Guest Blog: “We Hate ‘dat Letter”
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Ricky Nowak, shares a customer experience she had recently with a hotel that didn’t exactly go well. It’s a great example of how not to give excellent customer service! – Shep Hyken
On a recent business Roadshow, I inadvertently left a brand new PowerPoint clicker in a hotel room but didn’t realize it until I returned home several weeks later. When I called the hotel in New Zealand they confirmed that it was turned in the day I left. Two things struck me immediately about the hotel that didn’t seem to fit with their brand of “Excellence in Customer Service.”
I had a sticker on it saying “If found please call to arrange return and we will talk about your great service at our events!”
In the hotel handbook I noticed a letter from the Hotel Manager saying their “customer service policy is to do everything they can to maintain the relationship with that guest long after they leave.”
So when I politely asked Guest Relations why they didn’t call me to let me know that my clicker had been found and that this was indeed part of their policy her reply was “We hate ‘dat letter!” Then promptly went on to say:
“It’s simply not possible to ring everyone who leaves their stuff here. If we had to look after all the customers who left things behind we wouldn’t get our other jobs done”
So what’s the moral of this story?
Don’t stay at a hotel that puts things in writing? Or,
Make sure your staff knows that without customers they don’t have a job.
My guess it’s the second option and here’s why. Staff who respect the customer and treat them as if they are ‘new friends’ or acquaintances, at some point are more inclined to respect each other. And if we didn’t respect our friends and their property we probably would lose good people from our lives. And while everyone is so busy just getting through the daily grind, we must have top of mind that if we didn’t have customers (as frustrating at they can be at times!) we wouldn’t in fact have a job.
So, ten days later the clicker arrived, together with a conference tote bag I had thrown out in the trash… as well as a $50.00 bill for the trouble they had gone to send it back. Not all was lost because I thanked them for a great story to share. Shame they didn’t think so, and probably don’t know what to do with the tote bag I sent back with my bill for inconvenience, do you?
Gotta love this business!
Ricky Nowak works with leaders to dramatically improve their results and increase their performance. She is a Conference and Workshop Presenter, Executive Coach and Author based in Australia.
For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.
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