As part of our ShikshaDaan Yatra, we went to Vizag on May 14th. We had booked ourselves at Hotel Green Park. It’s a beautifully renovated property with loads of parking space. We had booked through Agoda and the reception desk at Hotel Greenpark was pleasant and welcoming, going through the process of allotting us the room efficiently. It was around 4 pm that we reached and the suite was large and spacious. The only thing that was not very interesting was it had only one bathroom. We had booked a suite only because Amma was also with us and we wanted to have two bathrooms so that all of us could get ready quickly. Anyway, since the service, food and the overall suite size was really nice, we didn’t complain.
The next day, Krishnan and I left for our meeting by 9.30 and came back around 1.00 pm. Amma had a splitting headache because there was some building repair work being done on the floor above us and there was constant noise due to the motor and the walls being broken. Amma had called the reception and asked about the noise and was told that the work had to continue so they could at best get our room shifted. I couldn’t bear the noise and we asked to see the alternate suite that they were offering. It was on the 5th floor, the same sized suite, but with two bathrooms and a much better design (the previous suite had just one charging point !!!). We immediately agreed to shift and spent the next 15 mins re-packing stuff to move. We had a meeting at 3.30 and had to eat lunch too. So the shifting was an added strain, but the alternative was worse, so we really had no choice.
Now – here’s how forethought on the part of the hotel would have helped. They knew that there was some building repair work happening on the 3rd floor, right above our room. All they had to tell us when we checked-in the previous evening was that an alternative suite was being offered because of this repair work and we could see both the places and decide if we are ok with the change. It would have been an outstanding customer experience and at no extra cost. Mind you, all the folks in this hotel are extremely courteous and ready to serve the customers, but this was a huge opportunity lost!!.
It would have appeared as though they went the extra mile if only they had offered us the change of room on day one…. A little forethought is all that it required. Think about the situations at work where a little forethought can delight your customers – I can think of many… Having the entire team present to greet a new employee joining the team on their first day at work, giving an advance to an employee who is dealing with some personal emergency without their asking for it, a well planned farewell, finding out dietary preferences of your official guests and ordering appropriate food, being punctual … requires a lot of forethought with traffic conditions being the way they are, and so on. Think of your health in the long term… a little forethought will get you to exercise and eat right today so you can remain healthy for all your life.
In every instance a little bit of forethought goes a long way in delighting your customer and many times in delighting yourself too.