WHNetwork Blog

Last week I posted a Twitter about a secret shopper service that we were conducting for a wine club. I added, "Why doesn't every wine club do this?" I got a response right away from Chris Doran at J Doran Vineyards: "Insecurity Margie. Many people would rather not know the truth." And I must say, I agree completely! There might be some unflattering feedback - and really, who wants to hear bad news?

Unfortunately, not hearing about what may be going wrong doesn't mean it's not actually happening! And it this case what you don't know can hurt you - a lot. Times are hard enough as it is, without losing customers unnecessarily. And many dissatisfied customers can be turned around - if only you realize they are dissatisfied - and why.

And the flip side is - it isn't all bad news! Some of our clients get the most incredible, positive feedback, enabling them to reward the right employees, purchase the right products, plan the right events, and continue in general to do the things that make their customer's happiest.

We provide two customer solutions for getting customer feedback: custom guest satisfaction surveys and a wine club secret shoppers program. What's the difference? Let me give you two examples..


The first example is a wine retailer who is using a custom guest satisfaction survey. They use the survey not only to find out how they are doing, but also to find out more about their customers; by asking things such as: Where else do you shop? What type of events would you like to attend? How did you hear about us? they are able to get a better idea of who their customer is, and what they really want. Simply asking the customers how they heard about them enabled them to refocus their advertising, using only the avenues that were truly producing, thus saving a lot of unnecessary spending. Asking what types of events their customers want spurs enables them to focus their energy on the most popular choices - and can really spur creativity as well.

The second example is a large wine club who uses our wine club secret shopper program. A specified number of times each month, our shopper calls to inquire about the wine club and/or to place an order. Trained in what the exact standards are for the company enable to her to ask very targeted questions and to report on what is happening just as it should - and what is not, enabling the company to focus their training on where it is really needed. Isn't it important for you to know if each of your team members is meeting the minimum standards or really exceeding them? Or worse, not meeting them at all...

The key to either program is in the design and execution. Knowing not only what to ask, but the how and why as well. With so many surveys and "shops" behind us, it still never gets boring! Each new client is unique and it is always a joy to figure out how to best meet their needs, enabling them to do what they do best - meeting their customers needs!


If you want information on how we can help you, email me or call me at 707-319-2500.

A couple of notes:

We are not currently conducting tasting room secret shoppers, just wine club.

And no, we are not currently hiring secret shoppers! (This seems to be a job everyone wants!)

-Margie

Follow on

Last week we talked about "standing out in a sea of sameness" and how important it is to ask your customers what they think. (Go here to read the article -scroll down to see all of your comments). I mentioned several very small details I have encountered that made me either come back to - or stay away from - local restaurants. I find it fascinating how very minor details can swing an experience from favorable to not, and vice versa. And the fact is most of us are quite fickle. Especially in lean times, people may not be willing to risk another trip to your establishment if they were not thrilled with their previous experience.

We talked about why it's important to engage your customer to get their feedback, perhaps through an online customer satisfaction survey. OK, so now you are on board; you are actively asking your customers for feedback (feedback of any kind mind you, not just confirmation that you are doing a good job). Now that you have asked, and you have your customer's feedback, what do you do with it?

I believe that you look for different types of information. The first would be anyone who has had a less than fantastic experience. Although many people would agree with this, it is also human nature to put off the unpleasant tasks for later. Don't. Immediately contact anyone who has not had a stellar experience. Why? First of all, they can provide you with details of what may be going wrong: with your service, staff, products, etc. and you can immediately correct it. Second, but just as important, you have a magnificent opportunity to save a customer; perhaps even win a customer for life!

When you contact your customer (and the sooner the better), here are some easy steps to follow:

1. Listen completely/Let them vent.

Give them your complete attention. Don't interrupt, don't explain, don't defend or justify what happened. It doesn't matter why the problem occurred and they don't need your side of the story.

2. Apologize (sincerely).

Many managers don't like to apologize, especially if they feel they (or their staff) were not at fault. If it was your or your staff's fault, acknowledge it! If not, apologize anyway; you don't have to take blame for causing the problem, you are simply apologizing for the customer having a bad experience. And remember: you never know what else has happened in a person's day, be empathetic.

3. Make it right.

There are two trains of thought on this one. The first is to ask the customer what it will take to make it right. Personally, I disagree with that approach. For myself, it makes me feel put on the spot, and I dislike "asking for something." I think the manager should volunteer what they think is right, and should make it above and beyond simply fixing what went wrong.

4. Thank the customer for taking the time to talk to you and sharing their experience (and for their patronage)!

And invite them back...

Now that you have dealt with the issues, it is time for rewards. What did the customer(s) rave about? This is a great time to reinforce and reward staff behavior. Did a server receive compliments? Pass them on - in front of all the staff! Did the customer adore a particular dish? Compliment the back of house - in front of all the staff! (You may even wish to implement an informal formalized reward system).

