A few days ago I wrote about an unpleasant experience I had at a hotel. One small annoyance, and they lost my business permanently.
When those small things are done right. Or better yet, done exceptionally well, they are the catalyst of business success. They become pleasant surprises.
I took a recent trip to Rochester, New York to speak to a group of entrepreneurs. The night before my speaking gig, I stayed at the Strathallan. A hotel name I had heard of before, and one that I will remember for a long time.
Warm Cookies
I arrived after a draining, raining five hour drive. I slumbered into the lobby around 9pm and the friendly greeter checked me into my room quickly. As he handed me my room key, he also handed me a warm, jumbo chocolate chip cookie. Wow!
Unloading Luggage
I skipped the valet and parked my own car. Partly because I am cheap (frugal). And partly because I am cheap (frugal) even when I am exhausted. When I parked my car, the valet ran over to unload my luggage. Wow! Wow!
Smart Shower Design
I decided to take a warm shower before I called it a night. I readied myself to turn the shower handle and jump out of the way of the cold initial splash. But I didn’t have to. The handle was located at the shower entrance (not under the shower head where it is most convenient for plumbing but not for the customer). I turned on the shower without getting wet. Without having to dodge water. Wow! Wow! Wow!
I am now a customer for life with Strathallan and it’s DoubleTree chain.
Pleasant surprises. They matter. The customer notices. The customer doesn’t forget the small things.
As long as you keep delivering pleasant surprises, and avoid small annoyances you will customers for life. And a few of them will even blog about it.
It’s those small things that make a world of difference. Many business owners don’t get this and end up losing customers like you. On the other hand those who do think about them and act accordingly can succeed in getting customers for life.
The best way to get and keep customers is by positively surprising them with these small gestures.
Yes. Exactly. Exx–act-ly!
Would you consider this UPOD? Under promise over deliver?
To some degree yes. The industry (not this hotel) has set an expectation, and this hotel just beats it. So it is a UPOD in the sense that the industry has set the promise. A traditional UPOD, in my opinion, is where the vendor sets a promise (you will have it within 5 days, for example) and then over delivers (it is sent overnight).
Got it! Thanks for the clarification. This is a hotel going above and beyond expectations, UPOD would be if they said your room will be ready by 4pm and it was ready by 2pm and you could check in early.
By the way last week after reading this post and your post about “vibram shoes” I applied this concept to my business. I am in education, so when we get a new client, we give them a thank you card and a “gift certificate” to a local book store when they sign up for our service. The local bookstore did not have gift certificates when we approached them, so we use our business card with a special stamp. Everyone involved loves it! We love it because our passion is to get kids reading and communicating in English, the bookstore loves it because obviously they get more business and a new potentially loyal customer, and the clients love getting a free book for their kid!
We threw in a few other “chocolate cookies” as well, and the best part is the others did not cost us a dime, just a little extra service here and there that other alternatives to us don’t do.