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.

Last weekend, my 7 year-old was the ring bearer in a family wedding. It was a formal outdoor wedding that required Cooper to wear a tuxedo. (Insight: Most 7 year-old boys resist wearing collared or button-up shirts let alone a full-on tuxedo for 3 hours of picture taking and ceremony.)

For being a great sport, I told him that I’d buy him a toy he’s wanted (LEGO Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle) when we returned to Denver following the wedding.

The first full day we were home, I spent 50 minutes on the phone calling area Target and Wal-Mart stores looking for this particular model. It was painful.

Every call was answered by an automated-attendant. No surprise here. The easiest way to get rid of customers so that you can focus on important work like scheduling, counting banks, stocking shelves, managing inventory, etc., is to send them into an abyss of options hoping that one of these options will appease them or at least prevent them from speaking to an actual person—which is expensive and time-consuming.

The option to speak with a representative was always the last option made available to me. And sometimes there is an audible delay before the automated-attendant finally releases the coveted option. It’s as if the last thing these companies want the customer to do is to actually speak with a company representative who can answer their questions or otherwise address their needs.

Unless the people answering your phones are ill-equipped to do so due to an inadequate selection process, insufficient training, non-existent or unenforced standards, inattentive supervision, and other factors, why wouldn’t you want them speaking to customers? It’s the perfect opportunity to sway comparison shoppers and attract first-time buyers. (Here’s why: Most employees are ill-equipped to answer the phone for the reasons mentioned.)

After navigating the automated-attendant and eventually reaching an employee, most were indifferent towards me over the phone. Indifference is communicated in many different ways. The most obvious way is speaking without any energy or enthusiasm in your voice. It sounds flat and uninterested. Have you ever reached an employee over the phone who matched this description, recognized it, ended the call, and then called back—hoping to get a different employee on the line?  If so, then you know what I’m talking about.

Employees were inattentive when placing calls on-hold. Hold times exceeded two minutes on average before employees rejoined the call with a status update. In two cases, I simply hung up after being ignored for more than three minutes while on-hold. Customer calls should never be placed on-hold for more than 30 seconds without the consent of the caller. A caller’s expectations should be managed. For instance, if you know that it’s going to take 2 minutes or more to find the information the caller needs, let him know that up front. Give him the option to hold or request a number to call with the information as soon as it’s located.

Employees were careless when transferring calls. Two calls were dropped entirely, requiring me to call back and navigate the automated-attendant labyrinth all over again. On one occasion, I was transferred to “Boys” instead of “Toys.” On another, I was transferred to “Fitting rooms.” When I again asked to be transferred to “Toys,” the “Fitting Rooms” employee said, “I can but it usually doesn’t work.” This type of response doesn’t inspire confidence or sales.

Finally, after calling about a dozen stores, I located an engaged Wal-Mart employee who was genuinely interested in helping me. She conveyed this interest through the authentic enthusiasm in her voice and, after personally locating the last LEGO Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle on the shelf, by offering to then deliver the toy to the Customer Service desk at the front of the store to simplify my buying experience when I arrived.

This Wal-Mart employee also illustrates the truth that, regardless of a company’s customer service culture, a customer’s satisfaction is heavily influenced by his one-on-one interactions with frontline service providers.

If your business has a phone, it has a phone bill. Never forget who pays that bill. It’s the people who are calling your business for everything from directions and store hours to product availability and host of other questions that cannot be answered by an automated-attendant.

Recognize this and treat your company’s telephone interactions accordingly. Ensure that standards are in place governing the attributes and selection of employees who will be answering telephones. Communicate guidelines for effective greetings, placing calls on-hold, and transferring calls. And support these guidelines through consistent employee observation and feedback.

Your company has spent a lot of money to try and get noticed in a crowded marketplace. If a customer takes the time to look up your number and initiate a call, don’t take the caller (along with her personal spending, referrals, and loyalty) for granted.

Appreciate each and every caller and seize the opportunity to answer the call of service!

Questions? Comments? Leave them here or call me: 303.325.1375

Last weekend marked the grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market in Aurora, CO. The parking lot was teeming with cars so I dropped my wife off near the entrance and then circled the lot until I found a parking spot towards the front of the store.

Anticipating a delay due to the grand opening crowds, I put a movie on for the kids, opened a window, and relaxed. It was a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and every now and then I’d get a glimpse of some fresh produce or breads sticking out of shopping bags as customers made their way to their cars.