Next - what about the ideas, thoughts and opinions you have received? You know: "The music was too loud," "The lights were too low," "I hate Sushi," "The service took too long," and on and on. Do you immediately react and change things? Do you lower the music? Turn up the lights? Change the menu?

Not so fast...

It is imperative to know what your concept is - and is not. Do you have a written concept statement? If not, you may want to consider writing one. A concept statement defines your concept: The look, atmosphere, food, service style, target audience, etc. And it can help keep you on track.

Let me tell you a story that was told to me by a friend, who had been in multi-unit management for the concept in this story. They began, as every concept does, with one unit. They were hip, they were cutting edge. The music was loud, the servers edgy, the food casual, yet popular with the young crowd that frequented the place. It was hit. So they did what many people do with a hit - they grew the company.

Some interesting things happened along the way. The young hipsters that started the company got a bit older... married... maybe had a kid or two. Then one of them noticed. Hey this music is too loud for a baby's ears! And there aren't any high chairs! And what is little Suzie supposed to eat? We need a child's menu! And on and on it went. A new HR Manual came out: no body piercing, no visible tattoos, you must look "professional" after all, this is a family joint! (Or wait a minute? Is it?)

Sales went down, down, down. Why? They weren't true to their concept. Sure, they gained some new customers along the way. But at the same time, they alienated their core audience. They lost focus of who they were. And their customers didn't seem to know anymore either.

Prior to making any decision regarding your concept, you need to first ask yourself one question: "Will this support what our concept is?" If you are a sushi restaurant, and you get feedback from someone who doesn't like sushi, you could add other choices to your menu. Or you could just accept that people who don't like sushi aren't your target market. If you are the Hard Rock Café, you don’t play Barry Manilow. Or ban body piercing, unnatural hair color and tattoos. The more you do to appeal to those who aren't your target market, the more diluted your concept becomes.

What are your experiences? What decisions have you made that were right? Which ones would you make differently if you could do it all again? Email me!

-Margie

If you are not currently actively seeking your customers' feedback or need help with a customized guest satisfaction survey - call me at 707-933-0687 or email me.

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Well said Margie. Too often, to solve a problem in business we want to "drive" the customer in a certain direction and we forget about treating them as a fellow human being, listening carefully, empathizing and then remedying and addressing the cause of the negative feedback. Some new tools are now available in the market for restaurateurs to use to make it easy for the customer to give their feedback. There are the traditional comment cards and 800 phone numbers and of course web surveys to elicit this all important feedback. The ubiquitous use of mobile phones now provides a real-time channel to obtain this feedback in a discreet manner, while the customer is still in the restaurant. Too often, the customer does not want to deal with a direct confrontation to complain about an issue, so they bottle it up, get out and just don't ever come back. If they use any modern tools on the web and in the blogosphere, they will vent negatively to everyone they know and more! Not a good situation for the reputation of your establishment. You typically need to be able to provide the customers with more than one channel to provide this critical feedback to you. Of course this should be low cost and not an additional data collection and assimilation burden on the business. It also should make it easy for the staff and management to address issues quickly and effectively. Research also shows that if you can achieve a quick resolution of an issue with customer, you have a great chance to change the situation of the customer being a detractor of your brand and converting them into a strong promoter. Check out a product suite called Txtandtell that uses the mobile channel to do this at http://www.txtandtell.com

Carl Mostert
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Margie,

I am going to have to take this and pass it on internally. Too good not to use and as the guy managing the feedback process at Ted's (an interesting job for the IT guy), it will help us to jump start our customer service policies refresh.
Thanks for doing my job for me.

David Curtis

I hadn't planned on a follow-up to last week's topic, "Is there such thing as too much guest service?" However, given the vast amount of responses I received it seems warranted. The question will remain though -- how do you measure what your guests think?

When I wrote the article, I wondered if it I was only who felt the way I did. After all, I really haven't heard this being discussed; have not been aware of this even being on the radar. However, based on your comments, perhaps it should be. It also made me wonder if the same is true in restaurants. Are customers leaving your place for the place next door because you're providing "too much" service?

I know that one thing that makes me avoid frequenting a restaurant is aggressive plate clearing. Yet it happens, if not constantly, then at least regularly. Does this happen to you? (Or is your restaurant guilty?) You are enjoying a course, enjoying the company, and in the middle of it, the server or busser asks, "May I take your plate?" No, actually, you may not. You see, I am still eating! While I can forgive it once, when it happens a second time, and I am still not done, I begin to find it annoying, intrusive.

