A restaurateur recently approached me and asked, “How can I fake that I know a customer’s name? I have a thousand regulars in my restaurant each week and can’t possibly remember all of their names.”

She was asking the wrong question. Any objective that involves faking out customers (or any form of deception) is destined to fail. Why not make a sincere effort to learn customers’ names instead?

I recognize that remembering names is not always easy. I’ll be the first to admit that I often forget a name just seconds after hearing it—especially if I’m being introduced to a group of people. Recalling names takes real effort and, for many of us, if we’re not intentional about it, we’ll miss opportunities to greet others by name.

We already know that people love hearing the sound of their own name. And when they are greeted by name, especially in a setting where they are customers, this affirms their importance as customers—and the value they bring to the business through personal spending, referrals, and loyalty.

My response to the restaurateur was this: “Rather than mislead customers by faking that you know their names, why not make the effort instead to learn them?”

I then shared with her some advice I had given to my 10-year-old son, Cole, while he was attending a tennis camp with a dozen or so peers after school. On the drive home from camp one evening, I asked Cole the name of the boy he’d been hitting with during the final drill. To my surprise, he had no idea what the boy’s name was.

When I reminded Cole that learning and using others’ names conveys respect and affirms their personal importance, he complained that there were a lot of kids and that learning all their names would be difficult.

So, together, we devised some strategies that he could use to help remember the names of all the other players at camp. We started with the names of players he already knew. There were two: Paris and Rachel. (Mmm…)

I asked him to describe Paris and he said she was tall. Then I asked him what came to mind when he thought of the name “Paris.” He said, “Paris, France.”

Next, I asked him if there was anything tall in Paris, France. He said, “The Eiffel Tower.”

Then Cole said, “I get it! To help remember her name, I will think of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.”

Exactly! (I mentioned that this is an example of a mnemonic—or memory aid—but Cole was already thinking of a way to help remember Rachel’s name…)

Cole said, “When I see Rachel again, I’ll remember that her name is the same as my cousin Rachel in Sioux Falls!”

“That’s great Cole!” I said, “You’re using an association you’re very familiar with to help remember the name of someone you’ve recently met.”

The last suggestion I gave to Cole was to repeat the name of the person he was meeting several times during the initial introduction. For example: “Rachel? I have a cousin named Rachel. My name is Cole. Nice to meet you Rachel!”

There is no easy way to remember the names of all your customers. It takes genuine effort. But it is possible to facilitate learning names by using mnemonics (e.g., Paris is tall like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.), associations (e.g., Rachel has the same name as my cousin Rachel.), and repetition (i.e., Try to use the name three times during your initial introduction.).

Invest the time and effort to learn customers’ names and if you draw a blank, don’t try to fake it—be honest. Chances are that your customer may not readily recall your name either. This re-introduction will give you both a chance to reinforce each other’s names while strengthening the relationship.

How about you? What techniques help you to remember names?

“I feel like a number. Feel like a number. Feel like a stranger. A stranger in this land. I feel like a number. I’m not a number.”

Even as companies emphasize the importance of personalizing their service in order to create unique and individualized experiences for their customers, these lyrics from Bob Seger’s 1978 release, I Feel Like A Number seem especially relevant today.

All too often, as customers we lose our identities and become a range of other “names.” Here are a few of the “names” I’ve endured recently accompanied by suggested alternatives that will reinforce gracious and personalized service experiences:

“Room 812″ as in, “Room 812 needs more towels.” (As I stood a few feet away from the representative on the other side of the counter in the lobby of a Kansas City hotel.)

Alternative: “Our guest in room 812 needs more towels.”  Or, if you have—or have access to—the guest’s name, then include it: “Mr. Curtin, our guest in room 812 needs more towels.”

“’05 Expedition?” (This was how I was addressed by the service technician in the waiting area the last time I brought my Ford in for service at the dealership.)

This oversight was avoidable. The dealership that services my vehicle is the same one who sold me the vehicle. They know that the ’05 Expedition is owned by Steve Curtin—not to mention that my name was printed on the service order. This particular maintenance rep just fell into the bad habit of favoring vehicle identities over customer identities.

