Refreshed Vacation Vision
By Jim A. Luff
Last week I shared with you my thoughts on how important vacation was to mental health.
Well, I found myself immersed in work thoughts while I was away. I thought about how my expectation of service would be at a brand new resort. Sadly, the staff failed to meet my expectations on so many levels. Yet, I know the manager of the hotel thinks we had an “awesome” stay because my interactions with him were pleasant and I never mentioned the problems I experienced. His staff on the other hand was rude, indifferent, and unfriendly.
When you are staying at a luxury resort, I expect the staff to be friendly. I tried to look into the nightclub during the day and an employee shooed me away from the door telling me the club opens at 11:00 p.m. I asked if I could take a peak to see if I might want to come out for the night. He curtly replied, “No!” I wondered if any of my chauffeurs might speak to my clients this way. Visions came to mind of a client asking, “Is it okay if I smoke?” and the chauffeur saying, “No!” I would instead expect the chauffeur to say, “No, sir. Our company has a no smoking policy in our vehicles but I would be happy to stop ahead and allow you time to smoke if you would like.”
I wanted to surprise my wife with breakfast in bed on our anniversary. The resort does not have room service. Instead, they have seven buffet restaurants on the property. I got up early and set off to obtain her favorite breakfast foods. I asked the restaurant staff for a tray so I could carry our plates back to the room. I was told there were no trays available for guests to use. I asked if they could bring the food to our room on their tray. Again, I was told I could not use a tray.
As we left the resort, we called for a bellman. We waited and waited. Finally, knowing our ride was waiting, we gathered up our luggage and began the half mile walk to the front of the hotel. I am not exaggerating the distance. Two bellmen drove past us on golf carts. Not one offered to take our luggage. When we arrived at the front, there was no manager to wish us a farewell and thank us for coming and tell us how he hoped we enjoyed our stay.
Not only did I not enjoy my stay, I will never be back, and will soon be posting my experience on TripAdvisor.com
I did however walk away with a renewed vision for customer service to exceed the expectations, and a memo to all employees is forthcoming to share my vision and expectations. My vision includes an expectation that each of my employees will commit one random act of kindness every single day they work for at least one person they come in contact with whether it is a client, a fellow employee or a hotel doorman.
Print | posted on Thursday, June 05, 2008 9:23 AM