Service That Creates Loyalty

My flight to Frankfurt last week was cancelled at the very last minute. I noticed how the staff handled it, coolly and efficiently. I was impressed with their level of sensitivity to the inconvenienced travelers. I was stressed as I had an onward connecting flight I was going to miss, more hassles with new flights and, not the least, what would happen to checked baggage. In Frankfurt the Lufthansa agent managed my new flight arrangements, checked on my checked bag with a smile and directed me to the lounge. My travel agent contacted me first by email, then a call when I arrived in Frankfurt to let me know he had alerted my hotel in Cairo to my late arrival and someone would be at the airport to pick me up at 2:40 a.m. when I finally arrived.  Wow, how great it is when the system works?

In the world we live in today, I think the most important task is caring enough to make sure that people are taken care of. I strongly believe that we all live in a fairly stressful world; I think most of that stress is because we live in an ever faster and more complicated world where we have little or no control. 

Many times the most reliable element in travel is the brands we align ourselves with, and that with great hope and confidence based on our experience with them will be there when we need them and perform to their promise.

From my standpoint my loyalty to any provider is not just based on the last experience but based on the high point and the low points. My partner in a restaurant in San Francisco refers to these as moments of truth. He is right. When the time comes when you really need support, a smile, or maybe a bending of the rules those are the moments when loyalty is born.

In restaurants this moment of truth happens with every cup of coffee and course in a meal. A server or manager who keeps an eye not only on the flow of business but on the body language of the clientele will end up with a far more loyal following. After 40 years of working in the restaurant business I am convinced that food and beverage itself is only a part of the equation for a successful restaurant—in or out of a hotel.  

I was recently in an international upscale brand hotel having lunch. I ordered from what looked like a dinner menu, but it was lunchtime. After ordering I noticed that the table next to me had a different menu as they had salads and a much desired hamburger, which my menu did not have. I asked the server if that menu was available and he said, yes, it was the bar menu. But in a small dining room why not just have one menu with casual to upscale meals available? Why the guessing game? The world is already complicated enough. People want to let go and relax in a restaurant environment—keep it simple and bend the rules when you can—why not! In restaurants rules are made to be broken. 

This dining room, referenced above, is going to be remodeled, and part of the reason for the remodel is that its dining room sales are lower than its bar sales. I wonder if a good part of the problem is that by not noticing what their customers really want in the dining room they have actually developed their bar business rather than serving the needs of their larger clientele and serving a menu that was accessible to both. The goal of the design should be to come up with a look and feel and a suggested menu that will, in fact, still create a 4-star ambience. It should enhance the hotel guest experience while serving a menu that will fill the entire room daily.

I frequently think hoteliers believe that an upscale restaurant means creating a menu and ambience that is dedicated to some mythical clientele instead of serving the community and market that their restaurant is really in.

Brands earn loyalty by consistently meeting or exceeding your expectations.  Restaurants, unlike rooms, vary widely from place to place, based many times on the whim of local hotel management. Understanding how a good meal, friendly service and décor that enlivens an experience, while reflecting the highest values and needs of the market, is the kind of service that creates great loyalty.