Alternative: “Mr. Curtin?”


“Internet trouble?” (This was the greeting I received from a maintenance representative when I opened my guest room door at a conference center in New Jersey.)

Alternative: “Good evening Mr. Curtin. I understand that you’re unable to connect to the Internet. May I come in and take a look?”

“2-top” as in, “Are you the 2-top who ordered nachos?”

Now, ideally, restaurant servers should know exactly where each order goes. That said, the reality is that oftentimes in the crush of peak periods—sometimes accompanied by staffing issues, equipment problems, inventory shortages, etc.—communication breaks down and items leave the kitchen for destinations unknown…

When this happens, the server or expeditor simply needs to be gracious—perhaps saying something like this:

Alternative: “Pardon me. Would you be awaiting an order of Chipotle Nachos?”

Similar to the last example:

“Medium rare salmon” as in, “Are you the medium rare salmon?”

I’ve heard that you are what you eat but c’mon—if we really thought about what we were saying, we’d never say this. In the event there is uncertainty as to who ordered what, why not say something playful like this:

Alternative: “Alright, which lucky guest gets to claim the medium rare salmon?”

“12 C” as in, “12 C needs a pillow.”

I understand what’s going on here. Flight attendants are busy and customers are demanding. Short cuts like these provide the efficiency needed to process more customers in less time thus making everybody happy, right? Well, not everybody…

We know from consumer research that customers appreciate being recognized as customers—preferably by name.

Alternative: “The passenger in seat 12 C needs a pillow.” Or, if they have the flight manifest in their possession, they can add the name to personalize the request further:  “Mr. Curtin, in seat 12 C, needs a pillow.”


“Retail” as in, “Are you guys retail?”

This is how I was addressed (along with another customer) as I waited alongside the counter in a cramped retail space at a local tree nursery. You see, each year the nursery hosts my children’s preschool outing to the pumpkin patch. There’s a hayride and a hay maze outside. Inside, where I was, there were Halloween tattoos, stickers, and bags of treats. Since the space is so cramped, you just stand where you can to be out of the way and make room for the kids.

A more appropriate way for this employee to distinguish between customers who were waiting to purchase a pumpkin and those who were just watching their children might have been to ask:

Alternative: “Hello. May I help you with something?” She might have even had a little fun with it due to the occasion: “Happy Harvest! Are you awaiting a cashier or are you in line for a tattoo and a goodie bag?”

“11 o’clock” as in, “Samantha, your 11 o’clock is here.”

Alternative: “Samantha, Steve’s here for his 11 o’clock appointment.”

Here are some other impersonal greetings I frequently receive:

“Two for dinner?”

“Checking-in?”

“Next?”

Consider spending 5-10 minutes during your next pre-shift or department meeting exploring examples with your staff from your own world of work. Then, hold each other accountable. Look for opportunities to catch employees doing it right and coach in situations where they fall short of the standard. As managers, recognize that you too are accountable to consistently model the standard.

Set the standard high. Avoid using generic labels for your customers. Use customers’ names whenever possible. In doing so, you will be demonstrating authentic enthusiasm for your customers in ways that transform bland and ordinary transactions into unique and personalized service experiences.

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?

Earlier this month, I stopped by Hooters for lunch. During my hour-long visit, my table was “touched” by three separate Hooters Girls (my server, Felicia, and two others: Lillie and Kassity) and the manager, Ben.

I don’t always do so well remembering names but they made it easy for me. Two of the servers signed a napkin at my table and all four employees were wearing name tags that were clearly visible. That’s not always the case in many establishments.

All that attention not only made me feel valued as a customer, it also made an impression on me. Instead of feeling like just another restaurant “cover,” I felt as though this dining experience had been personalized—like the napkin—just for me. The staff expressed genuine interest in me, the guest. It was unexpected and I was pleasantly surprised.

Providing and using names is necessary to establish rapport. And establishing rapport is necessary to build trust. And building trust is necessary to gain customer loyalty. And customer loyalty—and the future spending and referrals that come with it—is necessary for business success.

So, what’s in a name? Business success.