Delight your customer! Exceed your customers’ expectations! Provide value-added service! These have been mantras of customer service gurus for a long time. Such a focus on “giving more” has improved customer service quality in many organizations. It has also increased customer standards for what qualifies as “really good service.”

But what’s a leader to do when the budget-cutting ax falls and tight profit margins get even tighter? How do modern leaders avoid sending a very mixed message by telling the front line to “wow” their customers in the morning and announcing staff cutbacks and expense reductions in the afternoon? How can value be added when there are no more resources to fund the addition? In a word: Magic!

 …