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She Delivered Award-Winning Customer Service When No One Was Looking. Here's What Happened Next

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Eva Killings worked at Florida State University for 43 long years with little formal recognition. She rotated through almost every food service job on campus, from catering to concessions, to being a Starbucks barista.

Killings befriended students and professors, and over time became one of the most recognized faces on campus, known to everyone as "Ms. Killings." And she thought she'd finish her career quietly doing what she loved before retiring.

And then, remarkably, someone noticed.

Late last year, Florida State’s Garnet and Gold Key Leadership Honorary gave her its Ross Oglesby Award, for integrity, service, and commitment to the university and its students. FSU named a hallway after her on campus. And this year, the university appointed her the ambassador of Seminole Dining. It's her job to welcome students and faculty to the dining area and to offer one of her trademark hugs.

"After working in food service all these years, I never thought I would be recognized," she says. "But God has a way of recognizing us when we work hard."

Her story is both inspiring and instructional. It's about more than one person going the extra mile to offer extraordinary customer service in an industry that's not exactly known for service -- or known at all, for that matter. And it's a how-to guide for anyone who is working in a job where they think no one is paying attention, like a campus cafeteria, or a business-to-business company.

It's also a reminder that someone is paying attention: your customer.

Florida State University

Taking care of her "babies"

FSU is big. Really big. With an enrollment of more than 40,000 students, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. But if you find yourself at Suwannee Room or the Seminole Café or the newly opened 1851 restaurant on Jefferson Street this fall, you might see Killings.

As the dining ambassador, she patrols the dining area to make sure all is well.

"I walk around the dining room and ask if they’re enjoying their lunch," she says. "I make sure everyone is happy and having a good day and enjoying their lunch or breakfast when they come in."

The ambassador is part maître d' and part therapist.

"When someone is upset, I comfort them. This morning a young lady was upset and crying, and I comforted her and walked her back to her dorm. She came back later to thank me for making sure she was OK," she says.

Killings says she'd be doing this anyway.

"When I was a cashier, I always came out from behind the line to give love," she says. "I hug them and tell them I love them. I call them my babies. I say, 'Hey my babies, I love you.'"

Delivering amazing service even when no one is looking

Killings works for Sodexo, the food services and facilities management company that handles FSU's food services. As it turns out, there's a corporate culture at Sodexo that recognizes the kind of going-the-extra-mile service Killings provides.

"Rewards and recognition are very important to our company’s success," says Jim Jenkins, CEO for Sodexo's Universities East division. He understands the challenges of providing great service even when no one is looking. Jenkins, who began his career as a dishwasher, acknowledges that it's difficult to do good work when you're not in a direct, customer-facing position.

The biggest customer service awards all but ignore the B2B customer experience. So a company like Sodexo, which has two customers -- the university and its students -- may often find itself out of the spotlight. Offering the best customer support in a situation like this can be a challenge.

A company like Sodexo may not find itself on the same "best companies" lists for customer service as other B2C companies. It's in an amorphous industry category, in a mostly behind-the-scenes role. But Jenkins says there are still ways of rewarding great employees. For example, Sodexo also looks for opportunities to promote from within. Last year it elevated 500 employees into managerial positions -- including Madame Ambassador, Eva Killings.

Florida State University

Pro tips for great customer service

I asked Killings to share her secret for amazing customer service. How do you ensure a positive customer service experience? How do you keep overall customer service levels high while also helping the individual customer?

"To me, it means making sure that you are nice to everyone you come in contact with," she says "Even when I worked behind the lines, I was always nice to everyone. I made sure that customers got what they needed when they came to eat."

As the father of two college-age boys, it's not difficult for me to picture them in a place like FSU for their freshman year. They're overwhelmed, maybe a little scared. Then they see Ambassador Killings' friendly face. She pulls them in for a hug. As a dad, I want to give her a medal for that.

I wonder how Killings defined good customer service.

"When they say, 'Thank you for all you do here,' or, 'I love you, Ms. Killings,' that’s when I know I’ve done my job," she told me. "It not only comes from the students but from the faculty and the parents. A parent told me today, 'I love what you do for these students. Thank you for what you do here at FSU. That means a lot to me.' If I can touch one person a day, that really makes me feel good."

Perhaps the secrets to exceeding customer expectations are in the FSU dining room. Maybe it's not about hiring an outside firm to measure customer pain points or determine ways to increase customer retention. Of all the competitive advantages, the one that matters most is having employees who want to make a difference and then letting them do what they do best. Customer satisfaction is sure to follow -- and maybe even an award or two.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes weekly columns for King Features Syndicate, USA Today, and the Washington Post. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.