Just finished up a very productive trip to the west coast and had the opportunity to stay at two very different high end (aka mucho expensive) hotels.
The first hotel I visited did a good job on the “first impression” thing. The lady at the front desk even stepped out from behind the desk to physically show me where the elevators were. I thought that was really cool until that turned into the first screw up of the visit. This hotel has by far, the most ridiculous elevator system I have ever seen. You can’t access your room or the ground level without exiting one elevator, walking another 30 feet and jumping on another elevator to get there. All I can say was thank God I wasn’t hitting the bar otherwise you’d be looking at my face on the back of a milk carton as I wander around looking for the damn second elevator.
Lesson: Could there be things you and/or your company does that confuses your customer? Additionally . . . do you make it difficult to do business with you?
Next, no coffee in the room. Now for whatever reason, they thought it would be hip to make you come back down to the lobby (once you navigated the Bermuda Triangle of freakin elevators mind you) and have coffee for you there. Call me picky but if I were to attempt to shower sans caffeine I am quite confident that I’d become that “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up lady” you see on those commercials. And seriously, I like my coffee in my room, pre shower while I wake my tired ass up. Am I alone in this thinking?
Lesson: Do you make your customers walk down to the lobby in their boxer shorts because that’s what I’m doing next time someone screws with my morning coffee!
I needed to go on the internet and noticed I could for the low, low price of $14.95 a day. So now, here’s a hotel that starts at $400 a night and then you have the balls to charge me $14.95 for the privilege of using your internet. If I’m going to pay anyone $14.95 for internet they better come up to my room and turn my damn computer on and off for me and move the page up and down when I read my emails.
Lesson: Do you have ridiculous fees in place that aren’t exactly “customer friendly”? More specifically, is your attitude one of “We gotcha on this one dude and you have no choice but to pay”?
Finally, I checked the charges to my charge card. I noticed an extra $600 in fees. I called down and they told me that since I had used a Debit Card that they put additional holds and that they would be released in 7-10 business days. I told them that if that had been communicated to me, I would have simply handed them a charge card. She was nice enough but I got the old “that’s our policy” speech. Then a wave of brilliance hit me and I asked her “Can I just come down and hand you my charge card” She said sure and that made me ask her “Why am I doing the suggesting . You’re the genius in the accounting department”
Lesson: Do you have policies in place that could cost your customer more money and for the bonus question: Are you upfront in letting them know? And just for the heck of it, do your clients do the suggesting or do you help them find solutions to the very obstacles your company help create?
Now in fairness to them, there were actually many things they did right. I love the nightly turn down service, the friendliness of the staff but . . .
All of their customer touch points were not aligned properly which in turn offered me an absence of value.
The second hotel (An Omni Hotel) greeted me like I was returning home. They took the time to explain the area to me. Asked me if I was going to dine in or venture out. Joanne even handed me a map and walked me through the lay of the land
On my way to the elevator, I decided I better hit the ATM machine. The Concierge strikes up a conversation with me. Next thing you know we’re talking baseball and then he tells me I look like this dude on the back of his milk container to which I reply “Guilty you concierging mofo you”
I get up to me room and there’s a handwritten note from Pei who is in housekeeping
Welcome to the Omni San Francisco Hotel. Please enjoy your stay with us. Have a great day.
Very cool Pei . . . you get it!
30 minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. It’s the police and they tell me I look just like this dude reported missing by the elevators at the other hotel. Seriously, its some dude who says “Mr Castain this is for you. Welcome!” He then hands me a chocolate covered pretzel and a bottled water. Right about now I’m feeling like the home alone kid when he was chillin at that fancy hotel on his Dad’s credit card.
I could go on and on but here’s the point . . . not only was every customer touch point aligned . . . excellence became aligned in the process.
So with that in mind, when was the last time you looked at every customer touch point from the customer’s point of view? Do you ask your customers for feedback? Are you open to their suggestions? Do you make it easy for them to suggest improvements?
And finally . . . do you take action on your findings or do you continue to kid yourself that they’ll be back?
