---

As a student of hospitality, I was constantly reminded that in a well-run hotel, the ‘manager must be present’, available and in evidence. He or she should be out on the floor greeting guests and putting a face on hotel operations whilst staying connected, committed and setting the tone for the entire hotel. It was all about interaction with guests. Some may argue with some justification that over the years, it has somewhat evolved.

There are now so many other demands of a business nature placed on general managers, which makes it more difficult for them to be as visible as they would like. However, going ‘invisible’ is going too far. When I stay in any hotel, and, in my lifetime I’ve stayed in over 100 hotels, I try to look out for the hotel manager. Rarely do I succeed and the times I do – it is mostly because the hotel had recently appointed a new manager.

In my experience and nowadays, a hotel guest may get a glimpse of the hotel manager, during the first few months of his or her new job or when he or she is shadow-tailing the occasional ‘big wig’ from head office, whose visit invariably causes ‘angst’. Thereafter, for the rest of their tenure of employment, most hotel managers will remain glued in an office or will stay focused on holding or attending meetings all day long! Nowadays, the closest clue that the hotel has a manager is when you receive a printed ‘welcome’ letter. Ah… the times, how they have changed!

Someone … and I can’t recall his name, wrote of the welcome letter he received upon checking in to the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach a few years ago. The writer describes the hotel “as pretty much what you’d expect, but the attitude of the staff was phenomenal. He goes on to explain, “The following letter was in my room upon arrival, and during my stay - from the GM to Front Desk staff to Housekeeping attendant to the Restaurant brigade, they all lived up to their word.” The letter is as follows:

Welcome to the World Famous Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach!
Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, we thought it would be the perfect time to remind you of how important you are to us. Today, we are spreading the love to friends, family, and co-workers.

These 10 phrases are an illuminating reminder of how uncomplicated it is to make you, our guest, feel loved.

• The 10 most important words: “I apologize for our mistake. Let me make it right.”
• The 9 most important words: “Thank you for your business.      Please come back again.”

• The 2 most important words: “Thank you.”
• The 4 most important words: “How did we do?”
• The 6 most important words: “What is most convenient for you?”
• The 8 most important words: “I’m not sure, but I will find out.”
• The 7 most important words: “What else can I do for you?”
• The 5 most important words: “How may I serve you?”
• The 3 most important words: “Glad you’re here!”
• The MOST important word: “Yes.”

We hope you enjoy your stay with us!

The Management & Staff,

Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach.

What a profoundly refreshing message…simple, yet powerful free of insincerity or boring clichés, no cookie cutter language and extreme expressions used to convey ‘meaningless’ nonsense statements designed to give the impression of substance. (Trust you caught my drift!). More importantly, the guest who wrote of the above welcome letter experienced the ‘walk-in-the-talk’, where staying connected, began from the top in this particular hotel.
Seriously, why don’t anyone and everyone in the service sector take customer service seriously? Go on, pause a while and play-back the last five or more service interactions you’ve experienced (airport, restaurant, hotel, bank, retail store, etc.). Did you hear any one of the 10 above mentioned phrases? Could it have made you as a customer, feel any different – especially feel better, had you heard one or more of these phrases? Think about it.
These 10 phrases illustrate a perfect example of managers, supervisors, trainers and the like claiming to know everything about it while a few or none practice it. Why is that? Because it is ‘easier said than done’ and the inability to do the little things that count, is a powerful motivator for inertia. Let’s revisit these 10 phrases to remind ourselves how uncomplicated it is to make customers feel that we care.

The TEN most important words:

“I apologise for our mistake. Let me make it right.” For most of us apologising can be a difficult thing to do. ‘While we are quick’ to demand an apology; we are reluctant to offer it. So, why is it so hard to say ‘I’m sorry’? Is it because we don’t care or that we don’t know how to apologise? Personally, I consider it to be a combination of both!

How often have you complained about something – only to be greeted by a stony faced steward or salesman? No longer do we say “I’m sorry” when we accidentally bump into someone on the street. We Sri Lankans live in a society, where the values of good manners and basic courtesies are no longer instilled at home, neither at school nor are they cherished. Those holding power and position feel that initiating an apology is a sign of weakness and leaves them vulnerable.

Some people find saying they’re sorry humiliating. Lesser mortals simply equate saying “I’m sorry” with admitting they’re inadequate or incompetent. Perhaps they were criticized harshly during their upbringing or by their supervisor or peer at work, and, as a result, avoid admitting mistakes because of the traumatic feelings it brings up. We need to recognise that we all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. So, saying ‘I’m sorry’ shouldn’t be hard - should it?

