One of the reasons I like my dentist is the way they greet me when I come for an appointment. I walk in the door and the cheerful woman says “hello Nelson,” like I’m a welcome guest. It immediately sets me at ease, takes the edge off the tooth-scraping to come. I only come in twice a year and they’ve recognized me from my second visit. It seems so natural it never occurred to me that kind of greeting takes effort.

How do they do it? They took my photo my first visit. And they only have two people coming in at any given time. So the receptionist knows to look up the next appointments, and look at their pictures, and create a friendly moment. So simple, so pro.

I’ve never seen any other customer service do this simple thing. Not my accountant, not my lawyer, not my doctor; there I’m some anonymous schlub who has to identify himself. Opportunity lost.

A few tech companies try to create this sense of personal service. Uber is awesome this way, from the greeting from your private driver to the rock star moment you walk out without handling payment. Square Wallet creates this feeling too; buy coffee with just your name. Great way to create customer good will.