While in San Francisco this past July, I took my 3 year-old son Asa to ride the BART train. Now San Francisco was my home for 20 years, it is still near and dear to my heart, and Asa was born there. However, we moved to Philadelphia when he was too young to remember riding on BART, and given he is truly a public transit enthusiast, I had to take him on a ride. When we got to the ticket machine, we were approached by a man claiming he had a $10 BART ticket that he would sell to us for only $3. I told him we were only buying a $2 ticket, so that wouldn’t work for us. He persisted, saying for an extra $1 we could have $10 worth of rides. Again, I told him we only needed a $2 ticket. He relented, said fine, and put his ticket into the vending machine to prove there was indeed $10 on it. He then walked us right to the fare gate and make sure the ticket actually worked, and indeed it did. And Asa and I would actually ride BART a couple more times (he calls it the “speedy train”), using that same $10 ticket. Asa loved riding BART and clearly got the fullest enjoyment out of that transaction. And as his Dad, I was thrilled at his being thrilled.

Let this be a lesson on customer service. The man not only made sure our purchase actually worked, but he also provided us with future opportunities for fun, even though that wasn’t what we had originally set out to do. Knowingly or not, his actions went above and beyond what was expected in that transaction, and as a result we got some of life’s simple pleasures in a rather unexpected way.

So, my question to you is, what are you doing to provide your customers and clients with some unexpected pleasure that go above and beyond what is expected.   Think about it…it may take some effort on your part, but the results can create a affinity and loyalty that will more than pay off in the long run.