I hope you enjoy Mary’s enthusiasm as she shares her extraordinary guest service experience in this week’s blog. We all encounter service providers and each team member is a terrific brand ambassador…. or not! For those of us who travel a lot, every little consideration can matter. I’d love to hear your great service story. Feel free to share on our blog.
Since moving to Comfort, TX my travels are a bit more complex than when I lived in the DFW area. It’s my habit to travel early in the day and often I spend the night at a nearby San Antonio airport hotel.
I play the game of first dropping my bags at the hotel (that way I don’t have to drag them all over the place). I then drive to the offsite economy parking lot at the airport. Finally, I transfer from economy parking to the airport terminal and then call the hotel shuttle to pick me up. I know it sounds convoluted, but it works better than leaving home at 2:30 a.m. to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight!
During last week’s travel, I had an amazing experience. Shuttle driver extraordinaire, Roger, picked me up. He asked if I had any bags and since I didn’t, I shared the economy parking, airport terminal, hotel shuffle I play to best utilize the shuttle. Roger got all excited and shared with me that he can pick me up directly from the airport economy parking lot (suggestive sale for the future). I was thrilled to get this news!
Now mind you, I have asked this question on many other shuttle rides and have never been given this information. I suspect those other drivers may have considered the extra stop at the economy parking lot to be a hassle.
But not Roger. He couldn’t quit being in service. He took his shuttle availability to the next level when he shared that in addition to making my pick-up more convenient, he could also drop me at any local restaurant within 3 miles or suggested I could even enjoy a meal at the hotel. Roger went on to name several places to eat and made suggestions for his favorites.
This kind of service is so helpful for people who are not from the area. His suggestive selling will land me at his favorite authentic Mexican restaurant next time.
My interaction with Roger was amazing. It was as if he owned the Hilton property he was driving for. He was so proud of all they had to offer to help make my stay the best experience it could be. Guess who’s only staying at the San Antonio Airport Hilton from now on. When you consider all the competition in the world today, doesn’t it make sense to cultivate the Rogers of the world?
Who are your brand ambassadors? Do they act as if they own the place? Do you make your guests feel like nothing is more important than they are right now?
Do you know what’s really cool? I don’t think Roger was trying to be extraordinary. I think he does all the ordinary things a shuttle driver is supposed to do and gives every one of those little things a LOT of EXTRA!
