Recently, my husband, Cliff, was the motivational keynote speaker for a large association. He drove two hours to the event with a car full of books, handouts and props for his speech. While unpacking, he could have kicked himself. He forgot his most important prop—a tall, lidded garbage can.

As we left the Cracker Barrel that night, I asked my wife how she would rate our customer experience as we paid for our meal. “Two thumbs down” she replied in microseconds. We were on the same page. It was a horrible experience.

While the food and overall experience in Cracker Barrels are frighteningly consistent, the interaction with the employees offers more variety than their breakfast menu. This most recent experience left us slightly stunned at how blatantly bad it was.

My wife and I stepped into a Plato’s Closet clothing store in Dayton, OH, yesterday at about 3:48pm. There was a poorly written sign on the door that said the store would be closing at 4pm so people could get home for trick or treating.

Little things make all the difference in customer service. They can contribute to a positive and memorable experience. They can ruin an otherwise decent situation. An otherwise completely average encounter can turn into a source of endless referrals by adding a little thing or two.

I’ve had a few recent examples:

At my favorite sandwich shop I order a French Dip sub but I notice their roast beef is pink. I prefer mine cooked all the way through. As I start talking about an alternative, the young man taking my order makes a suggestion:

I remember when we were kids. We’d play all kinds of games. And when one kid pushed things too far (playing unfair) a parent might step in and enforce some basic rules on the group.

This usually had a stabilizing effect on the game. But sometimes the kid who was acting out would escalate rather than cooperate. He might ruin it for everyone by picking up the game board and throwing it. Or he’d get up and leave, refusing to play anymore because he couldn’t do things HIS WAY.

I am sitting in my local coffee shop (a big brand, not Sbux) and wondering what I want to blog about. I am the only customer sitting in here on a Saturday afternoon, so perhaps the employees forgot about me.  What disturbs me is the LOUD conversation I am hearing behind the counter.

“Wow, can you believe three limos of high school students pulled up the other night after their dance and we had to make a whole bunch of lattes, iced teas, and frozen drinks? It took forever to close!”

I recently had the opportunity to work with Family Video, the largest privately owned movie and game “rentailer” in the United States, and third largest overall, with 612 stores. In an industry struggling to deal with significant changes, such as new rental options offered by Netflix and Redbox, Family Video is the only DVD/game rental operation showing positive growth. Expanding continually, they again achieved record profits last year.

Recently I had a terrible experience with my car dealership.  I won’t go into the details, but here is a short synopsis.

I bought a warranty from the dealership and was told this would extend my “new car warranty.”  When my car needed a part replaced they put on a rebuilt part.  They had suggested a new part, but said it would cost me the difference between the new and used part, which was almost two thousand dollars, even though I had bought the warranty from them.

You wake up in the morning to a bright sunny day. Everything is going well . . . until it’s not.  One crisis after another starts popping up before you have a chance to finish your first cup of coffee. How do you handle a day like that? Since you’re good at what you do, you roll up your sleeves and gear yourself up to put out the fires and get things back on track.

Recently, at our weekly breakfast club meeting we were treated to one of the better dining experiences I have had in a long time.

It didn’t happen because the food was spectacular. It wasn’t. It wasn’t because the restaurant team did everything right. They didn’t. And it’s not that our server was overly funny or charming or entertaining. He wasn’t.

It’s not always easy to keep a good attitude and a smiling face when we’re helping our customers.  We all have many stressors that can get in the way of staying positive and friendly. It’s especially hard when customers are rude, inconsiderate or just plain ornery.

Perhaps the hardest thing to do is to behave one way when we feel another. Acting upbeat when you’re feeling beat down is never easy. If I’m in  a bad mood it’s natural to let that show through my actions.

Sometimes people who focus on improving customer service forget that the lessons apply to everyone. This includes when we are customers. Here’s what I mean.

Remember, the three requirements of an Amazing customer experience are:

1. Treat me well
2. Help me accomplish what I want
3. Offer me value