Last week, I was traveling with two fellow marketers and something happened that stopped me in my tracks. It was a perfect reminder that even world-class marketing can’t overcome the simplest hurdle sometimes.
The Backstory
We were traveling for work and stayed at a nice hotel in a mid-sized city in the heart of America. One of the people I was traveling with had used this same hotel – and covered the costs – for nearly 500 people to stay in during a week-long, local event last summer.
We had to leave the hotel promptly at 6:30 a.m. in the morning to drive an hour away and meet with one of our client’s biggest customers to tour his operation. While checking in, we asked the front desk attendant what time breakfast was served and he told us 6 a.m.
The Hurdle
We met downstairs around 6:10 a.m. the next day. A hotel employee – let’s call her Bettie – was setting up the breakfast bar.
Bettie told us breakfast wasn’t available until 6:30 a.m. When we mentioned we were told it started at 6:00 a.m., Bettie told us that the person working the cash register wasn’t there yet and we’d have to wait.
One of my colleagues looked over in the direction of the food that was already out and Bettie quickly sidestepped to put herself between us and the breakfast bar – like a linebacker watching a quarterback’s eyes. My colleague asked if we could at least grab a box of cereal for the road. We were told, “No.”
We didn’t have time to argue. We had to get on the road, so we left.
The first thing my colleague said as we walked out of the breakfast area was, “I’ll never book another room in this hotel, much less 500 rooms the next time we have a big event in this city!” The hotel lost the future opportunity to make a few hundred thousand dollars for the sake of holding on to a $2 box of cereal.
The Takeaway
Yes, WE know Bettie was completely wrong. I bet that the hotel’s management staff, marketers and executives know that, too. Yet, there was Bettie, guarding the muffins like an offensive lineman heading to the Pro-Bowl.
Things like this can happen on the front lines of your company. (News flash: they probably have.) Use solid internal communications efforts to consistently remind colleagues that they have the freedom to color a little outside the lines in order to make a customer happy – and keep their business. Otherwise, all that smart marketing you’re doing is in vain.
Have you ever run into an incredible example of poor customer service like this? What else can a communications department do to help minimize the chances this happens in their company?
*Image by JHayne.
David spends his days focused on marketing communications strategies and execution. He blogs here regularly about integrated communications, PR and social media.
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Discretion. I wish more companies would give it to their front line employees. That means not only the “traditional” staff you would expect to interact with customers (in the case of the hotel, probably the front desk, concierge, sales manager, etc.) but to *anyone* who may interact with customers. The maids, cleaning guy, catering staff, and yes, even Bettie who sets out the breakfast buffet. If she had felt empowered to be flexible and bend the “rules” for you, obviously the result would have been much different.
The standard case study that I always see cited for hotels is how Ritz Carlton allows any employee to spend up to a certain amount of money (say $500) to satisfy a customer. Just get things done. Make them happy. Take care of their needs. Don’t worry about rules or approvals or authorizations, just serve the customer. It’s too bad Bettie didn’t also have this discretion.
Exactly. It was a great illustration of the fact that, to you, your brand may be what you promise to deliver, but to customers you brand is what you *actually* deliver.
And thanks for the warm welcome back.
The last six weeks have been some of the busiest of my professional career! In fact, I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. today to write this post before the day got away from me again.
Oh and by the way, nice to see you back in the blogosphere today!
David, you bring up an excellent point about how the failures of customer service can completely negate even the greatest of efforts for effective communication. It is imperative for communication professionals to share, discuss, help train, etc. front-line personnel on the impact they have. What you described seemed to be an ordinary day. What happens when those same front-line folks are relied upon during a crisis? Thanks for sharing the story. – @vedo
I would hate to see how “Bettie” would react in a crisis. All we wanted were some Cheerios!
So let me get this straight, this ‘Bettie’ was doing her job, I’m sure you didn’t ask if she was under direction to guard the breakfast, and you get pissed off? Bravo for not seeing the other side of the story.
Maybe you should work in a service industry and the frontline person, or if you have before, maybe you should do it again for longer.
Did you inform her you had booked 500 rooms there? I guess you expect a red carpet for such a booking? Did you bother to think that it was her ass if the money in the register didn’t match up with the inventory? Perhaps a day before at the department meeting they were reprimanded for being loose with inventory?
For you to say that ‘Bettie’ was wrong is kind of an asinine thing to say. You barely provided a back story to your issue (of course it fully supports you having a right to be pissed off?) but didn’t bother to think about hers. Miscommunication happens all the time between the front desk and other employees, but I really do doubt it makes ‘Bettie’ wrong for doing her job. You could at least try and point the finger in the right direction.
