Yesterday I met with Zane, a manager of a fast-casual restaurant. During our conversation, he shared some of the recurring challenges he faces in trying to elevate customer service at his restaurant.

One frustration he disclosed was the inability of his staff (with the exception of one or two “superstars”) to consistently provide exceptional customer service. According to Zane, when he challenges employees to “try a little harder” to provide exceptional customer service, the majority reply, “But I do everything I’m supposed to do.”

This response is quite telling and, I believe, holds the key to whether or not customer service quality will improve at his restaurant.

You see, the above employee lament highlights the mandatory aspect of job functions that are required of employees’ job roles—those tasks or duties that are expected by customers; that they’re supposed to do. Absent from this remark is anything that is not required, unexpected, and voluntary—what I refer to as job essence.

Most employees consistently execute mandatory job functions (that are expected by customers; that they are supposed to do) but inconsistently demonstrate voluntary job essence (that is unexpected by customers; that employees choose to do). This explains why you and I seldom receive exceptional customer service: Because it’s voluntary. Employees don’t have to deliver it. And most don’t.

The reason that Zane is challenged by staff who consistently deliver hot food hot and cold food cold (job function) but inconsistently express genuine interest in customers or convey authentic enthusiasm in serving them (job essence) is because most operations (and the supervisors who oversee them) focus predominantly on job functions and the efficiencies associated with them in order to reduce costs and increase profits.

In Zane’s restaurant, it’s not uncommon for employees to receive feedback on and be held accountable to menu knowledge, following procedure, completing their sidework, and other job functions. And it’s unlikely that a day will go by that he doesn’t scrutinize operational metrics associated with job function: average check, food costs, inventories, productivity, profitability, etc.

That’s what managers do, right?

I told Zane that I understand the importance of job function. (Really, I do. You can’t run a business without it. And you can’t provide exceptional customer service without it. No guest at his restaurant wants an undercooked entrée delivered with a smile.) But job function is only half an employee’s job. The other half, job essence—which is often neglected by employees and managers alike—is missing in most employee interactions that customers would describe as routine, uneventful, and transactional.

Managers: Remind your employees daily through modeling, feedback, pre-shift meetings, etc. that excellence lies not in what’s expected and required (what they’re supposed to do) but what’s unexpected and voluntary (what they choose to do), such as: anticipating needs, paying attention to detail, displaying a sense of urgency, following-up, etc.

And therein lies the key: Exceptional customer service (in Zane’s restaurant and your place of business) is always voluntary. Always.

Feel free to comment. But you don’t have to. Just like delivering exceptional customer service, it’s your choice.

(Illustration: Aaron McKissen)

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I recently read through the American Express 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer research report prepared by Echo Research and found many of its conclusions to be rather predictable:

• Consumers think businesses are paying less attention to providing good customer service
• Consumers will spend more with companies that provide excellent service
• Consumers value excellent service
• Consumers are telling more people about their customer service experiences
• Poor service can lead to lost sales
• Consumers lose their temper with customer service representatives
• There is room for improvement in customer service wait times

There was one page, however, that got my attention. On p. 12 of the report, consumers were asked, “Which of the following customer service issues would be most likely to influence you to switch brands or companies?”

[Although I would have appreciated this more as an open-ended question (i.e., “What customer service issues have caused you to switch brands or companies?”), that's not how this survey was formatted.]

In response to the question, a third of consumers (33%) cited “a rude or unresponsive customer service representative” as the most likely customer service issue to influence them to switch brands or companies.

What’s remarkable to me about this finding is that it’s consistent with consumer research from three decades ago. I recall TARP statistics (1978) and research from Dr. Michael LeBoeuf (1987) that exposed poor treatment by employees (rudeness or indifference) as the number one cause for customer defection.

But, as elementary as it sounds, I suppose it bears repeating:

If you’re an employee: The most effective way to further your work objectives (e.g., receive more hours, earn desirable shifts, increase tips, advance your career, etc.) is to be kind to customers and demonstrate a sense of urgency in responding to them.

If you’re an employer: The most effective way to grow your business is to hire kind employees who have a history of demonstrating a sense of urgency in responding to customers. (This information can be obtained through behavioral interviewing questions designed to reveal a person’s actual past behavior—rather than prompt imagined responses to pie-in-the-sky hypothetical questions—during a job interview.)

As the American Express report indicates, exceptional customer service is not complicated. It starts with kind employees who are responsive to customers’ needs. It’s really quite simple when you think about it.

Thank you for reading.

P.s. Incidentally, other than rude or indifferent treatment by employees, what customer service issues have caused you to switch brands or companies?

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Last Friday after soccer practice, my 7-year-old daughter’s team went to a frozen yogurt shop for some treats.

The first girl to receive her yogurt, Anna, sat by herself at one of the tables while the other girls waited on their yogurt orders. Anna is new to the team while the rest of the girls have played soccer together for two full seasons.

As the other girls began receiving their yogurts, one-by-one they sat together at a table across from Anna’s. One of the girls, after receiving her order, chose to sit with Anna. However, before she could sit down, one of her teammates pulled her chair over to the crowded table and said, “Here, Kennedy, sit with us!”

Instead, Kennedy slid the chair back to Anna’s table and said, “I’m going to sit with Anna.”

And with that, one-by-one, every girl who was seated at the crowded table moved her chair over to Anna’s table. And then they were a team.

I reflected on this story yesterday during lunch with a friend, Mike Nowland, who was in town attending the ASTD conference. Mike told me that one of the conference presenters used Velcro to symbolize the relationship between inclusion and engagement. The lesson being that you can’t have engagement without inclusion.

What a great metaphor. And it’s true whether you’re talking about a 7-year-old girls soccer team or a workforce. In the workplace, there are many subtle barriers to inclusion: uniforms, separate employee entrances, job titles, cliques, executive washrooms, reserved parking spaces, etc. And these barriers to inclusion can have a negative effect on employee engagement.

Most company managers talk about the importance of an engaged workforce but relatively few do the real work of fostering an inclusive work environment—which, as Kennedy demonstrated in the yogurt shop, requires authenticity, thoughtfulness, judgment, effort, and purposeful action. In a word: leadership.

If a 7-year-old can do it, there’s hope for the rest of us.