A recent conversation focused on a group that was trying to expand its membership base. It was fairly narrowly focused, and the goal was to target a specific demographic. Target after target was declining the opportunity to join. And the members were not sure why. Was there truly a desire to expand? For some yes, but for others, no – they were happy with the current composition. Likely, this was conveyed when guests/target members attended.

The bigger issue was nothing changed to welcome the target demographic. Individuals were invited to attend events that were unintentionally designed to turn them off. No-one had ever asked the target individuals about their interests. And there was no intention to do so.

Whether growing in a new market, or in an existing market, understanding what is valued is critical to gaining traction. Simply asking what is valued goes a long way to delivering a product or service that is valued by the market. How do you gain insight into what key constituents value?

It was an afternoon flight. And it was going to be a long week, so I paid a little more to get an upgrade. It was too late for lunch, and too early for dinner, so I didn’t expect anything in the way of food service.   To my surprise, they were serving a salad, garlic bread and a brownie. While I wasn’t hungry, the chocolate caught my attention. With my wheat allergy, I have to be careful, so I asked if it was gluten free. And to my disappointment, it was not. Oh well.

I quickly moved on to an intriguing conversation with my seat mate. About an hour later the flight attendant circled back with two mini chocolate bars – one for me and one for my seat mate. It was a little thing, but she made my day! She didn’t have to, but she went the extra mile to provide excellent customer service. Alaska Airlines prides themselves on their customer service. It is particularly impressive when the stated values align with actions and experiences. And in this case it did. How do you go the extra mile for the folks in and around your business?

p.s. I did write to Alaska about the experience!

We all make mistakes at one time or another – even if we are sure we did everything right. Recently, I was involved in a situation where a package was sent to me that I didn’t receive. I was sure I didn’t have it, and the person that delivered it was sure that I did.

So how was the issue resolved? The person doing the delivery went through step by step to figure out where the package went. As it turns out, he delivered the package to the wrong place by accident. The person who got it didn’t pay attention and kept it. Ultimately, it was retrieved and returned to me.

At points along the way, I became concerned that the effort to resolve the situation wasn’t being taken seriously, that there was a view I had it and didn’t pay attention when I got it. The assumption was, I had made the mistake and not the folks who had delivered the package. It could have just as easily been me who made the mistake in the whole adventure. But in this case, it wasn’t.

Part of exceptional service is not casting blame, but allowing for the possibility of being wrong or making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes at some point. Jumping to a conclusion on who is to blame isn’t helpful or productive. Figuring out why the mistake happened and making sure it doesn’t happen again does. At the end of the day, the customer will remember how the situation was handled as much as the final resolution. How do you allow for the possibility of being wrong?

Nine years ago, I was working on my MBA. The mergers and acquisitions class was about to start and we were all excited because a classmate was able to convince the CEO of his company to teach the class. This was the CEO of a public company, on boards of other public companies and was on the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In addition, he was involved in several ongoing mergers and acquisitions. Not a busy guy at all!

As each of us walked into the room for our first class, he greeted us by name. All 50 of us. There were no nametags, no name cards. He had clearly taken the time to look at the class photo book and learned each of our names and faces. I was impressed!

It has been nearly a decade and that experience is a hallmark for me in the impression and impact simply learning a name can have on the receiving end. While I aspire to be as good with names as Jim Hackett, I have a long way to go. What kind of impression do you want to make with others?

The other night I was on my way to an informal dinner party. With a few stops on the way, I needed to pick up one item from the store for dinner. The thing was, it was not my regular store and the layout was a bit different. A woman was standing at the front of the aisles helping people find what they needed. I obviously looked like I needed help given I was clearly looking at the overhead signs. She pointed me in the right direction and I came back with my one item. By that time, she had shifted into the mode of directing people into the shortest line. She grabbed me and opened up a lane to help me get through quickly. This was Safeway! I was impressed by how this woman was empowered to get customers what they needed quickly, then quickly checked out and on their way. How are your people empowered to shift priorities and provide extraordinary service to customers?