
@ComcastBill Yes, up and running…Thanks! Can Social Media Improve Customer Service? I think yes! A blog post in the making.

12:55 PM Feb 26th from web
@ComcastBill @enthused were trying

Wow! Did you also notice that @ComcastBill’s initial reply was within 7 minutes of my original Tweet—even though that message was addressed to no one in particular? That’s responsiveness! The issue was addressed, diagnosed, and resolved within 30 minutes of my original message!

My experience with @ComcastBill has transformed the way I view customer service and responsiveness by Comcast. Rather than being a critical detractor of Comcast customer service based on the negative reputation of the industry and my own personal experience, I am now—as evidenced by this blog post—a promoter!

I wonder when the postal service, IRS, and DMV will begin Twittering?