PERSPECTIVE
The small things :
LESSONS LEARNED FROM FOUR SEASONS ’ DISCREET GUEST SERVICE
Contributed by MICAH SOLOMON , MICAH SOLOMON & ASSOC .
Ever stop to think about the “ click ?” That little sound you take for granted when you absentmindedly close your hotel room door ? Well , it might just hold the key to transforming customer service from good to great and even exceptional . Let me back up . I invariably find in my work as a customer service consultant that the littlest details can tell the most about an organization and can teach other organizations the most as well .
A friend of mine was halfway down the ( very long ) hallway at a Four Seasons hotel when he realized he ’ d forgotten something he would need later in the day . Walking back toward his room , he was surprised to see someone from engineering had the door open and was adjusting it .
Being the curious lad he is , he asked what was going on . The engineer said : “ The housekeeper servicing the room next door noticed that when your door closes , it closes more with an indeterminate gentle closing sound , which is a little bit less definitive than the ’ click ’ we prefer , so she called down to engineering to have us come up and zero in on the closing mechanism .”
This interaction got me thinking about how these seemingly small considerations can have a big impact on guest satisfaction and the overall perception of a brand . This is what I call a customer service system .
A customer service system is any action or set of actions that a business executes consistently over time to emotionally engage the customer and make the experience of doing business with them warmer , faster , easier and / or better .
In the case of Four Seasons , it is a customer service system built through the cross-utilization of discipline and awareness to bring something remarkable to bear upon the mundane .
32 hotelsmag . com October 2023