When college professor Randy Pausch was told he had six months to live, he delivered his last lecture. It was filled with wisdom from a man who had lived a good life and wanted to leave a legacy; for his students, friends and family. If I were told that I had six months to live, and could share one last lecture with my friends and loved ones, what would I say? If I could share some of what drives me, then maybe a small part of what I'm saying might make a difference to someone.

Humor in the right places can defuse anger or confrontation. At a minimum, sometimes a smile can go a long way to winning them over. In its simplest form, just be nice. Kindness and courtesy are at the root of a positive customer service experience.

Morton's, the upscale restaurant chain, claims to sell the "best steak anywhere." I won't argue with that. It is consistently excellent, as are the rest of their menu items. However, they have much more to offer than just an excellent meal. They are a fine example of Amazement in Action.

So many times we look for our customers to be loyal to us. We want them to buy again and again. We try all kinds of fancy marketing, advertising and sales programs and hope that they will come back or continue to work with us. There is a simple, but powerful, strategy of keeping in touch.

Recently I was surprised to read about what the city of Seattle, WA calls their customer bill of rights. It was outstanding, and we can learn quite a bit from a city government that is focused on their customers, who happen to be their citizens and guests of the city.

If your car’s front end is out of alignment, then the entire car may shake. Not so different in business. If the front line doesn’t understand the value promise to the customer, the entire company can suffer. One of the crucial phases a company has to go through to create high levels of service is… alignment.