Permission to Please

We often talk about delivering customer service over and above our clients’ expectations. However this isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Your clients have a level of expectation on your service delivery that is based on what others have said, your brand and past experience. When they walk into your business they have a picture in mind as to what experience they will have.
I recently had dinner at Bannisters and I knew the food was going to be magnificent based on past experience, and the service exceptional, made all the more delightful with the company I had.
A few simple things occurred that exceeded my expectations.
The young waiter who served us introduced himself and informed us that he was on a work experience project where he spent three months in each department. He had just come from the kitchen and would be more than happy to make a recommendation from the menu.
His honesty was fresh and delightful. The couple I was dining with knew the owner of the restaurant who also turned up for dinner. The drinks waiter came up to us promptly and informed us that our pre-dinner drinks were a compliment of the owner – a very simple yet effective gesture.
As we started eating our dessert (which was to die for), the security personnel came into the restaurant, stopped to have a chat and sent us dessert wines with compliments of his department.
Bannisters now has a raving fan not just because of the food and service but because of the three individuals who in their own way had permission to delight their clients.
What do your people do to delight your customers?