Even worse, is when they actually take your plate, and you were not done. Perhaps you excused yourself for a moment, or even just turned your head. You turn around, and your dish is gone! I have actually had half an entrée removed, when I was nowhere near done. I relayed this to the server and was told "Sorry." I haven't been back to that establishment. Was this at your restaurant? How would you know?

I believe this type of treatment/training is due to two things: 1. Trying to turn tables. That requires a very fine balance however. Turn them too fast for the guests and they may turn that night -- but the guests won't be back. Turn them too slow and you may not maximize your revenue. 2. Doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Guests don't want to sit around all night with dirty plates and left over food around them, so you train your staff to get those dirty plates off the table! However, in the zealous desire to get it right, it has gone too far.

If I am finished eating, I will put my napkin across the plate, put my silverware upside down across the plate, push the plate away from me, tell the server/busser that I am finished; or possibly any combination of these. If none of these has happened please do not ask if I am finished -- or worse -- just remove the plate. (Taking a break from eating is not a sign of being finished!)

Here are some of your comments (quite condensed, to read all/full comments, please go to the bottom of the article on this page):

PS -- See if you pick up on the "Safeway" theme as well -- perhaps they need to read this article -- and your comments!

"I have worked in hospitality for a long time including serving at dinners for a winery. We do service overload, but it's not our fault. What happens is the winery overbooks staff for the dinner; so really, there is not much to do but to stand around. The managers freak out because we aren't working so they say, "Go check their water!" "Go fluff their napkins!" Our poor guests are constantly interrupted while we do ridiculous things to look busy. Managers need to realize that sometimes there is nothing to do and that guests should not have to sacrifice their dining experience so that the servers and staff can look busy!"

Becky, Small Lot Wine Tours
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"I was at a very well-known national rent-a-car agency in Denver a year ago. I was waiting in a very long line and had plenty of time to notice everything. At every single place at the counter each agent was clumsily reaching over the computer to shake hands with the next-up person in line. The line is long and they're shaking hands! I don't want to shake hands with a car rental agent and chit-chat!

The truth is - they don't care where I'm going and they don't care if I've been there before. Corporate America has incorporated insincerity into their business model. They don't get that good personality, not fake interest, is appreciated. They don't get that a genuine good sense of humor goes a long way. They don't get that efficiency and fast problem solving makes all the difference in the world to us.

Out here in the west, Safeway started the obnoxious practice of having every single stock person ask if I was "finding everything ok today"? I must have answered that question 7 times in a shopping visit! Do they think I wouldn't ask them if I couldn't find something?!! That's over-kill, and that makes me uncomfortable."

Steve Garman, Reno, Nevada
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"I'm thinking there are definitely different strokes for different folks. I'm with you in the way you felt after describing your experience. However, I know numerous people who would love that kind of attention, and even some who would expect it."

Dave Ashcroft
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"I, too, recently experienced over-solicitous behavior at The Mark in San Francisco. I love this old place and was attending a conference there. I pulled up to unload three boxes and could have taken a moment (no other cars around) and taken two and then one on my own. But the valet brought the huge brass wheelie thing and oh, this and oh, that. At that moment I decided to park there (huge $$) and followed him inside.

I, too, appreciate help, but clearly he hung near me (while 5 people looked on) until I reached for my wallet. That is part of the drill in the hotel/motel environ, I am just glad I had some cash on me! Anywhere you go these days you have to be firm and be willing to say, "No, thank you" otherwise one can go broke with tipping (which I am not adverse to. I think you KNOW what I mean here).

PS - At Safeway if you ask where the butter is they will drag themselves from whatever they are doing and fling themselves down the aisle to get you to that all-important product, even if you say, 'You can simply tell me.'"

Lin A. Lacombe, Communications Consultants, Your Strategic Partner in Communications Public Relations and Marketing & Literary Publicity
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"This is interesting to me to read this because - just this past October/November, I was in India and had this same experience at every better hotel we stayed in. I thought it was just India, trying so hard. I agree with you completely, I would not like this much hovering in the United States. I don't even like being escorted to another aisle in Safeway."

Juanita Poulis
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I know what you're talking about. And, yes, it does make you feel uncomfortable, especially if you're not dishing up 20 dollar bills to all these people 'helping' you -at least that's what their behavior makes you think you should be doing. I thought I'd corroborate your story because I work in a high-end luxury hotel (Wine Director) and I still feel the same way when I travel to places that do this. Thanks for letting it out of the bag. I'm going to share your point with our GM, to make sure we're not doing it."

Michele
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"I stayed at the Marriott Downtown LA for business very recently, and had exactly this type of experience with the personnel from A to Z. Could this be a California thing?? Or are they not busy enough in this economy and therefore have more time to devote to customers?"

Maïa
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"I always think when this happens to me, that someone is looking for a hefty tip. I find this does tend to happen in more mid smaller boutique hotels.....and I feel the same as you, I know how to operate the air conditioning and can find the mini bar. It turns me off."

