The difference between an okay and really good experience.
byMy own experiences last week reminded me that often the only difference between an okay experience and a really good experience is the ability of the staff to see things from the customer’s perspective.
Last week I stayed at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia, California. The room easily met my expectations but the staff, for the most part, didn’t. They all seemed very intent on doing their job but showed little or no awareness of my experience of their hotel.
For example, each day I had to call down and get a new password for the free internet. No problem. For three days it worked fine. On day four it didn’t. I tried the password I’d been given over and over with no luck. When I called down again to double check I was told that the password is correct and if
it’s not working I should restart my computer. I hadn’t had to do that for three days but I figured I’d give it a try.
Still no internet. I called down again and spoke to a different desk clerk. She said, “Oh, she gave you the wrong password. Here’s the right one.” At this point I’ve spent at least 20 minutes on this project. I said to her, “Maybe you should tell her how to do it right so she doesn’t waste another person’s time.” She replied, “Anything else sir?” Of course at this point I was thinking, “Yes, ‘I’m Sorry’ is in order for wasting my time!” I didn’t say it, though. I’m not telling a hotel employee how to do a better job; they can pay me for that.
Other missed chances include the time I had to walk all the way back to the desk to get a different key because the one I had stopped working and the three mornings I had to tell someone that the coffee was out. No “thanks.” No “sorry.” No customer perspective. This doesn’t even address how annoying it was listening to doors slam all day because the staff doesn’t bother to close them quietly. On Friday I moved over to the Westin in Pasadena and have experienced nothing but great service and a very customer-focused staff.
Except for the door slamming issue, every problem could have been improved with two words, “I’m sorry.” If the staff of this hotel was trained to see situations from the customers’ perspective they would have known that. We all make mistakes. I can easily forgive the wrong password, being out of coffee, or my key not working. What I can’t accept is when people don’t recognize and apologize for wasting the time of a paying customer.
So let me ask, does your staff see things from the customer perspective? You can easily determine this by how often you hear the use of two word sentences. How often do you hear “I’m sorry,” “My apologies,” “Thank-you” and “You’re welcome?” When we teach our staff to sell we tell them to focus more on the benefits of the product than the features. The same holds true for the service part of our business. We need to focus less on the issue and more on the impact it has on the customer.
When we understand and can personally relate to how the customer feels we will handle the issue in a way that brings resolution for the customer and makes them feel appreciated and respected. When you say you’re sorry, you’re expressing feelings of regret or sympathy, not (necessarily) accepting blame. And now I’ll say “Thank-you” for taking the time to read this Daily. . . .I know you’re incredibly busy.
Email doug@dynamicexperiencesgroup.com
Phone 781-861-7803
www.dynamicexperiencesgroup.com
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