What is a customer service exceptionalism?
My wife, Sally, and I visited the Albion River Inn last November. It's located in a remote part of Northern California on a cliff top with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.
Pandemic health orders allowed limited dining in restaurants, but we decided it would be safer and more enjoyable to eat our meals in our room. The challenge was our room didn't have a comfortable place to sit and eat a meal.
So Sally contacted the front desk and requested a table and two chairs.
We knew this was a special request. It would be great if the inn could provide the table and chairs and it would be unreasonable of us to be disappointed if our special request was denied.
Yet we both admitted our natural reaction would be disappointment if a table and chairs weren't available. We had just presented the inn with a customer service exceptionalism.
Fortunately, the inn came through and a table and chairs were quickly delivered to our room. It made for some wonderful dining experiences during our stay.
Here's how to spot exceptionalisms, why they are dangerous, and how to handle them.
What are customer service exceptionalisms?
Exceptionalism are situations where a customer asks for something extra or unusual that would not normally be expected. It's an exception to what's customarily provided and it's not something that's readily advertised or offered.
Customer service writing expert, Leslie O'Flahavan, coined the term in response to a great discussion on LinkedIn about what to call this situation.
Asking the inn for a table and chairs was an exceptionalism.
Another example would be a dental patient who calls and asks to reschedule a routine cleaning appointment for later that same day. The patient will either be delighted if the office can grant the request or disappointed if the office is fully booked.
Why are exceptionalisms dangerous?
A customer service exceptionalism is highly likely to end in a service failure since the request is outside what's typically offered or expected. These requests are often difficult if not impossible to grant, yet customers might maintain unreasonable expectations.
Here are a few ways that exceptionalisms can be dangerous.
#1 The request can't be granted
Sometimes, businesses or individual employees don't have the power to grant the request.
Changing a cleaning appointment for later in the day is likely a logistical challenge for the dental office. Many dental offices are running at limited capacity and have to take extra time to sanitize between patients. Accommodating a same-day request that's not an emergency might not be possible without impacting other patients' appointments or compromising patient safety.
#2 There's no procedure
In some cases, a customer's request falls outside of standard operating procedure, which heightens the chances of an error.
A customer picked out a plant at a big box home improvement store, but they didn't have room in their car to take the plant home. So they asked an employee to set the plant aside for a few days until they could borrow a friend's truck and take the plant home.
The employee agreed, but the store didn't have a procedure to care for plants that were set aside from the normal display area. The plant didn't get watered and it died by the time the customer returned to pick it up.
#3 Exceptionalisms create future service failures
Granting an exceptionalism once can cause a customer to expect the same exception again in the future. Other customers might also adopt similar expectations.
This is a challenge for airlines when enforcing carry-on baggage requirements.
If one passenger is allowed to board with an extra bag, passengers who board the same flight later on might be furious if the plane runs out of overhead bin space and they have to check their carry-on.
That passenger who was allowed an extra carry-on might get angry on their next flight if that gate agent won't let them board with the extra bag. In the customer's mind, the exceptionalism is no longer an exception since they were previously allowed an extra carry-on.
How should you handle exceptionalisms?
It's helpful to approach difficult customer service situations by looking at what you can do before, during, and after the situation occurs.
Before customers request an exceptionalism, it's helpful to anticipate potential requests and prepare for them. On a previous visit to the Albion River Inn, the general manager did a wonderful job of this by anticipating our selected room would not be to our liking and proactively offering us a complimentary room upgrade.
During the exceptionalism request, it's essential to empower employees to grant reasonable requests as much as possible.
However, there are times when an exceptionalism cannot be granted. In those situations, the employee should do a few things to prevent customers from getting too disappointed.
Listen and respond to the customer's emotions.
Treat the customer and their request with respect.
Use the partner technique to show the customer you're on their side.
Give the customer options.
Giving options is a great technique for defusing potential anger because it gives the customer agency over what happens next. Even if the options aren't great, they are likely to elicit a better reaction than a flat "No."
After the exceptionalism, try to learn from the situation.
Is this request likely to happen often?
Can a small change make the request easy to grant?
Is the request a potential opportunity?
Our request for a table and chairs was a potential opportunity.
Sally and I agreed we would have paid extra to have a table and chairs delivered to our room if this option was offered as an add-on when we booked our stay. Proactively offering this amenity would create two revenue opportunities:
Table and chair rentals
Additional revenue for the restaurant
The restaurant had limited seating capacity, and quickly filled its reservations each night. The inn could generate more revenue by encouraging guests to dine in their room and making it feel like a benefit rather than a sacrifice.
It was definitely a benefit for us. Just look at this view!
Additional Resources
I’ve recommended The Albion River Inn to many friends over the years. In addition to wonderful views from your room, it’s located near excellent hiking in lush redwood forests. Scotch-lovers will rejoice at the selection of over 150 different bottles of Scotch in the restaurant bar!
Customer service exceptionalisms are an opportunity to manage customer expectations. You can learn more about expectation management from my LinkedIn Learning course.
You'll need a LinkedIn Learning subscription to view the entire course, but a 30-day trial is available.