Nancy Gorshe, Owner/Manager, The DEPOT Restaurant, Historic Seaview, Washington
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"I think that's a fantastic topic to broach. I used to work at a local 5 Star Diamond Resort. We also gave room tours to each guest, it was meant to be an extra special touch, but, like you, it felt awkward. People know how to use a bed, and a remote for goodness sakes!

In the wine industry, I don't think it is possible to over-deliver on customer service. Teaching people about wine, pairing it with cheeses, carrying their purchases to the car, offering other wineries to visit is all part of the normal service.

I've gone tasting hundreds upon hundreds of times, and have never felt that I received over-the-top customer service. Have you ever experienced this in a tasting room?"

Brandy Bell, Wine Club & Marketing Manager, Donati Family Vineyard
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-Margie

Do you need a customized guest satisfaction survey? It is a cliche to say the 'you can't afford not too,' however, in some instances it is true. In economically scary times it is even more important than ever (although we believe it is always important) to know what you are doing right, what you aren't, and to have the opportunity to win back those you may have made a mistake with; perhaps even making them 'customers for life.' A well designed survey will more than pay for itself, it may save your business. Call me and tell about your business, and let's see how I can help. Extremely cost effective and cost competitive. 707-933-0687 or OTLConsulting.com

It isn't something I had given much thought to in the past. However, a recent experience made me give it considerable thought. I'd love to know what you think, and if you've ever experienced "service overload."

It started with the Bottle Shock James Beard Wine Dinner tickets we had to give away. Many of you submitted your entries, which included submitting "what food & wines you would serve, and who you would invite" to a Bottle Shock Party. I loved reading all the entries, but felt too close to the situation to make a decision -- after all, I have met some of you -- and I see your faces looking back at me from your profiles! (At least I should - if you are on the network - if not, what are you waiting for?) So, I narrowed it down to 11 finalists, then promptly sent them all to Corinne at 360 Degree Communications in LA to chose the winner. The lucky lady Corinne chose was Marilyn Chapman from Tarpon Springs, FL.

I had met Marilyn last August when she and her husband came out to our first industry insider event (Potluck and Bottle Shock Preview in Sonoma). Marilyn was thrilled to win, but realized that her husband's work schedule would not allow him to join her. Marilyn emailed me, and soon I was booking a ticket to LA to join Marilyn, as her guest, to the dinner!

It was going to be a quick trip for both us -- we'd meet at the airport Thursday at 1PM and both fly out at noon the next day. Since it was only one night, and we had no dinner ticket cost, we decided to splurge and stay at a lovely hotel in Beverly Hills so we wouldn't have to worry about taxis and transportation.

It was a rainy afternoon when we arrived at the hotel. We were greeted by a swarm of uniformed young men, all waiting to do our bidding. Now, I don't know about you, but I am just fine wheeling my own bag. Yes, certainly if I am loaded with suitcases or juggling more than one or two items, help is appreciated - and often needed. In this case, however I only had one small, light bag on wheels.

They were quite gracious though and did not insist when I declined help, and immediately opened the doors for us. What a lovely hotel, really quite charming. We were helped immediately by the front desk staff, who inquired about our travels and plans. The manager was called out to meet us and shake hands -- this were I started to feel uncomfortable. They were all lovely, but I was just checking in for the night, not marrying into the family! Their 'over to top' caring and solicitousness was just that - over the top.

Next, we were "escorted" to our room. Again, maybe it's just me, but really, I am capable of making it the second floor without an escort! We were then given a full 'tour' of the room and instructions on how to use items in the room. (Who hasn't operated a TV or thermostat?)

I am usually telling stories or poor -- or even inexcusable -- service, so this one caught me off guard. I can't actually fault them, they certainly did nothing wrong. However, the service was not only more than I needed -- it was more than I wanted, and even more important, it made me feel uncomfortable; and that couldn't have been their goal.

It made me think about the line between good, great, 'over the top' service; and if and when you cross that line and 'service' becomes a negative rather than a positive -- service overload. How do you know? And how do you teach your staff to read your customers so they know just how far to go, without going too far?

I'd love to hear your thoughts -- and if you've ever experienced service overload yourself, or if you've been guilty of providing it. Email me!

