Everyone thinks they know what good customer service is.

We've all had bad customer service—a waiter who won't bring the check or an Internet company that can't keep a four-hour appointment window.

But good customer service means more than keeping your water glass full.

Let's say you work at a hotel.

It's 11:30 at night and you're getting ready to go home

“Sorry,” says your manager. A flight just got canceled and 200 passengers need a place to stay. We have 40 rooms available and we're about to receive two busloads of tired, unhappy guests.

And then your manager says: “Remember to be friendly and polite!”

Before long, the lobby is filled with angry people, stacks of luggage, and screaming kids.

As you begin checking people in, the complaining and blaming starts.

Don't you have any King-sized beds?

I need a room I can smoke in.

You want to scream “Stop! I didn't cancel your flight! I didn't choose your hotel. I didn't decide how many of what kind of beds we'd have available or make the rules about smoking in the building.

I'm not the one who got you stuck here! I'm just trying to help!”

But you don't scream. You bite your tongue and do your best to be “friendly and polite” but with so many people to serve, you wonder if you're going to quit and walk out or just lose it on the next person who makes an unreasonable demand! 

Who are these people?

It's not like you caused anyone's problems … but who do you think gets the blame and abuse?

Customer service may sound simple but it will test your patience in more ways than you can imagine.

How will you keep yourself together while an angry mob is blaming you for something you had no control over?

How will you remain “friendly and polite” when people can be angry and abusive or even sexist or racist?

The solution: storytelling.

No. Really. Understand the customer's story.

They've been in the hands of the airlines all day. They're tired. They're hungry.  Some have arrived without their luggage. They've missed their connecting flights and because of that, some of them will miss important events the following morning. They'll miss their daughter's wedding or make it to the dock just in time to watch their cruise ship sail away.

And now, after a long wait in a midnight line, they arrive at the front desk where you're trying to get them checked in.

What kind of treatment do you think they're expecting?

If you consider how their story has gone so far, they're probably expecting more neglect, incompetence, and disappointment.

Are you going to take that personally?

Are you going to walk out or wait till you get home before you start crying and writing your resignation letter?

Or … will understanding the customer journey help you to be “friendly and polite,” not because your manager told you to but because your business storytelling skills have given you the empathy you need to survive the long midnight march of tough customers?

Use the power of story to take the CUSS out of customer service.