I was now beginning to daydream—anticipating my own lunch made with toasted sourdough bread, fresh produce, choice meats, and select cheeses from Sprouts. Ah…

About that time, a Sprouts employee emerged from the store, leaned back against the building’s façade about ten feet from where I’d parked, and lit a cigarette—drawing deeply before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

Mood killer.

As I was downwind, I immediately closed the windows and then thought about how smoking and its residual effects (i.e., second-hand smoke, clothing odor, etc.) are incompatible with what Sprouts is attempting to promote: freshness and healthy living.

I don’t smoke. You may have gathered that already. And my hunch is that the majority of Sprouts customers, who are intentional about planning healthy meals using the freshest ingredients, don’t smoke either.

I’m no prude. I’ve smoked cigars on golf courses and in cigar bars. My point is not to bag on smokers. I will, however, bag on Sprouts for its failure to establish standards that reinforce its mission statement which includes: “…helping America eat healthier (and) live longer…”

If employees are permitted to smoke on the premises, it should not be evident to customers—by sight or smell. It’s simply incompatible with what Sprouts promotes and what its customers expect.

In addition to that, it’s a mood killer. And if customers are in the mood to spend money, it’s a business killer too.

In an earlier post I asked the question, “Why is it okay to behave indifferently toward customers and roll out the red carpet for the division president?” Specifically, why do employees paint, wax the floors, and polish the chrome for the division president and text friends, smoke near store entrances, and complain and banter in the presence of customers?

I have a theory about this. Here it is: Familiarity breeds contempt. Most employees rarely come into contact with and, thus, aren’t familiar with the division president. Oh sure, they may know his or her name but they’re usually not familiar to the point of lowering their guard in the executive’s presence.

Not so with customers. Customer-facing employees come into contact with customers all the time. And whether or not there is personal familiarity with a particular customer, there is a sense of familiarity with customers in general. And where there’s excessive comfort and familiarity, there’s contempt—a lack of respect—and a tendency to take the relationship for granted.

It’s not that employees don’t know what service is or how to deliver it. They do. And they showcase this aptitude in the presence of the division president. The issue is that many seem disaffected by customers—as in, “Oh, you’re just a customer. For a minute there I thought you were someone important, like the division president.”

In the introductory paragraph of this post, I listed three behaviors that I regularly observe in retail settings. These behaviors are chronic. They occur frequently. The only time they are exceptions is when the division president is on-site.

When executives grace the operation with their presence, the floors are spotless, there are plenty of employees scheduled, employees’ uniforms are pressed, there are lots of smiles, and there is a sense of urgency—dare I say, a bit of giddiness and extra pressure to perform?

The best operations don’t distinguish between a scheduled site visit by a division president and the scheduled opening of the store to service customers. Sure, there may be a bit of anxiety associated with the presence of a company executive—that’s natural—but the company’s standards don’t wane in the absence of headquarters staff.

Nordstrom comes to mind as an example of a retailer who puts its best foot forward whether a customer or Blake Nordstrom is entering the shoe department. The last time I was in Nordstrom, an employee from the men’s department walked me to the women’s department in search of an umbrella. When we returned to the men’s department, I decided to buy a bottle of cologne too. It was an impulse buy—in the moment. I didn’t plan to buy it and, in the absence of his outstanding service, I would not have.

Here’s an assignment for division presidents everywhere: If you really want to see how your operations run, stop by unannounced in a ball cap and jeans over the weekend. Don’t embarrass anyone. Just observe and take mental notes about what you see—the positive as well as need areas.

Then, assuming there was a gap (or chasm) between what you observed during your last official visit and this one, take action. Establish or reinforce credible standards to guide employees’ behavior. Make sure that every manager is aware of the standards and actively uses them to manage their employees’ performance. And, perhaps most importantly, hold managers accountable to model these standards at all times. If they don’t, the standards are no longer credible and become unenforceable.

Bob Farrell, author of Give ‘em the Pickle, is fond of saying, “What they see is what you’ll get.” When employees see their managers modeling established standards of service and procedure, they will perform similarly. When this happens, employees will stop texting friends, smoking near store entrances, and complaining and bantering in the presence of customers. And they will no longer seem disaffected by customers. Instead, they will treat them with the same courtesy, respect, and care with which they treat the division president.

Who’s more important: the division president or the customer? You decide and then your employees will follow suit.