You're such a lovely audience, we'd like to take you home with us.

Some entertainment acts I’ve experienced are among the best service providers I know. Last night I had the opportunity to see Paul McCartney in concert, a tremendous player and a businessperson committed to connecting with his audience (we, the customers) by delivering on expectations, involving them in co-production of the experience, and showing gracious appreciation for their choice.

It would be easy for someone who holds the titles of “Knight of the Realm” and “Beatle” to be self important and disconnected from his customers. I’ve seen far lesser acts disengage completely as if to say, “Your inability to appreciate what I’m doing is your problem.” (Does that sound like a company or two you may know?)

Sir Paul ended a near-perfect evening perfectly, playing an amped-up version of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, working special emphasis into the stanza thanking the audience. The audience reciprocated the appreciation, singing and well & as loudly as they /we could.

Throughout, the elements of a successful service encounter were present – the reliability that the band would play to (and above) audience expectations, the empathy to understand that most in attendance would hang on stories from his Beatles days and the tributes to John & George, the responsiveness to sense the crowd and involve them in co-producing the event.

But in the end, the most striking element of the encounter was the appreciation that an act that needs no adulation had for his audience, serving as a reminder for the rest of us that work in less high profile - but no less important - service businesses.

He ended the concert with the famous line “The love you get is equal to the love you give.” As a provider of an entertainment experience, that is exactly what occurred.