A “best practice” benchmark is a response, practice or function that, by peer consensus, has been designated as “best” when interacting with a customer or co-worker. The purpose of a benchmark is to create a uniform, superior response to situations that occur daily in the workplace. The objective of a benchmark is to raise the level of service and performance to its maximum, and maintain that level every day.

Benchmarking best practices can turn an everyday situation (greeting, responding, asking for payment, recording a voice mail message) into a wow. Here’s an example:

Customer drives up at a hotel. Doorman greets the customer, puts his luggage on a cart and waits for the customer to check in. Customer checks in, comes back, claims his bags and a bellman takes them to the room. It’s standard operating procedure at 99 percent of America’s full-service hotels.

Benchmark opportunity: Take the service to a memorable level. We’ll call the practice “name pass.” Here’s how it works:

Customer drives up to the hotel’s front entrance. Doorman runs to the car door, opens it and says: “Welcome to the Downtown Marriott. My name is Marvin, How can I serve you today?”

A stunned customer says, “I’m here to check-n.”

“Great!” says Marvin. “And your name is … ?”

“Jeffrey Gitomer.”

“Mr. Gitomer, follow me. You’re about to have a great stay here.”

Marvin leads me to the front desk. He walks up to the desk, leans over and says to the front desk clerk, “Amy, I want you to take special care of my new friend, Mr. Gitomer. He’s here to check in.” (Gitomer, still dazed, hands Marvin $5 as he walks away.)

“Great, Mr. Gitomer. We’ve got a great room for you. You’re going to have a great stay here,” an exuberant Amy says. “If you’ll just give me your credit card, I’ll have you taken care of in no time flat.” After completing the task, she calls Bill, the bellman, “Bill, please take our special guest, Mr. Gitomer, to his room.”

“Hello. Mr. Gitomer. I’m Bill, the best bellman this side of the Potomac River. Let me show you to the elevator. As we pass the water fountain, watch out for the alligators.”

Smiling, I put my hand in my pocket to make sure there’s tip money readily available.

Get it? It’s so simple to change the daily grind into fun for everyone and create memorable experiences that will be told to others.

Here are a few examples of turning the ordinary into a retold story:

o Nordstrom’s Department Store never makes you stand in line to pay. The clerk who waits on you takes your credit card and returns with a slip to sign and a bag for your stuff.

o Freedom Animal Hospital in Charlotte changed its after-hours telephone message to animals barking in the background and speaking as though they were a pet.

o Omni Bank in New Orleans removed the “no soliciting” sign from its front door and hung a “welcome” sign in its place.

Here are a few ideas of areas you could benchmark an ordinary practice into a talked-about best practice:

o Phone greetings.

o Receptionist greetings.

o Taking a message.

o Your office or factory tour.

o The customer greeting.

o Follow-up with the customer after the sale.

o The initial response to a complaint.

o Saying goodbye to a customer.

Question: What are you doing that’s a best practice?

Answer: Not enough.

Question: How often are you treating your customers the best way you can each time they call or visit?

Answer: Not enough.

Question: Is your competition using best practices?

Answer: Uh-oh.

Free GitBit: There are three options a customer has to talk about you when the transaction is over. Want to know what they are? Just go to www.Gitomer.com , register if you’re a first-time user and enter the word OPPORTUNITY in the GitBit box.

President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, Jeffrey Gitomer gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.