When I received my first management position with Marriott in 1992, I worked for a general manager named Mark Conklin. Although Mark (as he preferred to be called) oversaw more than two hundred employees, each employee received a hand-written card from him in the mail to honor the anniversary of their birth.

And he didn’t merely scrawl his signature beneath a pre-printed generic “Happy Birthday!” message. He took the time to write a full paragraph that highlighted a recent contribution the employee had made to the hotel, thanked them for their commitment to excellence, and wished them a Happy Birthday!

It would have been easier for Mark to distribute the cards through interoffice mail so that employees received their cards at work but he chose to mail the cards to employees’ homes. He reasoned that the cards would be opened in front of family members and that employees could take pride in sharing the positive comments about their valuable contributions at work.

Although this was 20 years ago, I still have the handwritten notes I received from Mark on my birthday. I keep them with the memorabilia I collected during my 20 years with the company. That’s how much they meant to me.

On December 13, 2011, J.W. Marriott, Jr. announced that he was stepping down as chief executive officer of Marriott International. Arne Sorenson, chief operating officer, has long been viewed as Mr. Marriott’s successor and will assume the CEO role in March. He will be only the third CEO in the company’s 85-year history and the first from outside the Marriott family.

The stability of having Mr. Marriott in the CEO role for nearly 40 years has provided Wall Street analysts with a level of confidence—even during some tumultuous economic cycles. His presence has also assured the company’s quarter million employees that they would be treated fairly and with respect. Customers even took comfort in knowing that there was a real “Mr. Marriott” standing behind the Marriott brand.

All this will change in March when Mr. Sorenson assumes the CEO role. There will likely be a bit more scrutiny by Wall Street. Employees may become more skeptical of corporate initiatives, and customers may begin to question the company’s longstanding commitment to maintaining the high standards of product and service quality championed by the founder’s son.

Last month, when the announcement was made, I was in the process of sending holiday cards and decided to send Mr. Sorenson a card with a brief note congratulating him on his promotion. Let me be clear: I don’t know Arne Sorenson personally. In fact, I’ve never even met him. My only connection to him is that I used to work for Marriott. And I certainly never expected to hear back from him.

To my surprise, the soon-to-be CEO of a $25 billion company took the time to send me the handwritten note below thanking me for my card:

After reading Mr. Sorenson’s note, I was reminded of the birthday cards I received from Mark Conklin 20 years ago—and was reassured that Marriott is in very good hands.

What are some other actions performed by leaders that have made a lasting positive impression on you?

In my seminars, I talk a lot about job function and job essence. To me, recognizing the difference between them is central to understanding why customer service delivery is so predictably poor.

Awareness is key. People don’t know what they don’t know.

The first thing I would do to increase awareness and improve the quality of customer service delivery in any business is to ask my employees this question: “Would you describe for me, from your perspective, what you do—what your job entails?”

When I pose this question to employees I encounter in hotels, shopping malls, supermarkets, or airports, the responses I receive almost always apply exclusively to job function—the tasks or duties associated with one’s job role.

Here’s how a typical conversation with a supermarket employee might go:

Me: “Pardon me. Do you mind if I ask you what you do—what your job entails?”

Employee: “Are you from corporate headquarters or something?”

Me: “No. I’m just interested in what you do.”

Employee: “Well, my job is to sack groceries but when we’re not busy, I bring in shopping carts from the lot and sweep the store. Sometimes I have to check prices or clean up spills. That’s about it.”

Let’s examine this response:

• Sack groceries (job function)
• Bring in shopping carts (job function)
• Sweep the store (job function)
• Check prices (job function)
• Clean up spills (job function)

Every action listed has to do with job function. Rarely do employees reference actions or behaviors pertaining to job essence which, ironically, is their highest priority.

Job essence for employees at most companies is to create delighted customers, promoters—those who will enthusiastically recommend the company or brand to others, are less price-sensitive, and have higher repurchase rates.

While groceries need to get sacked and carts need to be brought in, if these tasks are completed without a smile, without enthusiasm, without attention to detail, or without genuine interest, the customer will notice.

In the absence of job essence, all that exists is a transaction. Transactions are not memorable. Transactional service does not make a lasting positive impression or inspire loyalty.

This begs the question: “Why do so many of the employees Steve interviews only cite job function and not job essence?”

Consider this: Job function is results oriented. Managers are interested in results. Job function is doing what your told. Managers appreciate compliance. Job function is doing what’s expected. Managers don’t like surprises.

