Many companies use terms like “guest” and “partner” to convey the intimacy they have with their customers but the reality is that most employees, when given the opportunity, do not behave as though they are serving a valued guest.

If you’d like to test this assertion, simply show up at your choice of retailer after it has closed for the day. Assuming you can make eye contact with an employee through the locked glass door, see if she is willing to do more than point at her watch and mouth the words, “We’re closed.”

Now, this is where corporate types jump in using words like: policy, procedure, overtime, security, protocol, etc. While all of their points are valid, it doesn’t mean they’re right.

To illustrate, imagine that you had planned a baby shower at your home from 1:00 to 3:00pm and that one of your guests was delayed for some reason and didn’t arrive until 3:15pm—after the event had officially ended and the other guests had left.

Would you refuse to open the front door and simply make eye contact with her through the glass side light panel, point to your watch, and mouth the words, “The party’s over”?

Of course not.

Then why is it acceptable to treat “guests” like that in a business setting?

If you’re going to cite the above list of policy, procedure, overtime, security, protocol, etc. as your justification for this behavior, at least stop referring to your customers as “guests.”

Instead, call them what they really are to your closing staff: a nuisance—an interruption; someone we accept money from during business hours but whom we’d prefer not to see after closing time until the next business day.

Just last week I was in Logan, UT. Being a coffee enthusiast and having read about the mountain grown, Triple Certified coffee at Caffe Ibis, I made it a point to stop by on the day of my arrival.

I showed up at 6:45pm and learned that the store closed at 6:30pm. I peered through the glass door and made eye contact with an employee who pointed to her watch and mouthed the words, “We’re closed.”

Before I returned to my car, however, an energetic employee named Natalie unlocked the front door and engaged me.

I mentioned that I was in town for one night from Denver and had hoped to try a cup of Caffe Ibis coffee that I had read so much about and pick up a pound of beans to take back home.

She said, “The machines are off and the register is closed but let me see what I can do.”

A few minutes later, she appeared with a steeping (literally) cup of coffee and a pound of Double French Roast Blend coffee beans.

I thanked her, paid her $15 in cash, and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee back in my hotel room.

The following day, on my way out of town, I returned and spent another $28.05 on a latte, ground Espresso Roast Blend, and a Caffe Ibis t-shirt. That’s $43.05 in revenue from a guest that many employees would have labeled a nuisance—an interruption in their day.

And my purchasing hasn’t stopped. I’m back in Denver but enjoyed the coffee so much that I’m planning a repeat purchase of Double French Roast Blend coffee beans from their website. My potential future value to Caffe Ibis is significant.

If the first employee was my only impression of Caffe Ibis, I would have left empty-handed, kept my $15, and may or may not have returned the following day to spend another $28.05. And if I hadn’t experienced its coffee in Logan, I certainly wouldn’t be ordering it by the pound on-line.

This is key: Did the first employee do anything wrong? No. She was following policy. I get that. She was also behaving in a way that is usual, ordinary, and expected by most customers.

Natalie, on the other hand, treated me like her guest. She behaved in a way that was beyond what is usual, ordinary, and expected by most customers. She was refreshing and unique. As a result, she not only made a positive lasting impression, she made a sale!

More key points:

1.) Natalie recognized that, while her job function was to complete the closing checklist, the essence of her job—her highest priority—was to serve her guests.

2.) Her decision to open the locked door and engage me, unlike the completion of the closing checklist, was optional.

3.) And finally, her willingness to go the extra mile cost her employer nothing—it was free! In fact, it resulted in $43.05 in additional sales (and counting…).

Natalie created a promoter (that’s me).

Promoters are customers who not only buy your products/services, they wear your t-shirts, are less price sensitive, and recommend your business to others (as I’m doing now).

While the first employee’s service was ordinary, expected, and made me feel like an interruption in her day, Natalie’s was extraordinary, unexpected, and made me feel like a valued guest.

Care to comment? Be my guest.

I spent a fair amount of time last month on TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Yelp, and other websites offering hotel reviews. A majority of those reviews were written by hotel guests whose experiences were either very good or a very bad. It seems that when guests have an ordinary or typical experience, they’re not as motivated to write a review.

Social media provides a wealth of feedback for companies that are committed to continuous improvement of the guest’s experience. Some managers react to negative feedback from hotel guests by researching the reservation, perhaps confirming details associated with the complaint, and then following up with an appropriate remedy (e.g., phone call, letter, issue a partial refund, etc.).

These remedies, absent root cause analysis and long-term solutions, are simply band-aids that allow problems to perpetuate. Unless managers also respond to this feedback by identifying the root cause(s) of the problem and then addressing it in a way that resolves or mitigates the issue for future guests, the problems—and their attendant complaints—will inevitably return.

Below are three issues that contributed to negative hotel reviews on one or more of the above websites, followed by solutions offered by seasoned hoteliers with whom I’ve worked:

1.) Elevator was out of service resulting in delays and inconvenience.

I spoke with a general manager who operates a select service hotel with 104 guest rooms located on one of three levels. Of course, with a hotel with multiple levels, guests expect an elevator. Unfortunately, they lost the use of their elevator for several weeks due to a crucial part being on back order.