PS – The James Beard dinner was lovely, as were our tablemates – Bottle Shock producers Randy Miller and Jody Savin. Get your DVD today…

-Margie

Do you need a customized guest satisfaction survey? It is a cliche to say the 'you can't afford not too,' however, in some instances it is true. In economically scary times it is even more important than ever (although we believe it is always important) to know what you are doing right, what you aren't, and to have the opportunity to win back those you may have made a mistake with; perhaps even making them 'customers for life.' A well designed survey will more than pay for itself, it may save your business. Call me and tell about your business, and let's see how I can help. Extremely cost effective and cost competitive. 707-933-0687 or OTLConsulting.com

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Comments:

Funny story really.
Reminds me of that old Twilight Zone episode where the lady hits the kid on the bike...and he takes her home to meet the family.
The one thing I simply cannot stand in a fine dining restaurant....when the server fills your water glass after EVERY SIP!!!

Steve Patterson
Category Management Group
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I know what you mean. I like to be pampered, like what you experienced, on a long stay, but for something that is just over night. That is way too much.

Sara

Cujak's Wine Market, LLC
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I have worked in hospitality for a long time including serving at dinners for a winery. We do service overload, but it's not our fault. What happens is the winery overbooks staff for the dinner. So really, there is not much to do but to stand around. The managers freak out because we aren't working so they say, "Go check their water!" "Go fluff their napkins!" Our poor guests are constantly interrupted while we do ridiculous things to look busy. I remember the same experience at Julia's Kitchen at Copia. Managers need to realize that sometimes there is nothing to do and that guests should not have to sacrifice their dining experience so that the servers and staff can look busy!

Becky
Small Lot Wine Tours
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I was at a very well-known national rent-a-car agency in Denver a year ago. I was waiting in a very long line and had plenty of time to notice everything. At every single place at the counter each agent was clumsily reaching over the computer to shake hands with the next-up person in line. The line is long and they're shaking hands! I don't want to shake hands with a car rental agent and chit-chat! The only people that want to be friends with car rental agents are people with NO friends!

I want the car, I want the map, I want the agreement and the walk-around. I want to know how far down the road is the on-ramp. I don't want to tell them where I'm going (they do ask that). I don't want to tell them if I've been there before (they do ask that).

The truth is - they don't care where I'm going and they don't care if I've been there before. Corporate America has incorporated insincerity into their business model. They don't get that good personality, not fake interest, is appreciated. They don't get that a genuine good sense of humor goes a long way. They don't get that efficiency and fast problem solving makes all the difference in the world to us.

Out here in the west, Safeway started the obnoxious practice of having every single stock person ask if I was "finding everything ok today"? I must have answered that question 7 times in a shopping visit! Do they think I wouldn't ask them if I couldn't find something?!! That's over-kill, that makes me uncomfortable.

Steve Garman
Reno, Nevada
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Hi Margie,

I'm thinking there's definitely some instances of different strokes for different folks. I'm with you in the way you felt after describing your experience. However, I know numerous people who would love that kind of attention, and even some who would expect it. For myself it doesn't provide value... For others, it makes them feel important... I might even call it old school but what do I know...

my 2 cents,

Dave Ashcroft
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Certainly a definition of hospitality should include knowing your audience. Mariah Carey probably expects the kind of service you experienced, and perhaps she, or others like her, are the target audience for this hotel. I would liken it to the places where a guy in the men's room hands me a towel to dry my hands. I don't need it, but I get what's going on there.

With respect to the TV and the thermostat: I've been places where I wished they HAD told me how the damn things worked.

Steve Hyslop
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I, too, recently experienced over-solicitous behavior at The Mark in San Francisco. I love this old place and was attending a conference there. I pulled up to unload three boxes and could have taken a moment (no other cars around) and taken two and then one on my own. But the valet brought the huge brass wheely thing and oh, this and oh, that. At that moment I decided to park there (huge $$) and followed him inside.

I, too, appreciate help, but clearly he hung near me (while 5 people looked on) until I reached for my wallet. That is part of the drill in the hotel/motel environ, I am just glad I had some cash on me! Anywhere you go these days you have to be firm and be willing to say, "No, thank you" otherwise one can go broke with tipping (which I am not adverse to. I think you KNOW what I mean here).

PS At Safeway if you ask where the butter is they will drag themselves from whatever they are doing and fling themselves down the aisle to get you to that all-important product, even if you say, "You can simply tell me."
All the best!

Lin A. Lacombe
Communications Consultants
Your Strategic Partner in Communications
Public Relations and Marketing &
Literary Publicity
______________________________________________________________

Hello, Margie,

This is interesting to me to read this because - just this past October/November, I was in India and had this same experience at every better hotel we stayed in. I thought it was just India, trying so hard. I agree with you completely, I would not like this much hovering in the United States. I don't even like being escorted to another aisle in Safeway.

Keep up the good writing!

Juanita Poulis
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Margie, Oh my God, I know what you're talking about. And, yes, it does make you feel uncomfortable, especially if your not dishing up 20 dollar bills to all these people 'helping' you -at least that's what their behavior makes makes you think you should be doing. I thought I'd corroborate your story because I work in a high-end luxury hotel (I'M A WINE DIRECTOR) and I still feel the same way when I travel to places that do this. Thanks for letting it out of the bag. I'm going to share your point with our GM, to make sure we're not doing it.

