A few months ago, Gini Dietrich told the story of Dan, the Starbucks barista who engaged in a long-distance conversation with her through coffee cups.

Gini’s husband picked up the coffee, and one day he ordered her a larger size than usual.

Dan the Barista noticed, and wrote a short note on Gini’s coffee cup.

So began a many month exchange of notes via coffee cups.

It was one of the coolest customer service stories I have ever read – ever.

Dan the Barista demonstrated how a single employee can take customer engagement to the next level by focusing on an individual customer – giving them not just attention, but personalized and authentic interaction.

But Dan also got me thinking about the limits of focusing heavily on a single customer, about the point at which great customer service to one can become bad customer service to many. (more…)