Until managers actively model, recognize, and reward job essence, achieving results will take priority over establishing relationships, compliance will trump initiative, and customer service will be characterized by routine and predictable actions.

What they (employees) see is what you’ll (management) get. And most employees see job function being recognized and rewarded over job essence.

For instance, let’s assume the supermarket employee, during his new-hire orientation program, was told how important it was to provide exceptional customer service. Perhaps he was shown a mission statement, a poster, or was given a button to wear that contained the company’s customer service slogan. He was also made aware of his job duties which include gathering the stray shopping carts from throughout the parking lot.

Being enthusiastic about his new job role and wanting to perform well, the employee is conscientious when bagging groceries. He is careful to handle delicate items such as bread and eggs carefully and bag frozen food together to prevent it from thawing too quickly. He also insists on helping customers to their cars—especially when the weather’s bad—even though most of his coworkers avoid this step.

During his first several weeks in his new position, the employee is routinely approached by his manager who asks, “Hey, why are there so many carts in the parking lot?” But he never receives any feedback about the exceptional customer service he provides to shoppers.

So he’s conflicted: “During orientation they told me how important it was to take care of the customer. I try to do that but no one seems to notice or care. The only thing I ever receive feedback on is the shopping carts in the parking lot.”

It doesn’t take him long to learn that the way he’s going to score points with his manager is by spending more time in the parking lot, away from customers, retrieving stray shopping carts.

I recognize that job function is necessary—even critical (i.e., the shopping carts must be retrieved from the parking lot and the floor needs to be swept periodically) but it does not represent the totality of an employee’s job! It only represents a portion of his job. The other portion of his job, which is often neglected, is job essence—his highest priority: to create a delighted customer—a promoter.

When employees are made aware of the essence of their jobs and it’s reinforced (modeled, recognized, rewarded) by their immediate supervisors, then customer service quality will improve, fewer eggs will get broken, and we’ll begin asking the question, “Why is customer service so predictable great?”

It’s my blog. I can dream.

Last Wednesday, I learned that a friend of mine was traveling from California to Marriott’s Marco Island Florida Resort & Spa to attend a coaching conference.

Christopher and I both invested the early part of our careers working for Marriott and, knowing that he would not call ahead to request any sort of favors—unbeknownst to him—I called the hotel while he was en route.

When my call was answered, I asked to speak with a front desk manager. The person I reached informed me that all of the managers were busy serving guests and suggested that, as a supervisor, perhaps she could assist me with my request.

I then introduced myself, gave her a little background about my friend Christopher’s Marriott experience, told her of his impending arrival at the hotel, and then asked if she had any flexibility to upgrade him to a room on a higher floor or with a better view.

As our conversation continued, I sensed that I was more interested in the opportunity to recognize Christopher at check-in and provide him with a pleasant surprise than was the supervisor.

She said, “I’ll see what I can do.” I thanked her for her time.

The following day, I emailed Christopher to check on the quality of his arrival experience.

Here’s his response:

“Interesting that you asked. The clerk was young/newer yet was truly committed to ensure that she gave me her all. She was earnest and genuine in wanting me to have a great check-in experience.

She had trouble finding a room for me and wanted to meet my in-the-moment realization that a high floor and view was more important than a King-size bed (which I had requested in my reservation).

Where it fell apart was when she asked for help from her manager because he came over to help in his very “I have role power” kind of way and didn’t look at me/speak to me and it derailed the spirit of service that she created.

She acknowledged the purpose of my stay and asked if she could show me where I needed to start my day with the conference in the morning. She used my name, thanked me and offered assistance should I require it. She did fantastic! Her name was Danielle.”

From this response, I’m not sure my phone call to the supervisor had any effect on the quality of his arrival experience.

The irony here is that hotel companies are always looking for ways to capture “insider” knowledge about guests—their dislikes, preferences, tendencies—and leverage this unique knowledge to pleasantly surprise and delight them throughout their hotel stays.

Seriously, how many phone calls do you think the hotel received last Wednesday that provided the kind of “insider” information about a hotel guest that I shared during my call?

My hunch: One.

Although I could be wrong. Perhaps there were two such calls? Or possibly three? My point is that these types of calls are uncommon. They are exceptions. And exceptions create a unique opportunity to provide exceptional customer service.

