Welcome home, indeed.
July 18th, 2008
I was in NYC for business a couple of days earlier this week and had the most amazing experience. After a long day of meetings, travel and flight delays (and almost losing my iphone@!@#*) I arrived at The Greenwich Hotel.
It was about 8:30pm.
Now, normally when I travel to NYC I stay at one of the Starwood hotels. We are preferred members and between us we rack up some extras, like room upgrades. But they were all booked. I was late making hotel plans, so the person booking for me found this place. Looked nice.
Bear with me, because I am about to get carried away with this story. I travel a good bit, but this was without a doubt one of the coolest welcomes I have ever received.
They grabbed my bags out of the cab.
Took my luggage to my room as I checked in.
The very nice guy behind the desk welcomed me by name.
Then he took me to my room. And gracefully showed it off.
The snacks and drinks – free, (well, except alcohol). Seems they (the owners) tried hard to create a hotel that eliminated all their personal pet peeves, like paying nine bucks for a bag of chips.
The Greenwich Hotel is brand new (but has this feeling of a hotel that has been around a very long time). They are obviously quite proud – and rightfully so.
The rooms and bath are huge for NYC. There are amazing meeting spaces and this wonderful outdoor courtyard in the center. I could go on and on. But here is what got to me.
This handwritten note was on the desk in my room.
Wait — it gets better.
Somehow in the course of our conversation Todd told me about the restaurant, “Ago” and I say “Good, I might go have a glass of wine and something to eat.” As I am sitting there trying to decide about that and making a call, they bring me a freaking glass of wine and four of the best pieces of chocolate I have ever eaten. You know, the kind with sea salt sprinkled on top to bring out the flavor. Seriously, it was over the top.
Oh - and on my desk with the first note – there was a letter asking if I could please let them know what they can do better. They only wanted the negatives, so they can be sure to address them right away.
Can they keep it up? I don’t know. But I have to tell you, if they do – they will be booked every night for the rest of eternity. It was really a great reminder that REMARKABLE service is putting yourself in the shoes of your customers, listening hard and paying attention to every little detail. Being in the service business, I LOVE when I get an over the top reminder like this.
Other posts by Robbin.
jeff says:
Wow-that is awesome it gives me tinglys.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:10 amdavid benardo says:
Nice!
July 18th, 2008 at 7:15 amRobbin says:
And, they spelled my name right! Robbin
July 18th, 2008 at 8:07 amTodd says:
That’s amazing. Stories like these really make you take a look at your own brand and evaluate what small, thoughtful touches you can implement to generate blog-worthy, gushing praise.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:07 amBill Gammell says:
So they treated you like a true guest instead of a bed-sheet-messer-upper annoyance? Remarkable!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:16 amSuzanne Obermire says:
Isn’t it awesome when a company gets it right? Sounds like your hotel went WAY beyond normal good service, and now, look–they have a customer for life. Plus, you’ve just provided free advertising for them, all targeted to the perfect business audience. All it took was some chocolate and some wine (winners in my book, too), plus service that all good hotels should really provide (which we all know they don’t).
Lesson learned–go beyond what is expected–the good karma will come back to you.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I felt like I was right there with you–nicely done!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:34 amBIG Kahuna says:
What, no pool boy to your room?
July 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pmFriday Favorites: July 14-18 « The Transfer says:
[...] Welcome home, indeed.- Great anecdote by Robbin Phillips at Brains on Fire about her stay at The Greenwich Hotel. Look at the fourth item on her list of ways she was welcomed: “Then he took me to my room. And gracefully showed it off.” (emphasis added) Big FLSE bonus points for having a pride in his brand that was compelling enough to promote action. No doubt, this is simply a step in the bellman rule-book, it’s a great way to combine a brand pride with “felt” service–probably took less than 5 minutes and cost the company nothing. Makes me wonder what other service providers could do to combine compelling pride in a brand with quick-and-free action. [...]
July 18th, 2008 at 1:20 pmKatie Konrath says:
Wow, a hotel treating guests like they actually are glad to have them there… this story must be fiction!
What are refreshing story, especially when seems that many companies today are more annoyed with the customers for taking up their time than happy they’re spending money.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:43 pmlinks for 2008-07-19 | Daan Jansonius says:
[...] Brains On Fire Blog » Blog Archive » Welcome home, indeed. (tags: wom customerservice) [...]
July 19th, 2008 at 8:34 am