Sorry, but this article makes you come across as a pompous asshole. Get over yourself and buy a damn McMuffin.
Maybe I should have mentioned that we offered to leave money for the cashier and that they could keep the change and that Bettie said no to that, as well. I didn’t try to regurgitate the entire back-and-forth because this is a blog post, not a novella. But we did offer that and she still said no because there was no cashier.
I worked in the service industry for four years and I’ve never forgotten the incredibly valuable lessons I learned during that time. In fact, I’ve often said that everyone in America should be required to do a stint on the front lines of the service industry for 3 months just to understand the challenges from the other side of the fence. It’s hard work.
I would have never responded the way “Bettie” did. That’s not being pompous. It’s being customer focused. We weren’t asking for free bacon, eggs, ham, waffles, grits, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. We asked if we could grab 3 boxes of Cheerios and leave a $20.
Of course we didn’t tell her one of us had booked 500 rooms last year. That would have been an obnoxious attempt at a power play. In my experience and opinion, she should have found a way to help the customer with such an easy request regardless of how many rooms or nights they had purchased at the hotel – even if it was our first night. The point of bringing it up in the post is that it wasn’t just a missed opportunity to wow a customer who may have booked one or two more rooms there in the next few years, but it was a missed opportunity to wow a customer who could bring a few hundred thousand dollars in business every couple years.
If that makes me a pompous ass in your estimation, then ok. But people who know me know that I’m a pretty nice guy, so I’m ok with that.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I agree a service industry stint should be required. It unfortunate that most people who do work on the front lines tend to take things personal. I worked as tech support for Comcast, so you can imagine the barrage we got on a daily basis.
Saying you offered to pay for the food and leave the change certainly puts more blame on how Bettie handled the situation. I mean really, is it that hard to ring it up later?
Even still, I don’t think that one brute guarding the breakfast like a hawk should cause you to suddenly cast aside the rest of your experience at the hotel.
I also didn’t mean what I said as a direct affront, just being the devil’s advocate. I’m sure you’re a really nice guy!
I should have left the part in the post about offering to leave $20 instead of editing it out. I captured a lot more of the details in the first draft, but it was way too long, so I cut a bunch of stuff out. Otherwise I’d have had to put it on Amazon and sell it as a book.
God bless you for your time on the front lines of a technology service provider. I’ve had a couple clients in that business and it’s not easy.
For the record, I also don’t ascribe to the philosophy that the customer is always right. Sometimes they’re wrong. You need to help folks on the front lines be able to weigh a customer request or claim, figure out where it sits on the spectrum and respond appropriately.
whoa Andrew! I think you may be overreacting just a little.
I have worked in the customer service industry in hotels, restaurants, and various levels of retail including discount stores to department stores. The whole point of working in a hotel is hospitality… they drill that into your head from the first day. The hotel chain that I worked for “empowered” all it’s employees to do what is necessary to make the guest happy. In this situation I would have given the guest the food that they wanted and offered to charge their room for it since the cashier had not arrived yet. All that would have taken is a piece of paper and a pen so that she could pass the room number and amount along to the cashier upon arrival.
However, I do state that a comment should have been made to the front desk on the way out or a call made during the hour drive, to give them the opportunity to correct the situation after the fact. If you made a simple mistake wouldn’t you like to be given the opportunity to correct it.
She may have been told to make sure that people don’t take food without paying and unfortunately may not have been on her toes enough to come up with that solution herself, so she needs to be given the guidance by her supervisors for next time. Agreed – total communication issue.
My customer service story:
One time I was at Hollister and wanted to purchase an outfit that was on a mannequin. Turns out the pieces on the mannequin were the only ones left, and they were in my size. I asked the clerk if I could purchase those. She said no, that it’s their policy that they don’t sell the clothes off their displays. I could have left right then and vowed never to shop their again. Instead I asked for the manager, the manager came out and I asked them again, could I please purchase the items off the mannequin. He said no. I asked if they were willing to turn away several thousands of dollars in future purchases over $60 worth of clothing on a mannequin. He shrugged at me. I left and have never even gone back into that store – at any of their locations.
The point is – that you should have expressed your problem with someone of authority and given them an opportunity to change the situation. If they don’t… then… you can pass judgment on the entire chain.
Great point. There wasn’t anyone at the front desk when we walked by (maybe “Bettie” was doing both and a bit stressed out) and we had to leave, especially since we were going to have to stop for breakfast.
