Idea 30: Turn off the News

Do not under any circumstance let the TV in your lounge/waiting area/lunchroom etc. ever be left on the news.  If you are a retail establishment, the worst thing you can do is let the negative, inane headline, non-consumery stuff on news channels touch your customers while they are in your place of business.
Block those channels.  In fact, block all local channels during election season because those annoying political ads are taking up all the space and that is a very very annoying thing.
Monitor your TVs.  If you see it on the news, immediately change the channel.
Put something funny or pretty up for people to see.
When we are comfortable our defense is down and we can relax and spend money.  Do not agitate us!

Idea 29: This Requires Empathy

Albert Einstein said that you don't really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.  I get that, but it also makes me laugh. 
I constantly run across similar analogies about treating a customer like your mother or grandmother, and I guess it really has a powerful impact on people who don't have an empathy gene.  In other words, yeah, treat motherly and grandmotherly customers like you would your own, with respect and care.  But don't do that with a Generation Y customer, or somebody your own age/sex.  It will seem weird and condescending.
If you can't be a chameleon; i.e., match your customer's intensity and interest, get the hell out of customer service.  You have to read the situation, adjust your tone, terminology, tactics to the situation at hand.  That's what makes you understood and successful. 
Care and/or Service looks different to different people and it is your job to analyze the situation and perform accordingly.

Idea 28: Respect Each Other

Treat your colleagues respectfully. 
There is nothing more uncomfortable to me as a customer than witnessing coworkers yelling at each other or speaking ill of each other.  Plus, it makes me wonder what they do and say when I am not there.
Conversely, the most comforting and impressive experience is witnessing coworkers helping each other, addressing each other courteously, etc. 

Idea 27: Call Me

We recently refinanced our mortgage with a killer-low rate and had a pretty easy time of it and good experience out of it.  Later after all the paperwork was complete we got a nice form letter in the mail thanking us for our business and asking us to tell our friends about them.  That was nice, BUT...
When I get a phone call from a real person from a business thanking me for my business and asking how my new purchase is performing, I really really really am delighted and impressed.
If you want me to talk about how great you are, do the fine details and call me instead of mailing me.  If you are intent on mailing me, a form letter is about the most minimal thing to send so you really oughta save the postage.

What are all these Ideas?

It's really taking me a long time to come up with the things that my favorite supplier could do to be even better.  I started out a month ago (a little more actually) hoping to post one idea a day.  Too hard!  I gonna keep up the rant till I get to 30, but just in case you forgot what I was doing, I wanted to tell you to scroll up and down for all the ideas.  (Obviously the main idea is to find something you can incorporate or at least to read a customer's mind.)
When I get to 30, I'll be back to my irregular blogging about Excellence in general.

Idea 26: Keep it Predictable

I just hate it when I've got a store or a website figured out and they rearrange it on me.  Especially when it doesn't now make sense to me where to find things.  Freshening up is good, but don't change things too drastically.  I love the predictability of where to go to find what I need.  It makes me feel like I'm home, like I belong.  I am comfortable and likely to spend money.  If I am lost, I will leave in frustration.

Idea 25: Use My Name

I've been a Gold member with a car rental agency for 10 or 15 years and really relish the special treatment I get... the one time I didn't use them, the comparison of the other place where I was "saving money", proved to me why I want to pay more sometimes.
One of the details my Gold company does is put my name up on a board.  I just love that!  Can't help it, but the name I most want to see up in lights is mine.  I get to bypass the check-in and go straight to my waiting vehicle.
The speed of that is why I love it... witness long waiting lines in major airports for non-Gold members.  But the icing on that cake is seeing my name on the board.
This is so totally a thing every business that sets appointments can do.  Do they though?  Nope. 
As Pretty Woman would say "big mistake, huge."