The original Shake Shack location is in New York City's Madison Square Park. The first time I visited, Al Roker was there.

Roker was handing out samples of his new Roker Burger. It was a special burger he created with Shake Shack to raise money for No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger.

A Today Show crew was there to film the segment.

Shake Shack's mission is to Stand for Something Good. Working with a celebrity to create a special burger and get national news coverage to raise money for a nonprofit certainly aligned with that mission.

That's one example of the Shake Shack service culture, but it's not the example.

Al Roker doesn't show up to hand out hamburgers every day. You probably don't have opportunities for grand, heroic moments every day at your company, either.

Employees need examples of routine, everyday behaviors to follow.

What are everyday hero moments?

My fellow author and customer service keynote speaker, Adam Toporek, defines a customer hero as "someone who is there when you need them."

Toporek used this definition in his terrific book, Be Your Customer's Hero. We talked more about the meaning in this interview.

I experienced an everyday hero moment at Shake Shack in downtown Los Angeles.

My wife, Sally, and I wanted a quick bite after a long day. We were tired and needed a boost. The friendly, enthusiastic cashier picked us up with his infectious enthusiasm and suddenly we were smiling again.

I joked with him about the sheer volume of Shake Shack merchandise I saw him and his coworkers wearing. "I spend way too much money on merch," the cashier admitted. "But I just love it here."

Al Roker didn't show up that day, but that cashier sure did. He was a hero in that moment.

Why are grand gestures dangerous?

Waiting for a big moment can be a trap for employees. It causes them to miss smaller, everyday opportunities to align their actions with the service culture.

One client's leadership team got stuck on grand gestures.

I had delivered a keynote presentation on building a customer-focused culture. It was based on my book, The Service Culture Handbook.

Afterwards, the team brainstormed service culture stories and everyone kept going back to one moment. An employee had lost their home in a tornado, and employees banded together to raise money and find a place for him and his family to stay.

It was a terrific example, but employees don't lose their homes every day.

Employees needed more frequent examples to follow. It took some prodding, but the team eventually came up with some great stories that illustrate more common scenarios where the service culture guides them to be a hero to customers or employees.

What are your customer service hero moments?

You can find examples of customer service hero moments in many places if you look carefully.

Think about your most common interactions. Imagine how you can help your customers or make their lives better in those moments. That’s a great time to be a hero.

I travel a lot. My preferred airline is Alaska Airlines because the flight crews invariably make me feel welcome. An Alaska flight goes smoother and I arrive more refreshed than I do when I fly on other airlines.

There are some occasional over-the-top moments. A flight attendant expertly defused an angry and unreasonable passenger and prevented a mid-air scene.

But those moments are rare. Most flights feature everyday hero moments where flight attendants cheerfully take care of passengers and make the trip more comfortable. As a passenger, those flight attendants are my heroes!