But we could still reach out to someone after the trip to let them know.
On another note, I’m a big fan of grabbing a manager when people do a great job, too. A month ago, I was so happy with the sales guy at Sprint that I filled out a survey and stopped the manager to tell him how great a job Allen did. Did the same – sans survey – a few weeks ago when I took my wife out for dinner at a local place – Village Tavern. The waiter was great.
The Process. Its all about The Process! Recently in the place where I am employed we have been tightening up due to these tough times. We are all paying more attention to following the company procedures to the “T”. CYA baby. No sense losing your job over a $2 box of cereal!
But you’re right- somewhere, somehow, the Corporation must allow for discretion on the part of the Customer Service Interface.
What? Talk to the front desk if they told you the wrong time, give them an authentic opportunity to fix what’s wrong, and hope that you are given that chance when you mis-speak. If something’s broken, fix it where it’s broken, don’t try to break it again (free cereal?) and hope that two wrongs make a right this time.
Thanks, Dave. Good point, but as I mentioned to Tiffany, there was no one at the front desk when we went by and we had to leave. You don’t show up late to one of your client’s biggest customers. I’m going to reach out to the hotel’s management, though, and let them know about it so they can decide if it needs to be addressed with her or not.
Here’s the thing: Customers always come first. Same in organizations/associations: members come first. And guess what? Normally your clients do as well.
Reaching out to hotel management is exactly the right move – they need to realize what happened, as customer service is huge in the hotel industry.
Good post David!
Amazing and sad story there, David.
From the flip, the times that the front-line of a company has wowed me most definitely has stuck in my mind more than all the negatives. Why? Because unfortunately it doesn’t happen often enough. I could go into numerous bad customer service stories or why I truly felt compelled to never shop at a particular store ever again. But when that one sales associate or even stock-boy helps me, above and beyond and in a way that would never be duplicated (in my eyes), then kudos to the employee and the company for understanding the importance of the front-line vs. just their marketing.
I think the lesson here isn’t that Bettie didn’t respond properly, but that she’d not been empowered or trained to be flexible on such occasions. If she and others are going to be put in positions where they are the only staff members available, then they should be given some authority to make discretionary decisions. So it is more of a lesson for management.
I agree about remembering and sharing good customer service stories. Some years back, dressed in raggedy blue jeans and an old coat, I went into the Sharper Image to see if they had a watchband to replace the one that had broken on my watch. (A model they carried in the store.) The clerk stuck his nose in the air, gave me a look of clear disdain and suggested I visit a kiosk at the mall.
Instead I went next door to Berger & Son Jewelers in Pepper Pike, OH. I went up to the counter and asked about watch bands. They said they had a box in the back with bands customers had traded from new watches and they would go look for it. In the meantime, they suggested that I have a glass of wine, eat some grapes and explore their trunk show of silver jewelry. Soon someone brought out the box, we found a band that suited and they went to the back to resize it and put it on my watch. I ate some more grapes, perused the show and picked out a bracelet to buy along with the watchband.
Berger & Son didn’t judge me on my attire and they made an extra sale. I’ve also told this story to many people over the years so hopefully have driven some business there way. Sharper Image, well I’ve not been back since. Good customer service wins out every time.
I spent years on the front lines in the service industry, and I side with Amy, Sonny and Heidi about empowerment, discretion and training at the lowest levels; power and decisions rest with the directors and managers but it’s the lowest level that often has the most direct impact on customer service.
The thought leadership may side with Lauren, claim that “the customer is always right” but unless they give the customer service team the power to enforce it, it’s a hollow promise. (And yes, I think you should contact management, see if they can help make it right.)
Here’s a positive example: Years ago while at EPCOT in Disney World, someone dropped a snack bag, popcorn or something; I think they were bumped by another guest. A relatively low level staffer immediately went to clean the spill and replace it, even though the guest was fine and the bag was half eaten. Spills happen, the guest was not upset, yet the WDW cast member was empowered to act when he saw the chance to improve the guest experience. That is customer service.
Great story! While we can certainly blame Bettie and suggest that the leadership would publicly agree, it’s also highly likely that Bettie was taught (albeit passively) to stand between you and the cereal if that’s what it would take to enforce breakfast policy.
Bettie’s behavior was an extension of its leaders priorities. You think Bettie was peppered with messages about taking care of guests and still did that – I doubt it! It might as well have been the hotel management team was standing between you and your breakfast. They are ultimately responsible. They are the reason they’ll lose your friend’s future income, as well they should.