"When I initiated contact (by walking into the business or otherwise), the person who greeted me expressed by their words, actions and gestures that I was welcome, and indeed that I was the focus of the business at that very moment. The person who dealt with my order or other concern did so promptly and efficiently--and, without having to be servile, made me feel that the matter that brought me to them was important. Any issues I brought up were dealt with in a calm, responsive manner and resolved to the satisfaction of all. I left feeling so much better than I had walking in."
I'm guessing that for my grandfather, who at one time owned a gas station, this was true of his business and his employees--or they didn't stay long. Several years ago, business gurus would speak of those who were able to pull this off as scoring a "customer service home run." Today, this scenario increasingly looks like the Holy Grail.
Excellent people and organizations, to be sure, screw up more "loudly" on the occasions when they do falter. The upside is that delivering service such as that described above resounds like a shout in the Grand Canyon. That is true on the interpersonal level as much as on the organizational. If you want to stand out--maybe even a little more than you wanted to--just live by the first paragraph in this post.
An interesting piece of business jargon that I learned today was "pain points." I'd argue that living by the philosophy expressed in the first paragraph will, at minimum, result in fewer pain points--and possibly even act as Novocaine. I'd really, honestly like to encounter a coffeehouse with few or no pain points and lots of Novocaine. And I will leave it at that as a positive challenge.
