There I was in an interview with a hiring manager from Amazon.com. I realized later maybe I should have prepared with one of those books about questions Google managers ask.

My answer could have been better-rehearsed and highly polished.

My answer could have been better-rehearsed and highly polished.

I hadn’t much considered whether my performance was above and beyond for a customer, and customer satisfaction hadn’t been a conversation in my organization for a while. Being a part of the strategic plan and increasing shareholder value had been the primary focus for too long.

In recent years I’ve been an inside staff member, with no direct contact with paying customers.

As a result, I’ve focused on the direction that would most impact organization performance or results that matter to a customer.

I do what’s right and urge my teams to do the same. No reasonable request, and many unreasonable ones, are on the table, if they’re technically possible and within financial constraints.

It’s a dumb question…

For me, there is no “above and beyond”. It’s either possible or it’s not. We do it if it’s possible, and we don’t if it’s not.

Customer Service isn’t remarkable: it’s the job of every employee of the company. I’ve been inspired this way since I worked for Applied Materials, where every one of my paychecks said, “This paycheck courtesy of a satisfied Applied Materials Customer.”

What’s your view?

While I no longer remember my answer (it wasn’t memorable…), it didn’t wow me. My bet is it didn’t wow that Amazon Manager either (I didn’t get an offer).

If you don’t have a good answer, you probably won’t get the job…

After giving it a lot of thought, my best answers are below.

Performing the impossible for customer service

1. We got the naysayers out of the way, achieved the impossible, so we could work more closely with our client.
2. We overcame the impossible and achieved the client’s goal.

Following are are a few more things I’ve done that show how I went above and beyond for customer service.

8-hour commutes for customer service

For four years, I boarded four flights every other week. I’ve boarded planes hundreds of times.

I spent 4-6 days a week away from home, living in hotels, rental cars, restaurants, and conference rooms as a software delivery consultant.

For four years, half of my weeks began and ended with an 8 hour commute.

I flexed my personal schedule and my location for about 100 weeks to be with those Fortune 500 customers at their site.

This was a part of the job description, so not particularly beyond expectation.

I have great respect for anybody who performs a role like this. It’s a hard lifestyle.

Double shifts for customer service

For two years, my team and I worked a full day every Thursday, then we ordered dinner (expense policy required less than $15/person, so it was often pizza or fajitas or sandwiches), then we initiated our 7:00 pm software launch of Hoover’s.com and/or any of several other systems supporting it. On a good night we were done by 11:00, but it wasn’t uncommon to be there well after midnight. We gave up sleep and reworked our schedule on a regular basis for those 40,000 users.

In another role, we performed live data integration and new system cut-over at a time that would least impact the overall operation. We arrived at work on a Friday morning, and didn’t leave until about 11:00 am the next day.

Physical discomfort for customer service

While in college, I worked a few months for a landscaping construction company that specialized in hillside lots. It’s a good thing the company specialized in hills because all the expensive residential real estate in Berkeley and Oakland California is in the hills. That’s where the money is!

This particular house had a narrow, deep lot, probably 200 feet deep, at about a 20 degree angle from the street. Everything had to go in buckets up about 90 stairs, past the house, then farther back in the yard to its intended location. Bags of Portland cement, buckets of sand and pea gravel, chain saws and other tools all went into the backyard by hand. Tree limbs and any waste came down the hill the same way.

That winter was unusually cold to freezing for a couple weeks. In addition to tree removal and terrace cutting for a couple patios, we trenched extensively for an automatic sprinkler system. Trenches were all dug by hand, with picks and shovels, in the frozen earth for the top 15 inches or so. Because the soil was rocky and frozen, shovels were useless early in the day. We handled frozen chunks of earth with bare hands. I recall we had gloves, and I recall they impeded progress of the task, though I no longer recall precisely why. Maybe they got wet and even colder. Nonetheless, I handled frozen earth with frozen hands for a few hours for those clients. My hands were raw and numb. My dad and my boss liked to say it was incentive to stay in college!

Sales increases for customer service

Here are some times I helped friends improve their business results. These results occurred because I got in touch and offered. If I hadn’t offered my help, these results would not have happened.

• I earned a friend a 20% improvement in sales results.
• I earned a friend a 25% improvement in inbound calls and revenues.

Consider and act

• Are those stories above and beyond, or are they just part of the job? What would above and beyond look like?
• How have you gone above and beyond for a customer? Have your story ready next time you’re in an interview!
• Share your “above and beyond for customer satisfaction” story in the comments below, or share it with me personally in a strategy session!

Personal strategy sessions for customer service

In your decade or more of work experience, you’ve done more than you may realize.

Join me in an elite coaching session honed by my decades of work experience and thousands of professional interviews.

I guarantee you’ll also see some things about yourself that you hadn’t previously realized — all good — and something you can use immediately.

In that coaching session, we’ll do three things:

1. Identify your most important priority for the next 12 months.
2. See the #1 thing that might hold you back, and likely eliminate it right on the call.
3. Create a path and a plan for you to get there.

Click this link, complete the application, and schedule the free call on the page that follows.

This is not a sales call. This is a deep, committed, 90-plus minute coaching session where I guarantee you value.

If we see a shared opportunity to continue working together, we will discuss that at the end of the call.

Schedule your free coaching session now.

Omario saw how he’d gone above and beyond