Jim Hinshaw
Contributing Writer
Improvement Professional, President & Sales
So I am in the middle of a trip to California, where you have to book a hotel 3 miles from your meeting, or risk being stuck in traffic for a day. So on this trip my hotel of choice (Hilton, is it ok to say that?) was booked, so I stayed at another local California chain. 1.2 miles from my meeting. The local California chain failed to impress. First, they had no hair conditioner. I have been traveling for almost 20 years, used to carry all the toiletries with me. Don’t any more since Hilton and all their brands have all that.
The front desk tried to sell me on the idea that the shampoo had conditioner in it, I don’t buy that. When I asked for a packet of toothpaste, the front desk pointed me to the little room that had stuff for sale where I could buy a small tube for $2.69, it was a little frustrating. So I had an idea, go next door to the Hampton Inn next door. Enter Evelynn Moreno, the person on the front desk at that hotel.
She had a cheery greeting when I walked thru the door. I was candid, told her my tale of conditioner and toothpaste, that I was not staying at her hotel, asked if there was any way I could even buy some conditioner. She said no, asked me what hotel does not have those items for their guests, small containers, at no charge. And proceeded to load me up with 3 containers of each. At no charge. She made my evening. She made my evening even when I was staying next door at a competitor’s hotel.
You may say, you are obsessing over a couple of real small details. Correct, except these items are the sort of things we take for granted, like on time arrival and well stocked trucks in our industry. Someone has taken the time to train the Hilton team to help the weary traveler when they have a need. Even if they are not staying at their hotel! Either that or they hire well, picking people who can make things happen even if outside the written policy, the rule book! I believe it is both, good people trained well.
Chris Hunter is a friend and owner of Hunter heat and air in Oklahoma. He has equipped his techs to go the extra mile to make customers smile. On his Face Book page he has a testimony of a customer who had a problem with their heating system. The owner tells his wife to call a company, looks out the door and there is a Hunter van in their drive! The tech had gotten an incorrect address, was supposed to be across the street. The owner asked if he could check out his system when he finished with the neighbor. The Hunter Supertech (as Chris fondly calls his team members) said he would be glad to. He asked him what the problem was, found a breaker had tripped, reset it, was good to go. Yes, the owner had the breaker replaced the next day, it was weak. I am confident that some companies would have the homeowner call the office, set up a call, get that diagnostic charge and all. What Hunter did was help a customer who had a problem, and ended up replacing their system a few months later when it did die.
Chris is a great example of a guy who enables his team to do what makes sense at all times, he hires good and trains well. Just as we all should. Let your team do what they need to do, even when the situation is not in the playbook, when they have to think quickly, handle the unusual opportunity. That is when the training and encouragement and motivation all come together, to give that customer an experience they will write about in a positive way. I just did!
Thanks for listening, we’ll talk later.
Warmest Regards