Consider the possibilities that were available to this supervisor:

• Pleasantly surprise Christopher with an upgrade to a room on a high floor with an ocean view
• Recognize his Marriott experience at check-in
• Inform a senior manager of his arrival (As large a company as Marriott is, I’ve yet to meet a senior manager with whom I don’t share at least one mutual connection.)
• Deliver a welcome amenity (e.g., crackers, cheese, and/or fruit) to his room accompanied by a hand-signed note

Any of these actions would have achieved the hotel’s objective to delight its guest while providing a memorable arrival experience. And, with the exception of the welcome amenity, there would have been no extra charge to perform these actions. They’re free.

So, if these actions help to achieve the hotel’s customer satisfaction goals and cost little or nothing to provide, why didn’t they occur?

My hunch: Because they’re optional.

And since they’re optional, the supervisor chose not to perform them (and Christopher was denied what could have been a superior arrival experience).

Perhaps she was busy answering phones, checking-in guests, securing valid methods of payment, and issuing room keys. After all, in her defense, these job functions are mandatory.

So that brings us to the conclusion of our story. It’s not a sad story really. I’m sure that Christopher was satisfied with his arrival experience and guest room at the resort. I’m just not convinced that he was in any way delighted by his experience.

And that, Marco Island Florida Resort & Spa, was a missed opportunity to capitalize on some sweet “insider” information.

The other day at Kohl’s department store, I observed three separate customers pull into and then immediately back out of one of two parking spaces located near the store entrance. While both spaces were available, they had been reserved to accommodate the store’s Super Stars of the Month.

In each case, I watched as the shoppers who thought they had just landed coveted parking spots near the store entrance, had their expectations dashed as the affronting signage came into view. They then had to put their cars in reverse, back out, and go in search of alternate parking spaces.

I can think of many first impressions that Kohl’s would like its customers to have but disappointment, misfortune, and inconvenience aren’t on the list.

I’m all for employee rewards and recognition but incentives that have the potential to inconvenience customers, or in some other way negatively impact their experience, are misguided.

To me, this employee perk communicates to Kohl’s personnel that if they go out of their way to serve customers inside the store, then customers will go out of their way for them outside the store for the next thirty days or so…

And that’s not the sort of message you want to be sending to your employees—or your customers.

My family and I recently dined out at a quick service Mexican grill. While I was providing my order to the prep person behind the counter, I observed the sales transaction of the customer who was ahead of me. At no point during the transaction did the cashier smile or even make eye contact with the customer. In fact, the irony was that the customer said “thank you” as he accepted his receipt. Even so, she still did not acknowledge him.

We have all experienced this level of apathy from “service providers” at restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, etc. In fact, we may have just become accustomed to it. Our expectations, in some cases, may have been dulled by the frequency of mediocre service that we encounter as we dine, travel, and shop.

This was a reminder to me that it would have cost nothing more for the cashier to make eye contact with her customer, to smile, and (with “life” in her voice) say, “We appreciate your business. Thank you for coming in.” Or, a bit more daring, “Thank you for coming in. If those burritos don’t fill you up, come on back. We’ll make more!”

You see, that would have been interesting. That would have been unique. That would have brought a smile to the customer’s face and the experience would have been memorable. But, instead, the cashier just went through the motions, touched each transactional base (e.g., input order, process payment, provide receipt), and robotically, dispassionately moved on to the next functional sequence to satisfactorily process the next transaction.

It brings to mind what I would expect on an assembly line. Imagine an assembly line worker producing a children’s doll. Let’s say the final step in the process is to attach the doll’s head. The worker lifts a doll’s head from a large box, pops the head on the doll’s torso, and twists it firmly until it locks into place. One by one, the assembler “lifts, pops, and twists” the dolls’ heads until his quota is met or his shift ends. Tomorrow he will return and repeat the process over and over again (i.e., “Lift, pop, twist…Lift, pop, twist…) until the end of another workday.

The restaurant cashier may not have been working on a doll assembly line but the behavior was the same (i.e., Order, payment, receipt…Order, payment, receipt, etc.). Expressionless, robotic behavior devoid of any personality may be permissible in a factory environment or warehouse where there are no signs of real, live customers—as long as certain production quotas and delivery schedules are met.

In a customer-facing position, however, the behavior must be different.

In the current economy, while costs are increasing, pricing pressure is forcing businesses to reexamine their pricing strategies. In the case of restaurants, that may mean reducing portions, prices, or both. In the case of hotels, it may mean lowering their rates to increase market share, reducing amenities, trimming labor hours, and other “profit protection” strategies.

These are tough decisions that are indicative of difficult economic times.

