There is One 5-Star Service Skill That Separates Good from Great
- The AHA Group
- Jan 28
- 2 min read
Do you know what it is?
The ability to anticipate needs and demonstrate it in EVERY interaction for EVERY customer.
And the higher the ticket item, the more you have to deliver this flawlessly in every single customer touch.
And I mean every email, every text, every gesture, every single interaction with the customer. There is always something you can anticipate and include.
I don’t care how tiny or fleeting the interaction may be. This is a non-negotiable service element for anyone who aspires to be truly 5-Star at service.
When companies tell me that they do this really well at scale, I love to test them. In high end hospitality, as an example, I often get an email back with a very polite, very polished, response to my question. And they think they have delivered “5-Star Service” because the language was nice, it was timely, and they answered the question.
❌ WRONG. If you failed to add any anticipation of my next need, my next want, or a demonstration of what else might add value, you just delivered “Basic Service” in my book. If I start to test multiple employees across multiple touch points, the volume of polite-basic-nothing-special-service becomes even more obvious.
If you want to impress customers and become known for excellence, anticipation must be operationalized, taught, and measured across the business. It has tangible ROI when executed at scale - particularly in highly competitive, commoditized businesses.
I have many examples of where brand’s promise “5-Star Service” but, in my world, deliver “Basic Service”. My recent personal experiences with Four Seasons, Audi, and United domestic First-Class all remind me that luxury 5-Star Service has become complacent, bland, and undifferentiated. These are all brands that used to have my loyalty for exceptional service experiences, and all have a heritage reputation for excellence. They are by no means alone. If you want to increase critical metrics with you customers, you cannot rest on your laurels.