Above and Beyond
March 23rd, 2008 Posted in GeneralWhen you read the title of this blog you might have thought I was referring to heaven but rather I’m talking about heavenly customer service - the kind of service where managers and employees go above and beyond to meet and surpass the needs and expectations of their customer. And when I talk about this kind of service one company comes immediately to mind. Publix Super Markets. They were recently named one of America’s Most Admired Companies and the #1 admired Food Retailer by Fortune Magazine. As a regular customer I can earnestly say that they earn their accolades every day because they go above and beyond.
Just the other day my wife sent me to Publix to get a few “hard to find” non traditional food items. In most super markets this would be more challenging than Indiana Jones’s task of finding the lost ark. If you asked a store employee where you could find something they would either tell you the wrong aisle, point and grunt or just say “I don’t know Dude.”
But Publix is different. When I told a young man who was stocking a shelf with Campbell’s soup cans about my quest he stopped what he was doing and said, “Let me show you,” and he walked me to each aisle for each item. He made my day and he made shopping a pleasure not a painful arduous process.
I also have to tell you about the time that Publix didn’t have the item I was looking for but a nearby competing supermarket did. The manager actually got in his car and went to the competition and bought the item and came back and then sold it to me. I was a Publix customer and he didn’t want me to have to go to another store. He wanted to keep me as a Publix customer and he sure did. They’ve also done this for my wife several times over the past few years.
The best part is that these are not just my amazing Publix experiences. My friends and family have all had similar experiences at Publix as well. How do I know this? We have had conversations about Publix. Why? Because when someone provides you with above and beyond customer service you talk about it with others. This is how and why businesses grow and this is how you become admired by customers and other industry leaders.
Publix has chosen to go above and beyond what we define as “normal” customer service and in the process they have created a new standard or a new “normal” that customers measure every other experience against. And that’s why they are # 1.
So as you read this I hope you are thinking of ways you and your team can go above and beyond the call of duty to serve others in extraordinary ways. Don’t measure yourself against others. Become the measuring stick. Become the standard. Show others what “normal” looks like. Ask how you can go above and beyond and serve your customers, clients, patients, constituents, team and family today. If you go above and beyond you won’t have to search for business but rather they’ll find you.
So how do you go above and beyond? Or tell us a story of a company that went above and beyond for you. We want to hear about it.
13 Responses to “Above and Beyond”
By Benjamin Myhre on Mar 23, 2008
Good customer service is not rocket science, just a discipline that needs to be continually checked and refined. Going above and beyond in ways that the customers should expect… and finding ways to go above and beyond that suprises them.
By Nader Jomaa on Mar 24, 2008
I have to agree with you on this one Jon. Publix really is the benchmark for customer service in the supermarket industry. I have been all over the country and been to dozens of supermarket chains, but Publix is pacing well ahead of their “competition” in this industry!
By Vikki on Mar 24, 2008
I love Publix, won’t go anywhere else.
By CigarGatorFan on Mar 24, 2008
While starting my own business, Merkley Marketing Group, I worked part time at Publixs for insurance. Although only making $8.00 per hour it was a great experience! Before moving to Florida and leaving retail I had always run a very successful family jewelry business. I always told my kids that you should do your best regardless of what you are doing, as a way of serving others (our faith requires this) and for personal gratification. Not only did my Publix experience give the opportunity to put my talk in action the culture at Publix actually encouraged it. Although it has been about two years since I have worked at Publix I actually still feel part of the Publix family.
One way to look at it is people may big money for education, I actually got paid (and insurance) while learning at Publix!!
By Kristina on Mar 24, 2008
No matter what business you are in, going above and beyond means a lot to people who uses the service. I have a personal weightloss coach who goes above and beyond as her clients does the same back. She gives back what they give back. Anyway, she has gone above and beyond with me, and I’m so grateful that it was blessing in disguise that I found her, because her program works too! She’s an amazing person, and it makes it easier to be able to lose those pounds! Going above and beyond will bring success in the end!
