I was having coffee this week with an old friend who mentioned he had  stayed this past summer at the refurbished Greenbrier  in West Virginia. I asked him how it was and he lit up. He described the renovation and the superior service level he enjoyed during his stay…but the one story he took the time to recount was at departure. All luggage was loaded into their car and the bellman said, please wait one brief moment and then ran inside. He reappeared quickly with two cold bottles of water for the trip home. The point of my story is that for literally a few pennies and an engaged bellman, a guest who probably just spent a significant sum for 3 or 4 nights left with a great service experience to tell his friends. Another fine example of that special service experience can be read here.  It all seems simple enough, but is it really?

I have blogged before about how your service experience and therefore opinion is the cumulative effect of many small touches; it can be the smile at check-in, the conversation with the bellman on the way to your room, the rapport with the cocktail waitress, the pool attendant who appears with a dry towel when you most need it, the housekeeper who places your child’s teddy bear carefully & strategically on the bed at turn down service….the list is endless but each touch make an incremental difference.

I am forever amazed at how many companies in the service business simply cannot incorporate this concept into their business model. In recent times, it seems like more are engaged in corporate speak, saying the right thing and forever thanking their best customers but when it comes to meaningful action it falls flat. Believe me when I tell you we appreciate your business, but please, please do not ask me to meaningfully show it!

Another camp who do not get the service concept are the ones who build and focus all of their energy and resources on building the best and grandest. The attention to detail is remarkable on the construction…but then it all stops.  It is similar to the airline business with massive capital investment but the final experience, despite the greatest hardware on the plane or the latest premium seats and entertainment systems or lounge complexes is the simple smile of a flight attendant. Engaged personnel who genuinely care for their customers is sadly an endangered species.

I recall years ago the General Manager at a Four Seasons Hotel explaining he would only hire happy people, “…we can always train them for the needed skill. On the other hand, it is far harder to train well skilled, grumpy people to be happy.”

As consumers we can easily set ourselves up to be disappointed. You go to a hotel or restaurant or holiday destination with high expectations, only to be disappointing.  One service provider who has historically managed to over deliver is Southwest Airlines. Call it the “Southwest Syndrome” but they are regarded in the minds of many consumers as a low cost airline. Minimal service. No advance seating, etc, etc. As a result you purchase a ticket with fairly low expectations and more often than not they meet or surpass you goal of an on time flight in modest comfort with luggage delivered to the baggage carousel. Compare that experience to legacy airlines in the U.S. (Delta, United, American, etc) with whom consumers have historically placed a higher service expectation…this expectation is often missed albeit they may possibly deliver a similar travel experience to Southwest. But from the travelers perspective Southwest is a better airline than a legacy carrier because they matched or surpassed expectations…lets ignore the fact we used different standards!

A recent family trip of mine to Atlanta reminded me of the importance of realisitic expecations. For various reasons, including a lot of thought to consider alternatives, I opted for the Atlanta Hilton Hotel. Other than the location, which my young son enjoyed, and some very engaged hotel staff, I was disappointed on various levels by their service delivery at the hotel…mostly due to expectation of the brand.

Lesson learnt is to try to match up your expectations with some level of reality. Generally a 3 star hotel is going to deliver a 3 star service much as you may prefer differently.  The Greenbrier example above took a 5 star hotel and with that extra effort improved on that. Enjoy the times of the extra effort for sadly it is more the exception than the rule.

At PerryGolf we take great pride in the service we deliver and I very much hope that we surpass your expectations…as always, if there is anything I can do to assist, please do no hestiate to contact me directly.

Gordon Dalgleish
 

About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+