Most operators seem to accept that the answers to navigating a recession are found in budgets, productivity reports, and P&L statements. While fiscal responsibility is necessary regardless of the economic landscape, the real key to sustained rapid improvement is to focus your people on focusing on customers. It costs nothing but a little proactive thinking and your time—which, especially in this economy, is time well spent.

Here are some examples:

Create awareness at pre-shift meetings:

“Who would like to describe for the group, in your own words, the difference between the role of an assembly line worker and your role as customer service providers?”

Reinforce standards through positive feedback:

“Emily, I noticed the way that customer responded to you after you thanked him personally by name. That’s just the sort of reaction we’re hoping to get with every customer. Great job!”

Reinforce standards through corrective feedback:

“Oscar, your eye contact and smile are great and your use of guests’ names is coming along. How can I help you to get better?”

Model desired behavior at all times:

As managers and supervisors, your decisions and behaviors (verbal and non-verbal) are constantly being scrutinized by others. As author Bob Farrell says in his training video, Leadership Pickles, “What they see is what you’ll get.” If employees detect management’s skepticism about a corporate initiative, then they too will be skeptical. If management acts with indifference toward customers, then employees will feel justified in doing so as well. What they see is what you’ll get.

Superior service doesn’t cost anymore to provide than mediocre service. Oh sure, it may require a few minutes of dialogue here and there as well as a concerted effort on the part of managers and supervisors to model the behaviors that are expected from their employees, but that’s no more than is already expected from a competent leader. I recall reading a Gallup statistic that revealed 65% of US employees surveyed claimed to have received no praise or recognition for their job performance in the previous year. Consistent, informal feedback from a credible source (i.e., one who practices what he or she preaches) will address this.

By applying these informal suggestions frequently, a service-based business will create more goodwill with its customers that will translate into enhanced loyalty, referrals, and repeat business. And here’s the best part: there are no buttons or banners or expensive, large-scale rollouts required. The only requirement is for managers to consistently apply the basic principles of communication, feedback, and recognition that embody leadership.

Have you ever missed an opportunity to provide a compliment? Perhaps viewing it as optional? I have. And when I do, it’s usually my wife who points it out. Maybe I’ve overlooked her new haircut or the way she keeps a household of six on track. It’s easy to become complacent in this area and, instead of communicating appreciation, convey indifference or apathy.

We do the same with customers. One statistic I read suggested that 68 percent of customers quit doing business with a company due to perceived indifference towards them as customers.

The author Leo Buscaglia wrote, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

You may be thinking that “…have the potential to turn a life around” sounds a bit dramatic. If, for example, you work in the retail industry and miss an opportunity to compliment a customer on her choice of handbags, life goes on. But consider the field of healthcare and the positive effects that compliments have on patients.

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

“One of the nicest gifts we can give anyone is a compliment. A compliment does not cost us anything, is easy to prepare, and shows our patients that we have taken the time to recognize them as special.

For example, when someone is in pain, it is nice to recognize their tolerance. We can say, “You must be very strong to tolerate that!” Or, “You are better than I am, I would be crying!” Or, “You could give lessons on how to manage pain!” Our compliments show our admiration for their pain tolerance.

We can compliment our patients for anything, but compliments about their own healthy behaviors are always good. For example, we can compliment them on their recall for their medical history, their blood sugar log, or their initiative to come in to see us.

Further, praising our patient’s healthy behaviors is a reinforcer for those behaviors. If we reinforce something, it is more likely to occur in the future. And, if we ignore their good behaviors, those good behaviors are less likely to occur again.”

Complimenting customers or patients will help to make the personal customer service you provide more memorable. But remember that co-workers are customers too. They deserve the same type of affirmation and recognition. For more on the topic of recognition, read this light-hearted post titled, Effective recognition is not pi in the sky!

So, while the opportunity to offer a sincere and specific compliment may not present itself during every customer service interaction, just be on the lookout for those opportunities to genuinely recognize the customers you serve.

They will feel better and so will you. As the author J.M. Barrie observed, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

I recall a Gallup statistic from a few years ago that 65% of American workers claim to have received no recognition in the workplace in the previous 12 months. If that’s true—as it apparently is for those workers—then ask yourself, “How might I be contributing to this perception by employees that they are receiving no recognition?”

