Last Wednesday, I learned that a friend of mine was traveling from California to Marriott’s Marco Island Florida Resort & Spa to attend a coaching conference.

Christopher and I both invested the early part of our careers working for Marriott and, knowing that he would not call ahead to request any sort of favors—unbeknownst to him—I called the hotel while he was en route.

When my call was answered, I asked to speak with a front desk manager. The person I reached informed me that all of the managers were busy serving guests and suggested that, as a supervisor, perhaps she could assist me with my request.

I then introduced myself, gave her a little background about my friend Christopher’s Marriott experience, told her of his impending arrival at the hotel, and then asked if she had any flexibility to upgrade him to a room on a higher floor or with a better view.

As our conversation continued, I sensed that I was more interested in the opportunity to recognize Christopher at check-in and provide him with a pleasant surprise than was the supervisor.

She said, “I’ll see what I can do.” I thanked her for her time.

The following day, I emailed Christopher to check on the quality of his arrival experience.

Here’s his response:

“Interesting that you asked. The clerk was young/newer yet was truly committed to ensure that she gave me her all. She was earnest and genuine in wanting me to have a great check-in experience.

She had trouble finding a room for me and wanted to meet my in-the-moment realization that a high floor and view was more important than a King-size bed (which I had requested in my reservation).

Where it fell apart was when she asked for help from her manager because he came over to help in his very “I have role power” kind of way and didn’t look at me/speak to me and it derailed the spirit of service that she created.

She acknowledged the purpose of my stay and asked if she could show me where I needed to start my day with the conference in the morning. She used my name, thanked me and offered assistance should I require it. She did fantastic! Her name was Danielle.”

From this response, I’m not sure my phone call to the supervisor had any effect on the quality of his arrival experience.

The irony here is that hotel companies are always looking for ways to capture “insider” knowledge about guests—their dislikes, preferences, tendencies—and leverage this unique knowledge to pleasantly surprise and delight them throughout their hotel stays.

Seriously, how many phone calls do you think the hotel received last Wednesday that provided the kind of “insider” information about a hotel guest that I shared during my call?

My hunch: One.

Although I could be wrong. Perhaps there were two such calls? Or possibly three? My point is that these types of calls are uncommon. They are exceptions. And exceptions create a unique opportunity to provide exceptional customer service.

Consider the possibilities that were available to this supervisor:

• Pleasantly surprise Christopher with an upgrade to a room on a high floor with an ocean view
• Recognize his Marriott experience at check-in
• Inform a senior manager of his arrival (As large a company as Marriott is, I’ve yet to meet a senior manager with whom I don’t share at least one mutual connection.)
• Deliver a welcome amenity (e.g., crackers, cheese, and/or fruit) to his room accompanied by a hand-signed note

Any of these actions would have achieved the hotel’s objective to delight its guest while providing a memorable arrival experience. And, with the exception of the welcome amenity, there would have been no extra charge to perform these actions. They’re free.

So, if these actions help to achieve the hotel’s customer satisfaction goals and cost little or nothing to provide, why didn’t they occur?

My hunch: Because they’re optional.

And since they’re optional, the supervisor chose not to perform them (and Christopher was denied what could have been a superior arrival experience).

Perhaps she was busy answering phones, checking-in guests, securing valid methods of payment, and issuing room keys. After all, in her defense, these job functions are mandatory.

So that brings us to the conclusion of our story. It’s not a sad story really. I’m sure that Christopher was satisfied with his arrival experience and guest room at the resort. I’m just not convinced that he was in any way delighted by his experience.

And that, Marco Island Florida Resort & Spa, was a missed opportunity to capitalize on some sweet “insider” information.

Earlier this year I stayed in a New York City hotel where I was scheduled to deliver a presentation on customer service.

Shortly before my talk, I met the hotel’s beverage director who asked if I had any feedback for him pertaining to the hotel’s food and beverage outlets.

I shared a couple of pieces of feedback and then added that I was surprised that, with a selection of a dozen different beers on tap in the bar, there was not a pale ale option.

He responded, “Have you tried the Brooklyn Lager?”

I said, “Scott, I’ve tried Brooklyn Lager but I’m interested in an ale, not a lager.”

Unswayed, he said, “I’d stock a pale ale but the kegs are $169 each—which is a lot more than the others.”

“Scott,” I said, “I’ve never once stopped a bartender from pouring a beer in order to confirm the price beforehand. Neither will your customers.”

As our conversation ended, I made my way to the front of the room to deliver my remarks and noticed that he remained in the meeting room to hear my talk.

Later, when I returned to my hotel room following the presentation, I found an amenity from Scott containing a single bottle of ice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The accompanying note included a quote from the presentation: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

That was in February. Just now, out of curiosity, I phoned the hotel bar in New York City to see if a pale ale was now being offered. Sure enough, this spring they added a tap for Captain Lawrence Pale Ale.

According to the bartender I spoke with, “It’s a good seller.”

What sort of response do you get from service providers when you share a preference that’s outside of the norm?

Perhaps you prefer to have your bagel sliced and then cut in half. Maybe you like an ice cube in your black coffee so you can begin to drink it right away.

During check-in, if a hotel guest requests The New York Times be delivered to his room in the morning but the only newspapers offered are the local paper, The Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY, how would most front desk agents respond?

Here are some expected responses:

• We don’t have The New York Times. You’re in Seattle.
• Sorry. We only have the local paper, The Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY.
• We don’t offer The New York Times but I know they carry it at the Starbucks across the street.

Instead, if you know it’s possible to get The New York Times, why not list the papers offered and then say, “Let me see what I can do.” (It’s not like he’s asking for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung—although the very best employees will find that newspaper too.)

When customers don’t have a strong preference, they’re likely to say something like, “Oh, it’s no big deal. I read The New York Times every day. The USA TODAY will be fine.”

If you sense otherwise, then this may be an opportunity to shine.

If you’re working the early shift tomorrow, why not swing by Starbucks on your way to work and then wow the guest by placing the paper outside his room—perhaps with a personalized note.

And if you are not working the early shift, then contract with a manager or another employee who does work the early shift. By doing so, you will make everyone’s job more interesting and wow a guest in the process!

Some employees will say, “If you do it for one guest, now you have to do it for every guest.”

That’s ridiculous. It’s an excuse used by average employees to deliver average customer service. It’s rationale used by those who either don’t want to go out of their way or simply prefer the predictable routine of treating each customer like the last customer—neither of which inspires loyal customers who will brag about you.

Besides, if more guests did begin to request The New York Times, then you should include it as one of the newspapers offered anyway.

Accommodating customer preferences is only as difficult as you make it. The next time you learn of a unique preference from a customer, project to him through your body language and voice tone that you consider his request to be reasonable and that, if there is a practical way to do so, you will make it happen.

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?