Small business owners: Do you personally greet and communicate face to face with your customer, everyday? Some do, and some even do more than just that.
Have you taken the extra miles to retain your customer while attracting new ones along the way?
I just read my favourite feature in a local newspaper written by my favourite writer – it’s blog-like column that is pretty much inspiring. This Sunday, he wrote about a 5-star resort hotel’s policy he has recently stayed in – a great case study of a business that take customer care seriously in an inspiring way.
A case study
A 5-star resort hotel in Surabaya, Indonesia takes customer care to a whole new level. While what they are doing has probably been done in many parts of the world, what they do is still very much jaw-dropping.
What do they do, exactly?
Every single morning, Top Executives of the resort hotel are standing by in the lobby. What they are doing is this: The resort hotel’s bosses meet and greet the guests.
They are taking opinions, feedback, praises, complaints and even a simple chit-chat with the guests. They are cutting line of command and bureaucracy in such a way that guests can say whatever they want directly to the decision makers. Moreover, changes can be done more quickly as the bosses are getting direct feedback from the guests.
Here’s more: They even have a small wallet in their pocket containing a piece of cloth – it serves one purpose only: to clean.
Whenever the Top Executives see something need some cleaning, such as fingerprints on doors and lifts, they wipe them clean. The article writer knew this fact because he saw with his own eyes one of the Top Exec is cleaning the lift’s handle.
The moral of the case study
These days, winning guests are done with outstanding customer care. Procrastination is no longer something that even the Bosses can’t allow.
The hotel resort’s policy brings many benefits:
- Staffs can’t procrastinate as they see their bosses are doing the upkeep routines – The Top Execs are, indeed, ‘real-life’ role models.
- Guests’ stay will be very much enjoyable, and they could very well return to the resort hotel in their next visit.
- The buzz – Doing common things by differently will always create buzz (that’s what I exactly do with this article) – Buzz means business. Period.
A business with strong company policy, in this case, a great business culture that promotes leadership by example, will thrive well.
How far can your customer care go?
Ivan Widjaya
Top-notch customer care
Image by A tea but no e.