The Importance of Customer Service

About a month ago I was on the Acela Train travelling from Boston to New York. It was the 4th trip I'd made on the train, and it was nice. But the thing that stood out was the conductor. I'm afraid I don't know his name so I can't publicly credit him, but his conductor's chair was next to my seat. Anyway he was one of the cheeriest fellows I've ever met. We did small talk for a while, and I saw that he gladly chatted and joked with almost every passenger. I saw the same thing on Caltrain in California once. Some conductors are just doing their job, grumble, can be curt etc. But this one guy was a ex-prop handler from Hollywood. One of those eccentric characters you meet in California. Really made the whole commuting experience a joyful one, and it completely improves your day. I was a bit mopey and tired when I got into work this morning, but everybody (and I mean everybody) in the office said "Hi Chris! Welcome back! How's it going? How was your trip" etc. etc. I'm telling you, it improves the blues NO END! The social boost is such a boost. Every time I've been on the phone with a cable, phone, or credit card company, I always have that horrible feeling that they are pulling one over on me. Don't know how, don't know when, but pretty convinced that any complaint I have is going to be deflected easily. So even though its not really in their interest to be nice (most of these companies are effective local duopolies, or at best oligopolies), it feels SO much nicer when you have someone who is actually interested in helping you. This is especially true when they do some kind of "favor" for you to ensure that you are a happy customer. I wonder how we could encourage this. Maybe its a bit like Banana Republic (or Borders) where every week there's a new sale for 20, 50 or 70% off meaning that the SALE price is the real price. Seems a bit seedy. How do we make it NOT seedy?