“Good afternoon m’am? what can I get for you today?”
“Afternoon to you. May I please have a Caesar salad wrap.”
“Sure. Of course. Would you like any toppings with your wrap”
“Uuummmm…. I will have it with the grilled chicken breast.”
“Sorry m’am. Chicken is out of stock today. Would you like to add some mushroom. Or bacon?”
“UUmm… no thank you. I’ll just have the wrap. It’s alright.”
But it wasn’t all right.
The day before, for breakfast I had ordered a Spanish omelette with lots of pepper.
“Sorry m’am. We’re out of eggs today.”
And the day before this, my travel companion wanted some bacon, but this 4-star hotel had run out of them.
What surprised me though, is that every time I walked into the hotel from my day’s errands and went through the hotel’s standard security search, the guard would ask how my stay at the hotel was, and if I was having a good time.
The story was the same whenever I met the housekeepers on the corridors. They always posed for a moment to ask how my day was and if I had heard a great night.
Whenever I called by the reception, before I said a word, the receptionist would want to find out how my stay was.
And before the servers poured my drink, they’d ask how I was fairing on.
Clearly, every single one of the staff at this 4-star hotel understood what the hotel’s mission was. And it wasn’t security. Neither was it doing the beds, picking the calls, nor serving ice-cold mojitos. It was all about delighting the customer and ensuring that they had a memorable experience.
Thus, how this hotel would excel in everything else and fail at what mattered most – to focus on products, services, and systems that enhance the guest experience (logistics)—is still beyond me.
That they ran out of egg, and bacon, and chicken respectively of three consecutive days in my opinion infers that these are some of their guests’ most popular meals.
But things are not always as they seem. The maxim holds true for almost any hotel, and any other business for that matter.
There’s always a lot more going on behind the scenes than we might comprehend.
By virtue of being a four-star hotel, this hotel gave off the idea that they have everything seamlessly under control.
Isn’t this infinitely true in all other facets of our lives though?
Not delivering on a promise. Or an expectation. One of the most common frustrations we experience in every day life.
In today’s frantic pace of life, it is pardonable when occasionally, stuff slips through the cracks.
But when we keep doing the something repeatedly, even though it’s not meeting the intended purpose, now that’s a problem.
And it needs a solution.
Our reputation and integrity hinge on us delivering on our promise.
And while we may not have the entire picture hence all the information we need to make choices and decisions, we can still give it a go and if we fail, take an inventory of our failures, then break down the next steps into 1)what i need to continue doing, 2)what i need to stop doing, and 3)what I need to start doing.
Feature Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash
Top Photo by Fraser Cottrell on Unsplash