By Mr_BiJae on Mar 24, 2008
Jon: I’ve been following you for the last five years and I love all the positive energy you infuse into the world. I have changed my life by practicing what you offer. It was not long ago that I was angry and bitter that my good deeds had not gone rewarded. I have taken many steps to change my attitude and not be my own energy vampire. What you write this week is exactly what I’ve done to climb my mountain and become the man I want to be. By going above and beyond with my family, friends, work, and every where else in my life. I know I’m doing the best that I can. It makes me feel better because it is who I am. Going above and beyond makes both me and the people I interact with feel better. It as infectious as a smile and very rewarding. Thank you for sharing!
By Julia on Mar 24, 2008
Good Morning Jon:
I am so glad to hear about your great experience at Publix. We were in Ft. Lauderdale this past summer prior to taking a cruise, and for a day following it. We decided for lunch to just walk to the Publix and purchase sandwich makings to enjoy with friends in our room. Unfortunately I have diabetes and sometimes it is hard to guage exactly when I need to eat, but I had assumed that I would get there and back to my hotel in plenty of time. Wrong!!!
I had the worst experience I could imagine.
All I wanted was a sandwich. Instead of buying and making our own, we decided to order a sandwich at the deli. There were no big line-ups when we got there or anything like that. Still, I waited over 45 minutes for a simple sandwich. My husband wandered around and picked up a few other groceries while I waited. At the cash register when we finally got to leave the service was less than pleasant again.
I am glad that someone likes Publix, it secures hope for all their employees, because if it were up to me, and my sharing of my experience they would be in an unemployment line.
By the time we retuned to our hotel nearby, my sugar had crashed and my last day in Florida was very uncomfortable. While I trust your experience, I don’t think I will risk a second experience like I had, when we are in Miami FL for a second cruise this summer.
While I maintain a positive attitude, I usually avoid places that make it difficult for me to sustain one, when alternative locations exist.
By Michael Hammoor on Mar 24, 2008
I agree with Publix as an example of superior customer service. I was looking for baking items over the past Christmas holiday and the chef at a Publix in Tampa personally walked me around the store to locate all the items I needed. They always get my business because of their attentive service.
By AnnieMac on Mar 24, 2008
Ok Jon, reading about your Publix experiences and conversations about the “above and beyond” customer service that supermarket chain is famous for, I have to chip in – from the other side of the cash register.
As a teen and into my early 20s, while matriculating through high school and college, I also worked my way up the employment ladder at Publix as a bag girl, cashier, and eventually bank and shop teller. Now this was in the late 70s and early 80s when this family-owned chain was still very shall we say “old school” in their attitudes, about even or a little behind the times. They have come a long way now and women are offered any position for which they want to train, but back then being greeted at the time clock with a hug from the manager was another pleasure of working there and the hierarchy was still fairly patriarchal.
But that’s not the story here. Even 25 years ago in that environment, Publix was paving the way for the customer service we expect of every business today. So when “the customer is always right” was coming into being, I was a seventeen year old girl on the front lines receiving whatever those customers wanted to be “right” about in any given situation. Well one weekend before lunch, a couple started unloading their very-full cart at my register, bread first, and before I even touched the first loaf to scan, being quite loud and adamant about not squishing the bread, that the children in their daycare would not eat it if it had been crushed.
So I was being extra careful, stopping to bag all of the bread separately and because I did not have another cart to load it in to – it was busy and I didn’t have a bagboy helping – carefully handed the bag over the scanner to one of the customers for their safekeeping. Well this must have been construed as an act of aggression, because the rant became louder as they accused me of “throwing” the bread at them and said they were going to get me fired, etc. etc. By now I had called the front-end coordinator over and would not let him leave me alone with them. All this time they are practically screaming at him and at me, and he is saying he will take care of it right away and I’m visibly shaking, which seemed to give them great pleasure indeed.
