Sunday, May 18, 2008

Overwhelm your customer!

Do your customers or guests REALLY get the impression you and your employees care about them?

I recently returned from a family member's college graduation in another state. While there, I stayed in a hotel that had recently been purchased from another chain. I had stayed at the same hotel 4 years ago, and had experienced a room in disrepair and a "worn-out" attitude of apathy from the staff. What a difference there was this time!

Every single staff member who passed me in the hall, or interacted with me in some other way, cheerfully asked me how I was or smiled and said "hello" as if he or she really cared. There were some problems again with my room, and the staff at the desk immediately offered a significant discount, free breakfast the next day and asked if I wanted to move to another room. The staff appeared so welcoming that my impression of the hotel was much more positive.

It costs so much more to get a new customer (or employee) than to keep the current ones; put major effort into caring and your bottom line will look a lot better!