"Is Pepsi Okay?"

Great service isn’t about eliminating limitations as much as it is taking ownership of them.

There are very few questions in life that I can answer before someone finishes asking them, and this is one of them: "Is Pepsi okay?"

The answer is as quick as it is consistent: "No, no it isn't.”

Now, before you Pepsi-loving folks tell me how wrong I am, let me explain. When I order a Jack and Coke Zero - or even just a Coke Zero - with dinner, there's a better-than-average chance the bartender or waiter will ask that familiar question when the establishment has a partnership with that inferior swill. And, every single time I think, "Of course it isn't okay. If it were okay, I would've ordered a Pepsi." Obviously, I don't say that out loud. It's not like I'm going to dramatically stand up, spike my napkin on the floor, and storm out of the restaurant because they don't carry Coke products. Instead, I usually pivot to water or something else and move on with my meal.

While this may seem like a 600-word rant against a soft drink I don’t like, it’s really about something much more important: service.

The restaurant made a perfectly reasonable decision not to carry Coke products. Perhaps they got a better deal from Pepsi, or their target audience prefers that particular beverage. Regardless of the reason, it's their choice, and I truly have no issue with it. Where things start to go sideways is when they hand that decision back to me by asking, "Is Pepsi okay?”

Without realizing it, they've made their limitation my problem to solve, and now I'm the one deciding whether to settle, order something else, or ask what other options are available. In other words, the burden shifts from the business to the customer. I usually find myself thinking that if the conversation were different, my perception would be as well. Instead of just asking me if Pepsi is okay, what if the server said:

"I'm sorry, we don't carry Coke products. We do have Pepsi, Dr Pepper, ginger ale, sweet tea, unsweet tea, and a few other options. Is there something else I can get for you?"

It's the same limitation but framed in a completely different experience. One just restates the problem while the other takes ownership of it, and I think we all do this more than we'd care to admit in our own businesses:

• A client asks for a product that's out of stock, and our first instinct is to ask if another item will work instead.

• A customer needs an order by Friday, so we ask if they can move the event.

• Someone requests a specific color, and we immediately ask if something "close enough" would be acceptable.

None of those responses are necessarily wrong, as sometimes there truly isn't another option. At the same time, I think we stop too soon. The client didn't ask us to solve an inventory problem; they asked us to solve their marketing problem. That's a radically different conversation.

Instead of immediately reaching for a substitute that makes the client feel like they are settling, maybe the better question is, "What are you trying to accomplish?" The truth is that most customers aren't emotionally attached to a particular tumbler, notebook, or polo shirt. They're trying to recognize employees, impress a client, increase trade show booth attendance, or strengthen their brand. The product they ask for is simply one possible solution.

When we immediately substitute products without understanding the objective, we're treating the request instead of solving the problem. That's the furthest thing from exceptional service. Exceptional service begins with ownership by saying, "Here's what I can do.” That acknowledges the limitation, accepts responsibility for navigating it, and immediately shows you're seeking the best possible outcome for the project.

This really hit home with me when I was recently at an industry event, asked for a Jack and Coke Zero, and was told they only carried Pepsi. Before I had a chance to say anything, the bartender said, "If you don't mind waiting, we do keep a few bottles of Coke Zero in the back, and I'm happy to get one for you."

Of course, I was thrilled, tipped accordingly, and marveled at that level of service. It wasn't her fault that the hotel she worked at chose Pepsi over Coke, yet she still took control of the situation and did everything she could to solve my problem without making it difficult for me. The difference wasn’t the fact she could find Coke Zero; it was that she took complete ownership when she didn’t have to.

Every business has limitations because products go out of stock, deadlines become impossible to meet, and budgets shrink. For the most part, clients understand that. The fact is that they rarely remember the limitation; they’ll remember whether you took ownership of it or made your problem theirs.