Michele
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Very interesting to read. I stayed at the Marriott Downtown LA for business very recently, and had exactly this type of experience with the personnel from A to Z.
Could this be a California thing?? Or are they not busy enough in this economy and therefore have more time to devote to customers?

Best regards,
Maïa
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Margie-

An interesting piece, service is (I believe) an acquired skill. It is something that has to be taught and in your situation the management had not taught their staff very well. Having worked in the service industry for 25+ years I also feel there is a level of common sense that has to be applied to each situation. With all the poor customer service we experience any good service can seem overwhelming. Thanks for your view.

Lorraine Derhammer, New Mexico
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I read your article and thought I would drop 2 cents in on the topic as I am connected to a resort.

I fully understand what you are saying. I hate having someone literally crawl into my clothes and be next to me all the time when I check in. I don’t need much attention, I am a low maintenance guy. I think it is stupid for someone to show me how to turn on, or to find lights, or how to make a phone call, and I am very sure I can find a bathroom if the urge takes me, so on one level I totally agree with you.

On another though I have to ask a question. Have you ever dealt with a wide range of customers in the hospitality industry? I am fairly sure that you have, given the article and the name of the ezine, but I didn’t want to make assumptions.

Service is given to the customer on the basis of the lowest common denominator. If one person stands up and screams they are unhappy, unfortunately more people listen to them, rather than 5 people who have something nice to say. The old adage. It takes 10 compliments to get you ahead, and one complaint to sink you. A lot of people come to resorts etc, literally to have someone kiss their ass. To feel powerful for a moment before they go back to their lives. They complain about the smallest things……like not being shown how to work a thermostat. Some people can’t find an elevator by themselves, let alone make two turns to a room. These things are demanded by the people that scream the loudest and set the precedent for the rest of the industry.

The little stupid things that people do in every day life that they complain about, and they demand extra for are multiplied by a large amount as soon as they are in a hotel/resort. This is unfortunately a symptom of our society, that the squeaky hinge gets the oil. The people that are nice, and don’t need this sort of over the top ridiculous attention, are once again, the ones that remain quiet.

When I get to a front desk I let them know jokingly, and humorously that I am not like the rest of their guests, that I can not only feed and bath myself now, but I can find my way to my room J

Peter Kasprzak
Winemaker/Winery Director
Chateau Élan Winery & Resorts
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You must be too young to remember when every hotel gave the kind of service you got and thought was TOO MUCH. What kind of a woman are you to feel uncomfortable getting that kind of service. You are probably from the class of women libbers, who always objected when I opened the car door for them (as I have been doing for at least 70 years). I would get a rude comment, “I can open the door, Matt”.

Fortunately as I get older and my dates are a little older and have higher self-esteem than you seem to have, Margie, they thank me for being a gentlemen. It seems you don’t know of any gentleman who would be courtesy to you. No wonder you were “Uncomfortable when the porter took your bag to the room and made certain you knew how THEIR temperature control worked.”

Your attitude would preclude me from ever asking you for a date. And being single and enjoying the company of gracious women, I can say that. What you should do is check your self-esteem level. Must be so low that courtesy bothers you. Tough luck for you. You may get some more, but then you can just kick them in the balls and perhaps you will feel more comfortable.

Matt Donnelly
MPBC, CBOA, CBC, BEC
The Business Appraisal Institute
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You need to learn to say: NO! - thank you very much!

Karl S Mann
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I agree 100% with your article about "over the top" service. The necessity to "read" clients is tantamount.

Warmly,

Donna Altes
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I always think when this happens to me, that someone is looking for a hefty tip. I find this does tend to happen in more mid smaller boutique hotels.....and I feel the same as you, I know how to operate the air conditioning and can find the mini bar. It turns me off.

When it happens it reminds me to talk about the careful balance of service at a next staff meeting of our restaurant staff. Welcome, accomodate, try to learn how much of you a customer really wants, but usually don't hover. I always use Nordstrom as our measure....the customer is always right....so figure out fast what they want....intimacy: leave them alone; foodie interaction: talk from menus and specials; accompanied child is everything to them: bring coloring and offer their dinner first, etc. I am always insulted that that hotel hasn't taught their staff to figure out who I am....to read me....thus end up always thinking they are just looking for a tip.

Watched Bottle Shock on the plane back from Croatia and Malta.....where I never found wine to want to bring home.....beer was good tho!

Nancy Gorshe, Owner/Manager
The DEPOT Restaurant
Historic Seaview, Washington
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Greetings...

