Ryan Minton is a leadership, customer and employee experience expert, keynote speaker and bestselling author.
In the heat of a South Florida weekend, I found myself in an all-too-common customer service nightmare: no water, no solution and a representative hiding behind that dreaded phrase—”It’s our policy.” I’ve spent my entire career helping businesses create memorable customer experiences. Yet there I stood, a new homeowner in South Florida, facing the very problem I help other companies solve.
When Systems Fail Humans
My water had been shut off without notice because, as a first-time Florida homebuyer unfamiliar with local utilities, I hadn’t set up an account. When I called the local water utilities department that Friday evening, I was initially told I could pay a $60 fee for after-hours service—a reasonable solution I readily accepted.
The representative began processing my request and even started to dispatch a technician—until she discovered I was a new customer without an established account. “Oh, wait,” she said, suddenly changing her tone. “You’re a new customer and don’t have an account set up yet. The team that handles new accounts doesn’t come in until Monday morning.” Just like that, the solution evaporated.
No water. All weekend. In the Florida heat.
The frustrating part? The capability to restore service existed—they were prepared to send a technician for the $60 fee until they discovered I was a new customer. When I asked to speak with a supervisor to find a solution, I was told the supervisor (who refused to speak with me directly) would not approve turning my water back on until Monday morning, when I could come in person to establish an account.
Even more perplexing: If shutting off service to new customers without an account is their strict policy, why wait until Friday to execute it? Why create a situation where a resident faces an entire weekend without essential utilities while their offices are closed? A thoughtful policy could include protocols that schedule service disconnections on other weekdays, allowing new customers the opportunity to resolve account issues before the weekend begins.
The Gray Area: Where Customer Loyalty Is Born
I’ve always told the businesses I consult with that exceptional service happens in the “gray area”—the space between strict policy compliance and solving the customer’s problem. The gray area is where representatives ask themselves, “What can I do?” rather than focusing on what they cannot.
The word “policy” has become a shield that protects organizations from making judgment calls. It creates an environment where employees fear deviation more than they value customer outcomes. But in my experience, policies should be frameworks, not prisons.
Consider my situation: Would turning on my water until Monday, with the understanding I’d come in to complete proper documentation, have violated a law? Would it have harmed anyone? Would it have been an unreasonable burden for the organization to make a note on my service address that I would need to pay the additional fee once my account was set up? No, no, and no. What it would have done is create a loyal advocate instead of a frustrated detractor.
The Real Cost Of Rigid Policies
Organizations often fail to calculate the true cost of strict policy adherence. In my case, the local water utility created significant hardship for a new resident, generated negative publicity (this article being just one example), missed an opportunity to convert a potential problem into a service win, and diminished trust in local services.
The representative could have said, “While our policy typically requires new customers to register in person first, I understand your situation. Let’s get your water restored tonight, and you can come in Monday to complete the paperwork and pay the fee.” That accommodation would have completely changed the narrative.
Four Ways To Prevent Policies From Sabotaging Customer Experience
1. Empower frontline employees with decision-making authority.
Give your customer-facing staff the training, tools and trust to make judgment calls within reasonable parameters, and seek to eliminate the phrase “Let me check with my supervisor” from your service culture. If the frontline representative had been empowered to resolve my situation, or if the supervisor had been willing to speak with me directly, they could have demonstrated strong service leadership and improved client trust.
2. Evaluate policies through the customer impact lens.
Regularly review procedures by asking, “How does this policy affect our customers when they’re most vulnerable?” Shutting off utilities without notice failed this basic test of customer consideration. More importantly, examine the timing of your policy enforcement—a service disconnection on Friday afternoon created vastly different consequences than one occurring midweek, when resolution options were readily available.
3. Create contingency protocols for exceptional circumstances.
Develop clear guidelines for how staff should handle situations that fall outside normal operations. Common issues like weekend emergencies, first-time customers and service interruptions should all have compassionate resolution paths. In my case, a simple “temporary service restoration” protocol could have solved everything.
4. Reward problem-solving, not just policy compliance.
Organizations get the behavior they measure and reward. If employees are recognized only for following rules rather than resolving customer issues, they’ll naturally prioritize procedure over people. Celebrate the employees who find ways to say “yes” while still respecting the intent behind your policies.
Building Service Excellence Through Flexibility
Policies exist to support customer relationships, not impede them. By training your teams to recognize when flexibility serves the greater purpose, you can turn every interaction into an opportunity to demonstrate your values.
What would have happened if that water department supervisor had authorized service restoration that Friday evening? I’d be writing an entirely different article—one praising the responsive, compassionate service I received as a new resident. Instead of policies that say “We don’t trust our employees or our customers,” create frameworks that communicate, “We trust our team to do the right thing, and we’re committed to treating our customers with respect.”
In today’s experience-driven economy, rigid policies can be a competitive disadvantage. I believe the organizations that thrive will be those that empower their people to operate confidently in the gray area—where authentic human connection happens and customer loyalty is born.
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