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24/1/2017

The Power of a Good Good-Bye

I’ve always felt that a good way of judging how welcome you are when visiting family or friends is to note what happens when you leave. I believe that the more care and trouble people take to ensure that you’re departure is warm and friendly, then the more welcome a visitor or guest you have been.

It’s the same in business. A good way to measure customer service is to take note of what happens when you are leaving. Some organisations take great care and devote a lot of attention to making sure your departure is warm and friendly, some just ignore you, and there are those that actually seem pleased to see you go.

The following examples are of personal experiences at check-out times in various hotels I stayed in during a trip to the USA. As you will see they range from excellent to awful and there was no correlation to the price paid for a room.

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Example 1.

Hampton Inn - San Diego

Check-out service – Great

Room price - $99

Hampton Inn’s are middle range in terms of facilities and price but top for service quality. Their high service ethic is demonstrated at check out time. Their check out principle is that it should be quick, friendly and efficient. This is ensured by having extra staff around at check out times. You therefore find the hotel managers, restaurant managers and who ever else is needed to ensure that customers don’t have to wait.

They explain that check -out times are always busy in hotels. It is therefore simple to anticipate the need for extra people and have them available.

It’s a shame more hotels don’t find it so easy to give this great check-out service.

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Example 2.

Pan Pacific Hotel - Anaheim

Check-out service – Poor

Room price - $135

This is a pretty fancy hotel. It’s next to the Disney hotel at the entrance to Disney Land. The rooms are about 50% more in price than a Hampton Inn. Yet the service is no better. What you seem to be paying for is the location and a few extra facilities.

At check out time they don’t bring out more staff. In fact I actually watched Managers walk past queues of customers to go back to their offices. They showed no interest at all helping or doing something to reduce the queue.

Their solution to the problem of busy check out times appears to be to have those poles and ropes so that their guests will form nice tidy queues.

Great for them - awful for customers - poor service!

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Example 3.

Caesar’s Palace - Las Vegas

Check-out service – Awful

Room price - $190

Caesar’s Palace is a lovely hotel with splendid rooms, excellent facilities and friendly staff. My wife and I therefore really enjoyed our stay there right up to the last few minutes when it was all spoiled by the awful experience at check-out.

As I was waiting to settle the bill I noticed that one of the check-out clerks was acting in a surprisingly awful manner towards another hotel guest. She had a look on her face as if she were standing in something that smelled foul and she was talking to him in a contemptuous manner as if he were a naughty school boy or someone that owed her money. She was certainly not providing the ‘gracious personal attention’ that Caesar’s Palace claim is their hallmark. I was therefore really pleased that she was able to deal with him quickly and became the next free clerk so that I could personally sample her version of Caesar’s Palace customer service.

She began by beckoning me over to her desk with the type of hand gesture the animal trainers at Universal Studios use to beckon a performing animal. However they usually smile when they do it, Pamela still had her ‘I don’t like doing this’ expression on her face. There was no "can I help you” or " who’s next please” from her.

Then she ensured that her main attention was devoted to the computer screen that was positioned at right angles to the desk. That way she was able to keep looking away and avoid any eye contact with me. She actually spoke out of the side of her mouth rather that turn and face me.

Next she demanded $461 as though it were overdue tax. There was no "here’s your bill for you to check” from Pamela. When I requested a copy to inspect she gave me a scornful look as she passed it over.

I decided to confront her about her attitude to give her a chance to explain or change her manner or perhaps even to apologise. When I did so her first response was one of those questioning "excuse me?” phrases. So I again explained my disappointment with her attitude, this time in more detail. She then totally ignored what I had said, made no reply at all and resumed her concentration on the computer screen.

Finally, when she passed me my receipted bill. I politely said "thank you”. She replied by grunting "Uh uh”. There was no customary "it’s my pleasure” or "you’re welcome” from Pamela.

Up to meeting Pamela we felt we’d had a great time and would have definitely chosen Caesar’s Palace to stay at again when we next visited Las Vegas. However, having met her we decided we’d rather stay in another hotel next time. So in spite of the massive investment in building and fittings, the superb facilities and the great service given by Pamela’s colleagues, our overriding and lasting impression of Caesar’s Palace was the awful service she provided. Her one negative had outweighed all the other positives.

( NB. There’s an extra bit to this story at the end of the article)

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Example 4.

Ritz Carlton Hotel - San Francisco

Check-out service – Excellent

Room price - $325

The Ritz Carlton in San Francisco is a fantastic hotel. It’s one of my favourite hotels, like the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Hotel Cipriani in Venice and One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow. It is not surprising therefore that when it comes to check-out time the service is fantastic.

You don’t actually have to check out of the Ritz Carlton. All you do is ‘phone the Concierge to explain that you are ready to leave. They then confirm what is on your bill and if you are happy with it they simply charge it to your credit card. If you then need a copy it is waiting for you at reception as you leave.

Quick, friendly, efficient, easy and excellent !

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In every one of these examples, a final and lasting impression was determined by the service, or lack of it, at check-out time. This also had a big influence on the decision about whether to go there again.

It works much the same way in most other businesses. Last impressions are just as important as first impressions. It’s the way people treat you that makes the difference - not just the price you pay. And just one negative can outweigh many positives.

You should therefore give a lot of thought to this in your own business. Ask yourself and your colleagues these questions -

How do we treat our customers when they leave our premises?
Do we ensure that their departure is as pleasant as their arrival?
Do we go with them to the door or to their car to see them on their way?
Do we make sure that they have a map or directions to get them to where they are going next?
Do we make sure that they are properly refreshed before they leave?
Above all do we make sure that their last impression of the business is as good or better than their first ?

If you haven’t got good answers to these questions you probably need to make some changes. Always remember that the last impression you make can determine whether or not that customer ever comes back.

Caesar’s Palace - Las Vegas - there’s more

There’s an important extra bit to the Caesar’s Palace story that should be told. I believe that we owe it to our suppliers to tell them when things aren’t right. I therefore decided that it was only fair to write to Caesar’s Palace and explain what had happened.

I got a fantastic reply letter back from Michael D. French, the Vice President of Hotel Operations. He agreed with my observations, apologised for what had happened, asked for a second chance and requested that if we visit Las Vegas again to contact him directly so that he may arrange ‘special accommodations’. I don’t know what he means by ‘special accommodations’ but I’m dying to find out so we will be staying at Caesar’s Palace again when we next visit Las Vegas……. I can’t wait !!!

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The Power of a Good Good-Bye

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