Here at Grateful Graphics we are a 1.5 person merchandising entity and until now, I had not considered service overload as an issue. Because we are in a narrow field, we sell Officially Licensed Grateful Dead merchandise, and we are a tiny company facing competitors much larger, I feel our one to one, grassroots, share intelligently approach does work.

So often I hear the phrases "It is so grate to deal with a real human" - "You guys are old school" - "I'm so glad I found you". For us, we provide expert service (we know our merchandise, the world of GD merchandising and we are stone cold Deadheads) with a gentle smile and unwavering spirit.

And here lies where I might service overload somebody - in sharing what we know of the Grateful Dead world, if we don't listen and respond accordingly, we could lose the customer, new friend, community member. At the heart of the Grateful Dead experience is community and we try to foster that here at GG, but if you don't create a give and take, learn and learn from approach with folks, you will turn them away without realizing it.

Thanks for helping me see how important our give and take with folks is and how we can enhance that by listening and contributing to the dialogue...

John Bergan (J
Sales & Marketing Director
Grateful Graphics

www.gratefulgraphics.com
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Margie: After reading your story I can understand being overwhelmed, yet I cannot be "too much GOOD/PROPER service". Being in the hospitality industry, customer service is an issue with me. What you rec'd was proper and maybe in your opinion, "over the top" service. However, this may be based on the reduction of service and client interaction we have endured here in the United States.

When I travel to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, such service you mention is the standard. In London, my hotel had a butler unpack my clothes and hand-press my evening attire and assist me with my bow-tie.

In Asia, specifically Hong Kong, the service is gracious yet unobtrusive. As an American, I too am taken back at such levels of service and assistance which is not widely known or appreciated in the United States.

The service you experienced would be akin to the finest hotels and restaurants of the 1950's in any city with a 5-star luxury hotel. We are traveling Americans have embraced the limited-service hotels for their cost-effectiveness, thus when we rec. over the top service, we are not comfortable and thus may react with hesitation. Just my thoughts and if you have not,you must visit the James Beard House in NYC.

Joseph Sobin
VP Media Relations and Travel Industry Liaison at The Society.com
Owner at Concierge Services http://www.mtntravel.com/
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"Margie, the answer is "No". There is no such thing as too much service. When service becomes a negative, this means that someone has not done the job right, hence it is not service anymore, but a nuisance (forgive the spelling). As a service professional, I think that these situations are often avoided by just asking the customer "Is there anything else we can do for you?". This is -or should be- the interactive part of guest contact. Do we simply do it our way, or do we interact with our guests and provide CUSTOMer service? On the other hand, you splurged in Beverly Hills. If I were working at a 5-star hotel, my bellmen would have been required to show you around the room for the basics. How often do guests complain or just call the front desk because they don't know how to use the thermostat (I am talking about my experience in Dutch 4 and 5* hotels). I had an experience once, where we were renovating a building and an entire floor was stripped. Yet, one of my guests stepped off the elevator onto the dark floor, having to step over the power hub that was in his way. Service is a tricky thing and can only be done correctly by sensitive, guest-oriented people. Select good people and keep monitoring how they provide "service". Above all, make all personnel in guest contact positions ask their guests what they want or need."

Daryl Jaeger
Rooms Care Manager at Courtyard by Marriott Paramaribo
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Hi, Margie.

I Don't think I've ever corresponded with you before, but have a sweet spot for your site, as it's where I found my current job as the director for the dineLA program created by the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau.

I read your account of your Beverly Hills stay with a wisp of sadness. I remember being fresh out of culinary school when my boyfriend and I were living in San Diego, living in low-income housing and working very low paying hospitality jobs. I used to go visit him at his work--the Loews Coronado Resort--and remember watching the flurry of activity from bell staff and valet as they worked to see to arriving guests' needs. But I mostly remember him coming home from work with only a few dollars in his pocket. As a employee whose livelihood depended almost entirely on gratuity from guests, it was crushing to see him work so hard and have nothing to show for it.

That said, I have been an independent (mostly single) business woman for a long time now and I know what it's like not wanting to dish out for services that you don't really need. It can really add up.

I think perhaps your experience was based more on a business trying to stay afloat during these tough times by DRILLING customer service into its employees heads. Word of Mouth is the only affordable marketing these days and, my guess is, they were simply trying a little too hard.

Carrie Kommers
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Of course, there certainly is a concept of "too much service". Whenever we pin down a mystery shopper/ auditor, we tend to bombard that individual with 'too much service" or whenever we have someone over from the 'Corporate Office' or a person known to MD/ CEO, again that individual receives "too much service" and that too at the expense of other guests who feel ignored, neglected, left out and humiliated in the process.

