A longtime client and friend to QBQ! sent us this email. Completely in his own words, Kim Stephens shares this story. Outstanding service – it’s just not that complicated! Enjoy!
Hi, John!
My recent stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Boston-Raynham completely reminded me of Chapter 24 in Outstanding! and how great service is “doing something someone didn’t have to do.”
It started with an excellent and timely pre-arrival email from the front desk supervisor – Nathan – letting me know they wanted to exceed my expectations. But one thing Nathan did that made me feel important, and that he probably didn’t have to do, was to provide me with both his direct phone number and his personal email address.
I arrived at the hotel on Monday evening without my luggage. I guess the 1:45 delay f my connecting fight was not enough time for the airline to get my luggage transferred! But they guaranteed they would deliver it to the hotel the next day.
So the next afternoon, I slipped out of a meeting to call Nathan to see if it had arrived. After a quick check, he replied it had not arrived. He then asked me what time I expected to be back at the hotel and what airline I had flown. After telling him, he replied, “Don’t worry about a thing; I will personally contact the airline and make sure it is here by the time you arrive back tonight. If there is going to be any issue, I’ll call you back.” Wow, I thought, now that’s doing something he didn’t have to do! And it saved me the hassle of calling the airline and listening to all the recorded messages in the automated phone system before getting to someone that could help me. Eventually, my luggage was received.
Then, on the next day of my stay, I needed to get something notarized and immediately sent back to my home office. I went to the front desk where one of Nathan’s employees greeted me. I asked if there was a notary on staff at the hotel and she said she didn’t think so but would check to make sure. After confirming they did not, she said, “Let me see if I can find one for you close by.” She looked up the number of a nearby bank and called to see if they had a notary available, which they did. Wow, this is now the second time the hotel staff did something they didn’t have to do.
Well, needless to say, John, this hotel is Outstanding! I swear Nathan and his staff must have read your book and for sure Chapter 24 because they seemed to know about that flashing neon sign around my neck with 12-inch-high letters saying MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT! And Nathan and his staff definitely have “not forgotten who pays the bills”! If you ever get a chance to stay at this particular Courtyard, I would highly recommend it.
Regards,
Kim Stephens, CPT
Director of Training and Development
Schwan’s Consumer Brands
4 Responses
That’s awesome customer service. Makes me want to make my next hotel stay at such a property.
Maybe it is that I am older now, but the occurrence of fantastic service sticks in my mind more these days than do the numerous disappointments. One evening after long days at work, my wife, Renee’ and I stopped at Brio Tuscan Grill in a new and swank part of Houston for a quick, but relaxing dinner. It was our first visit to this restaurant. Our server asked what we would like to drink, and I said, “Diet Coke, please”. He asked if Pepsi would be okay. More than my loyalty to my former employer, The Coca-Cola Company, was in play. While Pepsi is a very good product, I prefer Diet Coke. When I looked disappointed and ordered water instead, I could tell the server took note. After our drinks arrived at the table, but not long after, our server arrived with two cans of Diet Coke. My wife questioned, and our server admitted that he ran across the street to a competing restaurant and bought two cans of Diet Coke from them. Had we not inquired, we may not have known he did it. It was a little thing that I will remember and will tell the story over and over. And by the way, they did not even charge me for the Diet Cokes. We’ve been back there many times.
Rod, thanks. You know, that’s what Chapter One of the QBQ! book is all about! Diet Cokes and all!
Great story, great customer service sticks out! It seems sometimes as if customer service is dead, some lost art of the past. When you find a company that understands and cares about their customers, we need to celebrate them so as to encourage other companies to do the same.