Customer Relationships Matter!

In August, I had the wonderful opportunity to take a week’s   holiday on the back of our Honda Goldwing Motorcycle. I love this experience because I am free to   enjoy the fresh air and be closer to the natural scents both good and bad in the air.... On our first day of riding, we had taken the coastal route 1 through Maine from Moncton, New Brunswick . We spent our first night in Camden, Maine, a little seaside town. We had not made any reservations and decided we would take what we get. We ended by taking a room at Camden Inn Suites.  It was a beautiful experience. It was a little pricier than we would normally pay but the ambiance was amazing. We were invited by a very friendly staff, to enjoy a suite that had coffee, tea, etc at our finger tips. To my amazement, we were also invited to enjoy a glass of wine at our leisure. 

As we entered the Inn, we realized that it had been built over an old lumber mill and the water wheel had water spilling gently over it, creating a very relaxing sound.  Once entering our room, we had two big windows facing the running water as it emptied into the seas close by. Across that water was a little boardwalk covered in beautiful flowering hanging baskets. Once again, we were experiencing a delightful  ambiance. As I gazed out the window, a thought struck me.....” Now this is Quality”!

We had a wonderful afternoon and evening just walking about and looking at the ships in the water and had a lovely meal at a local restaurant, returning to our little haven and having a wonderful restful sleep. In the morning we were back on our bike. As we rode, the coach in me began to focus on quality and what is quality anyway? As far as I was concerned, I had just experienced quality!

We continued on our journey and visited with my son and wife and grandson, again a quality experience...having a grandchild is just the best! After a couple of days we continued on our journey. We went on to another little community in the mountains of New Hampshire. Once again, we pulled into what we perceived to be a very nice hotel, not the quality of the one we stayed in the first night but it seemed fine. We had a room that we could drive our motorcycle up to the door...this is one of the qualities we look for when we are riding motorcycle.  We unpacked the bike and settled in. We went for a walk around the grounds and came back for a little rest. All of a sudden three very drunk people came screaming and swearing to the room right next to us. Our perception of having a restful night went out the window. We discussed it and decided to see if we could get a different room, because it is important that we be rested when riding.  My husband went to the office and explained the situation to the person working on the desk. This person immediately picked up the phone and phoned that room to check to see if what my husband was saying was true! My heart sank...is this quality? Without thinking, this person had potentially put my husband at risk of a confrontation when returning to our room...However, after some discussion, arrangements were made and we moved our room to a second level room in another area of the hotel. My husband waited for these people to leave the premises before returning to the room to repack and move our gear. We then, were dragging our cases, etc up a flight of stairs and into a very tiny room. That night I banged my toe pretty badly, hitting it against the bathroom door....Was this experience quality? Not in my books...but what was is quality? The person at the desk chose a behaviour that was not the best, but at the same time worked to be need satisfying in finding us a different room. This night we did have access to  a swimming pool and hot tub, which we took advantage of....We had a delightful breakfast on site the next morning so it was OK....Would I return to this establishment? I thought, probably not.

The next day, we did not ride as long and about three in the afternoon we pulled into a new motel, just before the skies opened up to rain. It looked very nice and had a pool outside. We entered the office and it looked clean and neat and every room was a drive up room...again something we look for...The person at the counter, however, made very little effort to interact with us...He gave us a paper and said, “here, sign this!” in a  gruff manner. He made very little effort to talk with us about the premises and the local attractions. We felt like we were in his way....However, the rooms were clean, great beds, roomy and within walking distance of anyplace we would want to go.  Was this quality?

As I think about these experiences, the first hotel we stayed at was very high quality, friendly, helpful staff, great ambiance, big rooms, great beds and little extra services. This was a quality experience for me and I would pay extra for that.

The second place had what we wanted, but some of the people staying there had   behaviours we did not appreciate...this was out of the control of the establishment. However, the behaviour of the staff person in dealing with the issue left a little to be desired....on the other hand, we did get the service and our room changed and price reduced..but ended up with a smaller room and a bruised toe!

The third place was great, it could have been quality in my mind if the person on the desk had been better natured. So, what is quality? It is our perception of what we want for ourselves. Sometimes we settle for good enough. What is quality in business?  Which experience would you prefer?  As I reflect, everyone one of these experiences could have matched my picture of quality if the people involved had the necessary people skills for dealing with people. So much of what we depend on in business is directly related to the relationship we have to the customer. It was obvious in the first experience, not only did they have a great location and beautiful surroundings but the staff and the people were treated in a respectful, friendly manner... Would you pay extra for that?  Quality Relationships are the key to success!