Parag Srivastava
Chef Incharge- Culinary Training: Kitchen Executive Training Programme, The Leela Palace Kempinski Bangalore
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The essential issue is what degree of service is desired by the customer? In most cases, exceeding service expectations is a welcome surprise, however, if an operation is truly service oriented, it MUST be customer-centric and able to modify its service delivery system to satisfy the customer in real-time. People travel for different reasons and an individual's multiple traveler personas may have different requirements during different trips - even to the same hotel or restaurant.

This does not make it an easy task for the service provider. Appropriate service levels are fundamentally a permission based and highly personal decision. I may or may not want to have a deep ongoing relationship with the establishment. I do want to be recognized as an individual, understand that my business is valued and that a repeat purchase experience is welcomed.

The secret is 1) Empowering employees to listen to the customer and discern the appropriate level of service desired, 2) Based on the employee's experience, determine the available services that may be needed, and 3) Exceeding the guest service expectation by sincerely providing/offering incremental services. If every guest contact employee does that during the course of a hotel stay, the guest will be blown away. That even means eye contact, a polite greeting and a smile from an employee passing in the hall. My personal peeves? a) Checking into a hotel and receiving a follow-up phone call a few minutes after checking in to ask if the room is alright.

Robert Cole
Founder, RockCheetah
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So far, previous commenter Robert, is spot on. The key to great service is improvisation and adaptation...reading people and engaging accordingly. It is not perfect execution of rote tasks or scripts, which is what you encountered.

Often, those who deviate...those who do the unexpected...are the service winners...the ones we hear and read about.

Michael Chaffin
Owner, Memorable Solutions and Hospitality Consultant
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It's all about "READING YOUR GUEST" - something which hotels generally forget to teach when doing service training. Staff need to start treating guests as individuals and be able to instinctively give them the service that they want by learning through observation.

Just a comment to the post from Robert about Front Desk calling to see if the room is ok. In one of my hotels, which had a high % of guests arriving late at night and departing early morning (close to an airport) - I had a program where Room Service would call and offer guests a complimentary herbal tea e.g. "Good Evening, Mr. Bob, this is Tim from Room Service calling - We'd like to send you a complimentary herbal tea to help you get settled in this evening...we have mint, camomile or jasmine. To go along with that, would you like to order a sandwich or a light snack as well?"

Pre 10:30pm, Room Service would do the call and after that Front Desk would make the offer.

This had two consequences, 1) We trained the Room Service (when they delivered the tea) to ask newly checked in guests if everything was ok with their room and if there was and issue, to be proactive in solving it. 2) Our Room Service business after 10pm went up by over 65%.

If i remember correctly, over 99% of guests who were offered the tea took us up on it. Cost to us : negligable.

A room can't always be in a perfect condition all the time, every time. Ever had a light bulb go out on you just as you turn it on? It gives us an opportunity to make things right before it becomes an issue.

Paul Hotchan
Managing Consultant - APAC Hospitality Practice
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Paul makes a great point - a creative method of providing an unexpected and a service with perceived value at a negligible cost. Plus the added benefit of verifying everything is fine in the room. Great idea - everybody wins.

For the record, I would be very pleased with Paul's described execution of the herbal tea offer and would happily take them up on it.

Again, the trick is figuring out the right level of service and appropriate method of service delivery - while treating the guest as an individual. There is no secret formula - definitely more of an art than a science, so creativity counts.

Robert Cole
Founder, RockCheetah
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Great email! I think that’s a fantastic topic to broach. I used to work at a local 5 Star Diamond Resort. We also gave room tours to each guest, it was meant to be an extra special touch, but, like you, it felt awkward. People know how to use a bed, and a remote for goodness sakes!

In the wine industry, I don’t think it is possible to over-deliver on customer service. Teaching people about wine, pairing it with cheeses, carrying their purchases to the car, offering other wineries to visit is all part of the normal service.

I’ve gone tasting hundreds upon hundreds of times, and have never felt that I received over-the-top customer service.

Have you ever experienced this in a tasting room?

Brandy Bell
Wine Club & Marketing Manager
Donati Family Vineyard
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The challenge is to realize that no two individuals are the same. What might be perceived as exceptional service by one person can be seen as obtrusive by another. Staff must be trained to look for cues and deliver the service depending on the needs and expectations of the guest. But this is easier said than done especially when service delivery procedures and standards are fixed and not flexible.

Shinow Baby
Resort Manager at Sterling Holiday Resorts (I) Ltd
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Quite true. As taught in our course too, we need to be quick without being hasty and courteous and helpful without being intrusive. To add on on Parag's view we have certain "vv..vip" (no limit to v's here) guest category too ( govt officials, politicians and well connected) who like to be treated as exception to anything normal to the extent of creating chaos and fellow guests feeling totally neglected. I am sure every professional must have at least one such experience where he must have cursed ownself for being in this line.

Varun Vyas
Manager Operations at Reliance Retail
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