I guess we need to educate people - especially those in the service sector. Apologising properly is both a science and an art. The science is in finding out what went wrong (listening) and the art is where the verbal apology, rather than become a reflex or automatic response, requires that you be prepared for the conversation that will follow the apology, based on the recipient’s reaction-whether it is positive or negative. So one has to be prepared to think on one’s feet! On that rare occasion one gets an apology – it stops there!
What is skipped entirely is the part where they need to find out what they can do to set things right. But then again, I may be setting the bar too high! For starters I’ll settle for that genuine apology. For those managers who find it discomforting to offer an apology, my advice to you - make sure you don’t have mistakes occurring during your watch!

The NINE most important words:
“Thank you for your business. Please come back again.” Be there for your guest – not only when they arrive… but also when they leave! Remembering to thank a current customer for their business or diners for their patronage is a rare treat for people these days. Enhancing customer engagement should be a key focus of your business. In order to be successful, it is not enough to just attract new customers you have to make sure your existing customer base is happy and engaged with your product or service. These nine words trigger recall that you care and that their business means something to you.

David Ogilvy, one of the legends of the advertising business and the founder of Ogilvy & Mather New York, had high customer service expectations for his staff. One of the things he insisted upon was “We don’t walk our clients to the elevator, we walk them to the street.” In other words, after meetings, he expected his staff to thank and walk their clients - not just out to the elevator - but all the way down to the street, and help them hail a cab. And in the skyscrapers of New York, that is no small courtesy. Ogilvy & Mather believed in hiring people not just for their intelligence, but for their manners.


The EIGHT most important words:
“I’m not sure, but I will find out.” Your staff can’t sell what they don’t know. Make sure they understand the menu. They should know ingredients: Does it have cream in it? How is the dish prepared? Is it deep fried, grilled, or sautéed? Does it come with a side? Is it gluten-free? If you are affected by celiac disease, it is likely that you will quiz the staff and no doubt irritate the chef with a barrage of seemingly petty questions, “Is the mustard in the honey and mustard glaze wheat free and is the vinegar in the salad dressing pure malt, distilled malt or spirit?”

Celiac disease is an immune disease in which people can’t eat gluten because it will damage their small intestine. Any person suffering from celiac disease finds this to be extremely isolating and rarely do they go to a restaurant without suffering afterwards. Further, this ailment and people having several other special diets is now common and today is a must-know thing to restaurant staff – especially those employed in award-winning establishments. Know your menu inside and out, or at least the easier to describe items listed in it.

Recently, I entertained my friend from Sydney at the fine dining restaurant of a boutique hotel that claims to be the courtyard in our capitol. On its website it proudly proclaims “If ever you are undecided on what you should choose, from the array of culinary extravagance on the menu, you can always look to staff knowledge and attentiveness – they are ever poised to make you feel at home.” When ordering from the menu, my friend enquired from the steward about the ‘Arrabbiata’ sauce. We knew it is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers cooked in olive oil – but the steward kinda struggled to explain it! The closest he came, was to say, “It is a reddish sauce.”

We didn’t push any further but our steward had missed the cue when he should have said the eight most important words: “I’m not sure, but I will find out.” Rather than stammering as you try to come up with something on the spot, acknowledge that you don’t have the information — but that you’re going to get it…it will at least make customers understand this and respect your honesty for admitting it.

The SEVEN most important words:
“What else can I do for you?” We know that water is very hot at 99 degrees and we also learnt at school that it boils at 100 degrees and with boiling water comes steam. With steam, you can power a train! That one additional degree in temperature provides exponential results! Be prepared to go that additional mile. Remember there is hardly anyone queuing to run that extra mile. Do the unexpected extra no one does anymore.

Look for ways to be helpful… to give just a bit more. Acknowledge a birthday or special occasion. Reward loyalty. These are all examples of customer service that anyone who offers these kinds of extras immediately stands out. Brandon Steiner runs the largest sports memorabilia business in the US, Steiner Sports Marketing. Steiner’s rags-to-riches story as Harvey Mackay relates it - is inspirational, fascinating and, best of all, replicable. He started his life in a very poor apartment with a single mother who was often sick. He shares the story of his early endeavours delivering newspapers. When he was having trouble signing up customers, his mother challenged him to find other services to offer to prospective customers.

‘What else could he do for them?’ So Steiner, who lived near a bagel shop, told customers he could deliver bagels or milk in addition to the newspaper. Before long, he was delivering 100 daily papers, 150 Sunday papers, 100 gallons of milk every week and more than a hundred bagels every Sunday. He found his passion at a very young age and parlayed it into what eventually became a multimillion-dollar business.

His success is summed up in one of his favourite sayings: “If you want more money, don’t pay attention to the money. Pay attention to the thing that makes the money.” Steiner is the master of “what else?” — The attitude that has helped him develop the winning formula for his success.
(To be continued)

(Shafeek Wahab has an extensive background in hospitality management spanning over 30 years. He has held key managerial responsibilities in internationally renowned hotel chains, both locally and abroad, including his last held position as Head of Branding for a leading hotel group in Sri Lanka. Now focusing on corporate education, training, consulting and coaching he can be contacted at [email protected]. Website: www.in2ition.biz)