Good Intentions, Bad Experience

2/1/10

Stayed at a hotel recently? Each time I have I’ve noticed that the staff seem to be extra attentive, and my assumption is that it’s related to today’s extremely competitive market. Unfortunately, the extra attention has not always had the desired result.

Case in point: as I returned to my hotel room a few weeks ago, I noticed the message light blinking. I hit the button labeled ‘messages’, which connected me directly to housekeeping! After hanging up, calling the front desk, finding out how to retrieve messages, I was able to finally dial in to get the message. And guess what? The message was a long-winded voice mail from the hotel manager, asking for feedback on what could be done to make my stay more enjoyable! My response was to hang up in disgust, feeling that I’d just wasted 5 minutes.

There’s a simple lesson in this story. Clearly, the hotel manager had not tested the message and its impact, before launching calls to who knows how many guests. Testing would have quickly identified the problem with the programming of the phone and the message button. From my own perspective, I can also assume that testing would have shown that the message, while well-intended, was not a top priority for guests, and in fact, would have been much more effective, if it was short and to the point. Getting the basics right from the guest’s perspective needs to be top priority. Once that is in place, then look for additional efforts that can delight the guest. Oh, and don’t forget to test!

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