Earlier this year a few of our sales people sold me on changing my hotel loyalty from the Hilton brand to Marriott brand. It was sort of like “the decision” with Lebron James taking his talents to South Beach. Well hardly, but hotel loyalty is still a big deal when you spend 30 plus nights on the road each year.
This change has made me more aware of the subtle differences between the two brands. In my opinion, one is more generous with water bottles at check-in (Hilton), one has better Wi-Fi and a better rewards program (Marriott), just to name a few. More important to me than amenities, however, is how each handles billing issues.
While my experience at Marriott is too short to accurately judge, one of the reasons I am at Marriott is because of a discrepancy that occurred with a trip last year to a Hilton hotel in Barcelona where I accidently booked one too many nights on a trip. I was “Diamond” status at the time, which is the highest level at Hilton. This means that I had stayed there 30 different time throughout the prior year. Lucky me. Thus, I anticipated the issue to resolve quickly and be fully refunded given my status. I was soon to be disappointed. The international policy stated that I would have to pay for the rooms because I had failed to notify Hilton more than 24 hours in advance of my stay. I decided to call Hilton with the hopes of making some kind of a deal. I was quickly forwarded on to a customer service agent who suggested that I fill out a form to dispute the charge and ask for a refund. This gave me some hope.
Filling out the form was cumbersome but I persisted nonetheless. When done, I settled in for the 3-4 week wait to learn the judgment. This ended up taking 6-7 weeks in reality. You can suspect where this is going by now. My appeal was refused. I had to pay for the two rooms. I called one last time and was informed “we just can’t do that for you, regardless of your status.”
Fast forward.
Last week I traveled with a co-worker over to London for a meeting with a current customer. We decided to stay at a Marriott that was conveniently located across the Thames from Big Ben. As I mentioned last week, the views were spectacular! On top of the views, we had a good experience eating breakfast at the hotel, so after a long day of meetings we made the decision to eat dinner there as well. This actually goes against my “travel rules” as exploring the local dining scene–assuming there is one–is a fun aspect of business travel. Nevertheless, eating at the hotel was the convenient option in this case. I was soon very glad we opted for convenience.
The menu was sort of limited, so we asked our server whether there was the option to add a side salad to our dinner entree. Our server’s response was servant-leadership gold: “We can make that for you. What do you want on it?”
We did not even know how to respond because the common response in America is that if it is not on the menu, you can’t order it! So out of complete shock, we just asked him to make us whatever the kitchen could spare. This was not good enough for our server, however. He insisted that we asked for what we wanted. So we finally gave in and began listing some vegetables. “How about some avocado?” he asked. Of course! Heck yeah! (Can you tell I get fired up over good salads?) We were having fun.
You might be wondering, “sure, but what did it cost?” So before you ask, I will give you the answer: 7 pounds. This equates to approximately $9.24. I would have paid $25. The salad was that good.
I am not trying to equate the two scenarios above as ordering a salad and resolving a bill is not exactly on the same playing field. I also have a lot of positives to say about the Hilton brand of hotels, so this is not a knock on the brand. It is rather an example of how the smallest gesture of service can make all the difference. Had the customer service representative at Hilton been empowered to “forgive” my mistake, I would never have listened to our sales people when they tried to draw me over to Marriott because the experience of forgiveness would have been front-of-mind. In reality, however, I was open because I had had a negative experience.
Again, it is not that Hilton did anything wrong. I was in the wrong. But they did miss an opportunity to give a loyal customer a "wow" moment.
And that is the point.
The question you and I need to consider is this:
Are you going to be a “we can make that for you” individual?
Or
Are you going to be a “we just can’t make that for you” individual?
The implications are huge for our businesses, families, and personal lives. The temptation is to follow procedure, which in reality is following status quo.
Status quo is enforcing the letter of the law and refusing forgiveness for the loyal customer’s mistake.
Status quo is cooking only what is on the menu.
Making someone’s day is not following status quo and it often requires disregarding the procedure.
Put this way, the choice is rather obvious isn’t it?
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