Sharing unique knowledge that goes beyond the common, mundane, and expected information (i.e., job knowledge) is an effective way to express one’s uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.
Unique knowledge is not the same as job knowledge. Job knowledge is necessary for an employee to be proficient in his or her job role. It is expected by the customer and, generally speaking, is transactional—not memorable. Unique knowledge, when provided by the employee, is unexpected, refreshing, valued, and memorable!
To illustrate, allow me to share a true story: One evening a former colleague and I were discussing customer service and he asked me, “Steve, what are some of the names of the meeting rooms at the hotel where you work?” I responded, “Odets, Wilder, Cantor, Jolson…” He interrupted, “If I were a customer and asked you why the meeting room was named Odets, what would you say?” I thought about it a moment and realized that I didn’t know the significance of the name Odets. I admitted this saying, “You know, I just got so used to the name representing a meeting room that I didn’t really give it much thought.”
My colleague made the point that it’s our responsibility to know the significance of proper names and to learn the histories and stories that reflect the cultures, neighborhoods, and buildings in which we work. This unique knowledge has character, is memorable, and—from the customer’s perspective—may be the difference between an ordinary transaction and a unique experience.
I took his advice to heart and later learned that the Odets meeting room was named after the playwright Clifford Odets who wrote the plays Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing. Several of the hotel’s meeting rooms were named after other well-known playwrights. Having this unique knowledge to share with customers enabled me to provide a richer, more interesting experience for them and certainly beat the alternative response: “I don’t know.”
How about you? What unique knowledge do you possess that is relevant to your workplace and will leave a lasting impression on your customers?
