Don't wait to be asked

The kitchen was a mess and I had a justification for a celebration, so I took my wife and kids recently to one of my three favorite pizza places in Albuquerque: Mario's Pizza.

Unexpected service
The waitress was friendly and outgoing.  After the usual routine of taking drink orders and then coming back to take our food order, she reappeared again with a small plate of croutons, sliced cucumber and ranch dressing.  She didn't even ask if we wanted them.  She knew that any parents at a restaurant waiting for food with little kids would want them.


Doesn't that seem like such an obvious thing to do?  Yet that has never
happened to me before. It was such a simple thing that probably took her less than 20 seconds, cost her nothing and cost the restaurant a negligible amount.  The result for her was the biggest tip I can remember giving and a note to the manager about how much we appreciated her.  As for the restaurant, when I'm eating out with my wife and kids, Mario's will be at the top of the list.

Obviously she still had to do her job.  She was attentive, and she put my wife at ease when my little boy spilled his soda (twice.) But that one little kid-friendly appetizer put her service, in my mind, over the top.

What can I do for you?
So why isn't everyone doing this?  Other servers may not be using this tactic because it "isn't their job" or they might not know that they are allowed to give food away. Even worse, they might think that if people wanted croutons and cucumbers, they would ask for it.  A phrase I hear far too often from people in customer service roles is "What can I do for you?" The only thing I can ever think of is, "uh, nothing."  I don't know your industry as well as you do.  Why don't you tell me?  What would make my experience with your company exciting and fun? 

What is the crouton-and-cucumber equivalent in your job?  What COULD you do to treat your customers or fellow employees like people?  What simple services become common sense when you step back from standard procedures? Join the conversation in the comments!

(If this is a topic that interests you, I suggest that you check out Seth Godin's Linchpin.  In it, he discusses in depth the idea of giving a personalized gift as part of your normal work.)