How to delight customers - two great stories

I recently heard two charming hotel stories that demonstrate how easy it is to make a small gesture that can make a huge difference to the guests brand experience.

Story one

David Benson (a mate at work) occasionally stays at the Charlotte Street Hotel. The last time he stayed he found a card on his pillow welcoming him back.

Story two

John Abraham (he told this story during a recent Satmetrix webinar) took his wife and kids to a hotel that he was staying at/using for a conference. On arrival he found the names of his 2 kids spelt out in small sponges in the bathroom.

I love these stories is because they demonstrate that with a little bit of thought and no extra cost it can be easy to deliver WOW brand experiences.

Why is it that hotels so rarely get it right?

I stay in some pretty swanky hotels while travelling on business. They are generally quite pleasant... sometimes they disappoint... occasionally I hate them so much I write about it. Rarely (never?) do they delight me.

What a missed opportunity.

As I say all the time, if you can WOW consumers they will be much more likely to buy/visit again and maybe even talk about you.

If you are working in a hotel - or any brand organisation for that matter - why not spent some time talking to others in the operation considering what you can do to enhance the brand experience that will build greater consumer loyalty and advocacy.

If you get it right it is worth it.

To quote Jeff Jarvis [see previous post]: “Your customers are you’re ad agency.”

Concorde La Fayette don’t seem to get the importance of a great brand experience

I spend quite a lot of time in hotels. Last week I had the misfortune of staying in Concorde La Fayette in Paris. They seemed to be more interested in short term revenues than delivering brand experiences that could help sustain business growth.

After checking-in (on a corporate deal) everything they did focused solely on trying to extract more money from me:

- Internet connection = €15 for 24 hours (most hotels offer this for free)
- Film package = €30 (usually c. €10)
- Fitness centre = €25 (separate building)
- Breakfast = €28 (poor food and environment)

It reminds me of the Ryanair model (they charge for all extra and are even planning to charge flyers for using the toilets!).

I do not think this is not how a hotel should operate.

The best hotels focus on delivering great brand experiences designed to drive repeat business and advocacy.

The worst, like this one, fail to understand the importance of delighting consumers. Not only that, they probably don’t know that due to the internet they run the risk of wide spread negative word-of-mouth.

I have posted my negative comments on TripAdvisor (mine are not the only negative comments). I do not expect to generate the kind of consumer backlash created by Jeff Jarvis with Dell but this posting is my way of letting off some steam.

Needless to say I will not be staying there again.