We arrived at the new Springhill
Suites in Athens, GA
on the way to see our daughter play soccer for the University of Georgia. We were on our way to our traditional pregame tailgate event so in addition to
my fatherly pregame jitters I was in a hurry to check in and get to the soccer
stadium. Rick, the front desk clerk offered a warm hello and asked if I was
checking in. I replied yes and provided my name. Rick seemed perplexed and I
began to develop a severe case of service anxiety! “I don’t have a reservation
for you” he replied with courtesy and grace.
My wife brought me the printed
confirmation which Rick studied carefully. “This is for last weekend Mr.
Patterson.” Now in addition to my increasing service anxiety, I felt like an
idiot! Rick said he wood get Jan to see what could be done. Jan appeared
instantaneously, offered a warm greeting and said she would look into it but
not to worry they had plenty of rooms. She quickly found my old reservation and
changed everything to the correct date. With her best hospitality spirit she
told me they had one more room on the first floor. When I replied we preferred
higher floor rooms away from the elevator Jan responded immediately by showing
me a diagram of the top floor and asking if room 524 would be ok. I responded
with an enthusiastic perfect! Jan completed our check in with supersonic speed
noting we were in a hurry which was easy to see since we were in our “team
gear”.
We went up to our wonderful room
dropped our bags and quickly headed out. On the way out Jan asked if our room
was ok and we replied; “it is fabulous!” After the game we returned to the
hotel. Rick was still there and inquired as to how our evening went. We
responded; “great a 3-0 victory!”
Jan and Rick displayed a high
level of service hospitality; they made us feel welcome and cared for. They
also took an interest in our reason for the visit. And best of all they turned
my mistake into a wonderful and warm service experience! How much hospitality
are you displaying in your customer’s experience? What can you do to warm up
their service experience?
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