Going above and beyond

What does “going above and beyond” truly mean? Some organizations claim that it’s “doing something unexpected,” but charging me more than the cost of the item is “unexpected,” sending me the wrong item is “unexpected,” and a product not working is “unexpected.”

“Going above and beyond” is not providing services your customers do not want. One organization created PowerPoint presentations for its corporate clients, however, the clients didn’t ask for them and didn’t care. 

Another organization, a pharmacy, decided to call customers when their prescriptions were due to renew. Personal touch? No. In reality, the pharmacy was calling to let customers know that they had already filled the prescriptions before being asked to. Then, every few days, the pharmacy would call the customers to hound them to pick them up. A “reminder” phone call every few days to pick up an order that the customer had never made. I don’t know if this type of business practice is legal, but it definitely is irritating. 

This is not “going above and beyond,” this is creating frustration and micromanaging your customers. Employees don’t appreciate being micromanaged, your customers don’t either.