Guests were inconvenienced by having to go up and down stairs—especially when these trips involved luggage. Several days into it, as guest complaints increased and the extent of the repair delay became evident, he made a decision. He and his team implemented a unique strategy for selling third floor rooms.

When customers accessed the brand’s website or 800 number, they were redirected to the hotel where they received a personal explanation of the elevator issue in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises when they arrived at the hotel. While the hotel was offering a rate of $189 per night for most of its inventory, they began offering third floor rooms for $99-$119 per night, based on occupancy.

The third floor rooms were selling out first! Occupancy and guest satisfaction (due to the proactive communication of the staff and the value created by a discount of $70-$90 per room per night) actually increased during the period of time that the elevator was out of service!

2.) Breakfast buffet was poorly stocked and serviced.

I spoke with another general manager of a select service hotel who had been receiving disappointing breakfast scores from her guests and learned that the critical feedback had to do with several factors:

• limited visibility and accessibility of the dining room attendant
• tendency to run out of coffee, muffins, and other popular breakfast items
• too much time to replenish depleted items

After reviewing the feedback, examining the breakfast process, and identifying potential remedies with her team, she made the decision to relocate the food storage and preparation from the Housekeeping area (which was more than 100 feet away) to an area that was closer to the breakfast room.

How did they do it? That’s the best part! Rather than seeing the limitations of the existing square footage as a barrier, they rethought the current use and purpose of the space. They decided to consolidate the seldom used lobby men’s and women’s restrooms into one unisex restroom.

Next, they converted the remaining space into a food storage and preparation area just 3 feet from the breakfast room!

This addressed each of the primary customer complaints: Now the attendant is visible/accessible, the buffet seldom runs out of coffee, muffins, and other popular breakfast items, and depleted items are replenished in a timely manner!

3.) Felt ignored by the wait staff in the lounge.

Just last week I spoke with the assistant general manager of a full service hotel in New York City who is preparing to implement an idea to encourage servers to make a genuine connection with lounge guests.

He is planning to have the Micros point of sale software require guests’ names and drink preferences prior to opening a ticket. The objective is to prompt servers to capture guests’ names early in order to use it throughout the service experience—not just when the check is settled.

And capturing a record of guests’ preferred drinks enables servers to anticipate the drink orders of repeat guests. Not only does this have a positive effect on guest service, it also allows management to better anticipate inventory requirements.

For instance, if a majority of guests prefer vodka and the bar stocks a dozen brands of tequila, then management will be able to utilize the data regarding guest preferences to make better use of their limited inventory and selection.

Each of these examples illustrates how managers can, by responding (not just reacting) to critical feedback, address the problems experienced by past guests while improving the service experience for future guests.

How about you? What problems are you aware of in your own business that require a long-term fix but remain unresolved for one reason or another? What steps can you take today to resolve or mitigate these issues for future customers?

My family and I decided to try Carino’s Italian restaurant for the first time tonight. When we entered the restaurant, we were “greeted” by the hostess with the predictable, “How many?” before being seated. Our server approached our table within a minute or two, delivering interactive menus and crayons to the kids and menus to me and my wife.

Our server demonstrated the hospitality basics well. She smiled, made eye contact, and added a bit of enthusiasm to her voice. And she did not seem put off by my six-year-old’s tendency to vacillate during his beverage, entrée, and dessert orders.

Even so, there were several events that marred the experience:

• Our server repeated left the table empty-handed while paper wrappers, used paper napkins, plates, and glasses accumulated. One of the reasons we enjoy dining out is that we don’t have to look at the mess that a family of six produces during meals. Eventually, I stacked everything I could reach and asked that it be removed.
• Midway through our meal at around 7:00pm, another server completed what appeared to be her closing sidework (e.g., consolidating salt and pepper shakers, filling sugar packet caddies, etc.) at the table next to us—in full view of the guests dining around her. Instinctively, I checked my watch to see if it was later than I thought. That’s not the reaction you want your guests to have during their meals.
• Later, after our children had ordered dessert, the sundaes came out with no spoons. Remarkably, it took about four minutes for the spoons to arrive (that’s an hour and a half in kid time). By then, without the use of utensils, they had consumed nearly every bit of their whipped cream—and what little remained was on their noses…

As uninspiring as this service was, the low point of the evening came when our server delivered the family style pasta plate that my wife and I planned to split. Carino’s family style entrées are intended to serve 2-3 adults and, knowing that we were sharing this entrée, our server brought a plate for each of us.

She handed me the large plate of pasta and set the two entrée plates on the table in front of me. I asked her if she could serve my wife—as she was seated at the opposite end of the table and we had four kids between us.

Her response floored me: “You do that.”

Now, I realize that Carino’s Italian is a fast-casual concept but it’s not a cafeteria. There were no buffets visible. That makes it a full service restaurant. Our server, in denying my simple request, missed an opportunity to serve her guests and moved what had been a neutral experience to a negative one.

So, even though I felt like there was value for the price paid (our bill came to $56.00 for a family of six—including entrées, salads, drinks, desserts, and a double espresso), I likely will not return to Carino’s Italian restaurant.

There are plenty of other restaurants out there with higher standards for table service whose servers are also willing to serve.