Customer delight goes way beyond regular SOPs.
Breakfast at a luxury resort… somewhere in India
“Can I have a waffle please?” asks a young, sarong-wrapped guest gaily, looking excited to be in this environment on her family holiday.
“Yes Madam.” says the young chef at the waffles and pancake counter. There were a host of toppings on offer, though not of the frozen variety.
“Can you put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it?” asks Ms. Sarong, demurely.
“No Madam, we do offer ice creams at lunch and dinner buffets, but not at breakfast,” answers the budding chef.
Ms. Sarong persists, “But can you not serve my waffle with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?”
The young waffle & pancake chef chimes a collective ‘nix,’ ‘nada,’ and ‘nyet,’ by uttering “Sorry Madame.”
A last-ditch effort by the petite sarong-wrapped damsel floored me (I happened to be waiting to order my waffle, and hence had a birds-eye view)… she told the ‘The Rock of Gibraltar’ chef coyly, “It is my birthday today.”
The Rock wavered for a moment, batted his eyelid, and then continued to stick his feet in, refusing to budge from his Saran-wrapped position. “Sorry madam, I cannot serve you ice cream at breakfast,” he averred.
T’was a wretched sight to see the guest agreeing to the ‘Waffle a la mode du Chef Rock of Gibraltar,’ as she traversed dejectedly back to her table, to anticipate an average breakfast on the beginning of what was supposed to be a celebratory day for her!
There is a chance that this guest may go elsewhere the next time.
Moral: Guests may forget what the hotel associate says, but they will never forget how the hotel made them feel.
Check-in at an airport counter… also, somewhere in India
“Even the elephant carries but a small trunk on his journeys. The perfection of travelling is to travel without baggage” … Henry David Thoreau.
Alas, Henry never married, and hence probably did not fathom the lady traveller!
On a busy pre-Dassehra weekend, I had a first-hand experience of revenge travel mayhem at an airport. I was standing in an abominably long line, awaiting my turn at the check-in counter.
I finally pushed ahead to the counter, and asked the gaunt, harassed check-in counter assistant about my flight. He claimed he had already called out for passengers for my destination, and now the counter had closed for my flight. Reminding him that we were still 50 mins from the flight, I asked how he could dare close the counter before time. I put my luggage on the belt and insisted he check us in.
Looking for an excuse to stall us, he told me our single suitcase weighed 30 kg. I told him it was so, as we were two passengers. He objected, splitting hairs on the fact that we had two separate PNRs, which permitted us to have one bag each of 15 kgs. As my wife and I were the travellers, I asked him what the problem was, so long as we had 30 kgs between the two of us. He continued reading me the rule book. Amidst this arguing, he nevertheless printed the baggage tag and initiated the process of handing over the stub.
My wife, standing afar thus far, and understandably cheesed at this Balaam’s ass’ stuck-up behaviour, vented her exasperation on his comportment. This annoyed our Paper-Tarzan at the counter, and he audaciously tore the just-printed luggage stub, telling me that now he was not checking our luggage in. I had to bite in my angst and apologise to PT, who was probably weighed down by his own emotional baggage, and request him to re-issue the luggage stub. PT did so, grumbling away, and then nearly threw his back out while trying to straighten the bag on the belt whilst attaching the stub… retribution from the skies I guess!
Moral: Keep your ego aside while dealing with a customer. Standard Operating Procedures must delight and not red-tape the customer.
Standard Operating Procedures, aka SOPs, define a path, a process for associates to walk on. However, the service industry must realize that SOPs have the ability to frustrate the customer, aka guest; and must be flexible to the guest and situation, keeping within acceptable parameters.
The service industry promises features, advantages, and benefits. Somewhere it has lost out on delighting the customer! Customer delight may vary from person to person. At an airline check-in counter, customer-orientated processes along with conviviality are sufficient at most times. Yet, how often do we ask for seats of our choice and are told by the airline associate that the flight is sold out; then board the aircraft, only to discover empty seats galore?
Customer delight goes way beyond regular SOPs. Decades ago, it was sufficient to be proficient with SOPs in order to delight a customer. Not anymore. The traveller today expects to be delighted impromptu. No longer does the customary complimentary cake delight the guest on their special occasion… they want an in-the-moment delightful experience.
They need ice cream on their waffle!
Why the kerfuffle Over a waffle Or, the commotion Over a check-in Put the guest ahead Don’t be pig headed Follow SOPs Yet, delight to please
This article has appeared in ET HOSPITALITY WORLD.COM October 2021