Smile When You Say That!

Last Friday my husband and I went on a short vacation. We drove to Branson, Missouri, and stayed in a condo on Table Rock Lake. All in all the trip was fine. We wanted to get away from work for a few days and relax. We were completely able to do that. This was our first time to stay in the area, and my parents drove the 75 miles from their house to join us one day.

I won’t bore you with the details, but my hubby and I were totally taken aback at the lack of customer service we encountered at this “resort.” It was surprising enough during check-in that we were almost afraid to call and tell them that our oven wasn’t working. (The breaker was tripped.) Besides being unfriendly, they didn’t know the answers to the most basic questions we asked about the area. The next morning I went to the Guest Services desk to get some ideas and was met with the most flippant person I have ever met. It made me laugh it was so bad.

This was compounded by the resort having no place to sit and enjoy the spectacular scenery from their property. We were on a hill above the lake, an island directly in front of the property, and lots of other hills like ours surrounding us. Totally beautiful. Some of the rooms had a lake view, but we were not granted one of those. So we would march out of our room, walk 100 yards down the parking lot, and go to the only grassy area there was (which was by two gigantic dumpsters) and stand in the 15 foot wide strip of weeds and admire the view. There was no landscaping, no food, no activities, and no internet. But we took the lemons and made lemonaid.

I guess the moral of the story is that there really must be a problem getting good help these days! I’m sure that management could do a much better job in training employees to smile and say “Welcome.” They could make sure employees knew that they really did have newspapers delivered to the property. (funny story) They could show them around the resort property, and the popular resort town and make them familiar with the kind of things guests would want to know. just saying.

How does all of this relate to YOUR business? Be helpful and give the best customer support you possibly can. Smile when you greet clients and tell them thank you. Smile even if you are on the phone. It makes a difference in the sound of your voice. If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell them you will find out and follow up with them. Treat others better than they expect to be treated. Be nice and apologize if they had to wait or if something wasn’t right. It’s just the simple “under promise and over deliver” policy.

Wishing you fabulous vacations…