To illustrate, here’s an example of how my 6 yr. old son, Coleton, felt slighted—even though he had been affirmed by his first grade school teacher:

I had been preparing for a training course involving statistics and offhandedly mentioned to Cole that there was a mathematical “pi” in addition to the dessert “pie.” He seemed puzzled (as would most 6 yr. olds) so I explained to him that the “pi” used in advanced mathematics is of great importance in connection to continued fractions, logarithms of imaginary numbers, and periodic functions. After my explanation, he looked at me with wide eyes, then squinted, and said, “Can you do this (as he moved his eyebrows up and down)?”

Okay, so maybe he was a little young for an explanation of “pi.” I did soften it a bit by calling it “a secret fudge factor” and told him that, if his teacher asked, pi was equivalent to (approx.) 3.14—which he seemed to grasp. He brought it up to me a couple more times to let me know that he remembered the value of pi was 3.14 and I told him that if he shared that with his teacher, then she would probably move him up to the fifth grade!

Of course I was kidding but Cole was determined to impress his teacher. So the very next day at school, he mentioned his new found fact to her.

As he recalled the conversation, he walked up to his teacher as she was preparing for story time and said, “I know that pi is equal to 3.14.” She responded, “That’s correct” and resumed her preparations. Cole said that, as he sat down on the carpet with the other kids, he thought to himself, “I should have got more encouragement than that.”

The moral of this story is that, while you may be thinking that you recognize co-workers all the time by saying things like, “Good job!” and “Thank you,” the reality for your co-workers may be that these canned responses to their workplace performance are meaningless.

What they may be longing for (and consider to be true recognition) is something more specific such as, “Good job acknowledging Mr. Larson as a repeat guest. I bet that made him feel welcomed” or “Thank you for staying late and covering my section while I dealt with that billing issue.”

Cole’s story was a great reminder to me that in order for recognition to be effective, it has to be meaningful to the recipient. It was also yet another example of how my kids teach me things everyday.

What about you? Have you benefited from this post? Will you be a bit more specific in the recognition you share with others today?

I received a voice mail on November 12th from a good friend of mine, Shawn.  He had just checked in to the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort in Alberta, Canada.  Here’s a portion of the message transcript:

[begin message]  I walked in the front door of the Edmonton Marriott and the desk clerk, named Rizwan, looked at me and said, “Welcome back sir.  It’s good to see you.”

I said to him, “You know, a little thing like that is just amazing to me given the hundreds—or even thousands—of people you see at this hotel.”

I haven’t been here in around 2 months but it just makes it so nice and it’s funny because next week I come back here and I haven’t booked my hotel and that just solidified it.  I said to him, “I’ll be staying with you again next week.”

That one little thing—just the gesture of remembering my face—was genuinely impressive to me.  This was a great case where, guess what, they just got my business for another trip—in reality, for several trips in the future.  And they’re not even the cheapest by the way.  It would be significantly cheaper at some other hotels.  It’s just that important. [end message]

This is great illustration of how the front line guest contact employee—in this case, Rizwan—can make a huge difference in the experience of the guest as well as the profitability of the hotel.

I recently heard a story about a Paradise Bakery & Café general manager who earned the nickname “Cowbell Sandy” from her adoring staff.

It seems that a couple of years ago she started an incentive program to increase add-on sales of bottled water, cookies, and other high margin items. She worked with vendors to sponsor the prizes, ranging from iTunes gift cards to iPods.

Employees were so enthusiastic about the incentive program that they were constantly asking Sandy to see the printout to determine how they were performing compared to their co-workers. The report was the only way that employees could see who on the team was generating the add-on sales.

That gave Sandy another idea. Instead of tracking the incentive program electronically and then letting people know how they were doing only when the report was printed, she decided to clank a stainless steel container with a metal spoon and hoot and holler just a bit to acknowledge—in the moment—when one of her team members had added sales.

In doing so, Sandy included an element of spontaneous recognition to the incentive program. This not only created additional enthusiasm among the team, it also created a stir with customers in the mall’s food court. All of sudden, customers were coming by to see what all the clanking and laughter was about. This increased store traffic in a competitive environment with plenty of other dining options to choose from.

A couple of weeks into the promotion, the staff got together and bought a cowbell for Sandy to use in place of her makeshift noisemaker. From there, the nickname “Cowbell Sandy” was inevitable.

The program was a huge success! Top producers were adding an average of $11.50 an hour in add-on sales. Team members were receiving constant recognition from an inspiring manager in a high-energy environment filled with enthusiasm—and customers!

How about you? Do you know a “Cowbell Sandy”? Or, maybe you are a “Cowbell Sandy”? If so, feel free to chime in…