It was her first flight. Her parents had finally settled a bitter divorce resulting in her dad moving three states away. The 10-year-old was nervous about pretty much everything. As soon as she was settled in her seat, after being handed off to a flight attendant, the pilot announced there would be a brief delay due to “a mechanical problem.” She heard a dog whimpering from the storage bay in the belly of the plane below her. There was an empty water bottle under the seat in front of her, obviously missed by the maintenance clean-up following the previous flight.

After a 30-minute delay, the plane was finally in the air. Her view of the ground disappeared as the plane moved into the thick clouds. The plane began to bounce and fall as it encountered predictable air turbulence. She began to cry… and pray.

“God is in the details,” wrote renowned architect Mies van der Rohe. The essence of his adage has always been a fundamental of great customer service. Customers use detail management as an indicator of a service provider’s commitment to delivering a positive service experience. But, there is a more profound element of detail management that service providers often miss.

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