“Good morning!  Welcome to our USA Today route.  Now, if I should go completely brain dead and miss you, please don’t hesitate to call me at the number below.  I will personally re-deliver your paper as soon as possible.  If you have a complaint that you and I can’t solve, you may call my district manager directly.  His name and number are also below.  Thanks a lot.  We really appreciate your business.”

There is something special that happens when someone takes the time to put pen to paper and leave a thank you for your kindness or business. I was recently a guest at Crowne Plaza in Philadelphia and I left a tip for the housekeeper. (Note: I really am a good hotel guest, I don’t leave a mess and my towels are always hung up.) Even though I always leave a tip for the housekeeper something different happened. This time I got a note back from her. I was delighted.

Recently I experienced one of the most common missteps of good customer service — ignoring customers to attend to “organizational” priorities.

I was waiting in line to pay for my purchases, but as my turn arrived, the Manager showed up to make sure the cashier had enough change. Of course this is a good thing because it ensures that the cashier does not hold up customers because they don’t have correct change.

Recently my wife picked up dinner for 4 on the way home from work. We had ordered online from Swiss Chalet (Canadian Rotisserie chicken franchise). Swiss Chalet is known for their dipping sauce, which is included with every signature meal.

When she arrived home, we discovered that the “special sauce” was not included in the order.

I called the order desk to report this lapse and the conversation went something like this.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

See things from your customer’s view

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Every Saturday a bunch of us have breakfast at a local restaurant. We always ask for separate checks. This makes it easier when we pay. And, unless we have our regular server, we always get the same response. They total the checks separately but they’re still printed on the same piece of paper.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Match your actions and attitude

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

This can be difficult to correct because people who do it rarely realize it without frequent and direct feedback. It happens when an employee does almost everything right. They are friendly, polite and attentive. Everything seems fine and then wham! Instead of stopping at your table, handing you your food and interacting with you, they rush by, barely slow down and almost throw your food at you. Or they swing by your table to fill a drink or remove empty dishes and they never stop, never talk, never even make eye contact.

Their actions are

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Put yourself in their shoes

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Think about when you’re the customer. How do you feel and what do you want from people you buy from? What are the top three things you want from them? Most people want similar things like courtesy, helpful information, solutions (rather than dead-ends), a friendly smile, fair value and quick service.

“As far as customers are concerned, you are the company.”

-Ron Zemke
Author of Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service