After they left I asked the front end guy to run my register while I went to the bathroom. And cried. I just knew I was fired and I loved my job, the people I worked with, and 99.5% of the customers I interacted with. It took a while to calm down huddled in that stall. After about 5 minutes, there was a knock on the door and a male voice called my name – the store manager. I was devastated when he asked me to come to the office when I was done. With every thought that this was my last hour with Publix, I eventually emerged and went to the back office as requested. Mr. Rhodes was back there with a stern but kind look on his face. “I’m so sorry…” I began but he interrupted me. “Are you all right?” he asked quickly. I nodded, tearing up again at his concern and unable to speak. He paused for a pregnant second, then continued: “Want a beer?”
Well of course, that was the last thing I expected to hear out of his mouth and I’m sure it showed on my face because he broke out in a great big grin when I croaked a simple “no thanks” to doing something illegal at my age, never mind on the clock and so early in the day. “If anyone ever treats you like that again,” he resumed, “I want you to immediately lock your register and come get me. Do you understand?” I nodded again, eyes wide with shock at this turn of events. “I’ll personally escort them out of the store, void the order, and have their groceries put back on the shelf. Nobody has the right to treat my employees that way.”
Yes, Publix has awesome customer service… And they train their managers to know when it crosses the line to condoning abusive behavior. My Publix stories are many and most center around the amazing management training program they have. As I was finally “retiring” from part-time Publix employment after graduation from college, another manager lamented “I’m losing all my smart girls”! So next time you’re in the store getting help from every level of worker there, know it comes from a great organization that knows what matters for everyone – service personnel and customers alike. I still remember that our paychecks read “where working is a pleasure” – so true, oh, so true.
Thanks for the reminder!
By Linda on Mar 25, 2008
Hi, we are in the UK and do not have a Publix to comment on though we do have outstanding service from supermarkets, shops and other retailers. I think the outstanding services are attention to detail. Those little attention to details that not only make a difference to who is providing the service but also to who is receiving the service.
Something so simple as a smile can make a difference, even if you are on the telephone - people feel it/hear it.
Then there is giving the customer what they expect and more like fast postage, a note of thanks inside with their goods and maybe a little treat like for us a sweet (or candy as you say!) plus some other little touches that are unique and make the experience for the customer “make their day”.
So go out, feel and spread a little happiness, we all need that.
Thank you Jon you help us all shine …
By Corinna on Mar 25, 2008
I love Publix, as well!! My husband and I will pay more on groceries and drive farther (there’s a competing supermarket that’s a block away from us) just to have a nice shopping experience
We hear that Publix is a great employer, too! 
By Rebecca on Mar 27, 2008
I retired from Publix because I was getting married(1992). I should of never left. I am divorced now and working for the Federal Gov’t as a contract worker. I work Part time at DressBarn At Regency Commons in Jacksonville, Florida. Dressbarn is alot like Publix. Good customer service. I miss Publix very much. IF I leave Dressbarn, I will go back to Publix part time. They are the BEST to their customers and very good to the employees!
By Siobhan on May 6, 2008
Hi Jon!
First, as a Publix employee, I would like to apologize to Julia for her negative experience with the Publix company. As with any retail business, each store is unique to the manager and the type of people the manager hires. While managers strive to hire people who will work well with their company, there will always be one or two (sometimes more) people who have that negative energy hanging so heavy around them that anyone within 30 feet can feel it!
At our store in West Palm, we have what customers call the “happy side” and the “what is their problems!” side of the store. Customers find it hard to believe the difference in attitude just in one store. (Oh, I work on the “very happy side”!)
When I have been in a store , had a negative experience, I have spoken to the store manager about it. That is the best way to help any business to better itself. If the management is not aware of the negative situations, they can do nothing to help make it postive.
I took a copy of your article to my store and showed it to my store manager - who was not aware of your seminars. She really enjoyed the article. I also hung a copy of the article by the time clock near my department.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little smile, a little “how are you today” - but mostly - acknowledgement - letting someone know they matter -
Positive Energy - it is my daily motto. And when I get out of bed in the morning, I visualize beautiful, positive energy, spreading from my energy field to as far as it possibly can. I know it works. I’ve seen it work. And that is why I work on the “happy side of the store”!