Every organization would say that they have excellent customer service - but do they really? The attitude of your customer-facing employees makes or breaks that customer's experience, and a great employee can overcome a multitude of missteps. Often, these are not high-salaried employees (C-level, for instance) and companies may neglect to invest in training these employees. Big mistake: invest in them FIRST.

• I stopped at a hotel near our airport to pick up a guest, and was sitting in the lobby waiting. The restaurant was located off the lobby in a beautiful atrium area. A uniformed worker came over to ask if I would like a complimentary breakfast; I explained that I wasn't staying there, just waiting for a guest. He just as enthusiastically invited me again to have breakfast while I was waiting, or could he get me a cup of coffee? I saw him similarly invite everyone who passed by, and ran to grab to-go cups of coffee for guests who were leaving the hotel for meetings. I don't know whether he was a manager, worked in the breakfast area or was a maintenance worker - it didn't matter. Because of his welcoming attitude, I would definitely recommend the Wyndham Garden Hotel near DTW.

• We recently had a family dinner at a restaurant we've been to many times. We noticed that it was quite unusually crowded for a late Tuesday night. Our server was attentive; appetizers came right away...then it took over an hour to get our entrees, which were lukewarm and did not look up to their usual quality. Our server was apologetic and sent the manager over, who also apologized and took several entrees off of our bill, as well as a couple of drinks. We were not happy with the experience, but were willing to chalk it up to a bad night in the kitchen. If we had not been there before, we would have thought that this is typical and would not have gone back. Likewise, if we had not said something to the server or manager, they would not have had the opportunity to apologize and do what they could to appease us. 

• One of our clients recently had difficulty with a recreational vehicle dealer: couldn't get responses to phone calls, had the RV in for service with no updates, no timeline and no resolution. Finally resorted to airing his grievances on social media (this is VERY effective, so beware!). Low and behold, that RV dealer is now extremely interested in solving the problem. Too little, too late. Even if they do fabulous work at this point, that customer is gone and being very vocal about the experience.