Entrepreneurial Leadership

It only takes a little extra effort to stand out from average

Picture a busy Memorial Day weekend at Canalside Buffalo, lots of kiddie rides, two children under 2-1/2, four hungry adults and a torrential downpour all colliding at the same moment just as the clock strikes 12:30p.m.  An interesting vision in itself, but now add the desire to take a quick break hoping for a nice lunch at the only sit down restaurant in close range.  Enter lunch at the Liberty Hound. 

I know you are picturing a disaster waiting to happen, but quite the contrary.  The Liberty Hound impressed!  It took a friendly front desk staff that was unshakeable despite the busy lunch time rush (made even busier by an unexpected rain storm).  Friendly smiles, a clear expectation of wait time and a sincere interest in finding just the right spot for two hungry kids, one still wanting to be on the rides right outside the door.  They had us at hello.

Our short wait was followed by a great table tucked in the corner out of traffic with a window seat for the little one that overlooked the canal and the waiting rides.  A welcome smile from an attentive waitress followed by some creative menu making for the kids ("no we don't have any fruit, but I'm sure I can make something up for them"...and she did!) was the midpoint of a great customer experience. Great food followed, by continued attentive service and regular checking in from the wait staff.  Finish the experience with the front end manager checking in to see if we liked the "special" table he found just for us.

In short, we had an excellent customer experience when it could have easily been average or worse.  Quite frankly, given the conditions of the day, I would have been quite pleased with average.  All it took was a little extra attention, clear communication and some friendly smiles to turn average into outstanding.  The Liberty Hound left me a fan and loyal customer.  We'll be back!

The moral of the story is that it didn't take much to make a huge difference.  That is a sad reflection of what we've come to expect from our endless average or less than average customer experiences.  Bump it up just a notch or two and your business can quickly become a customer loyalty machine.  It doesn't take much!

Garbage In, Garbage Out - The Secret to an Exceptional Customer Experience

We live in a world of too busy.  Too busy to listen carefully, too busy to focus on things that are important and wayyyyyy too busy to pay attention to details.  Sound familiar?  It's a reality of our fast paced world.  Sadly, our fascination with being busy has crept into many of our businesses too.  We often focus on the big picture, forgetting about the details of the customer experience.  

Let me give you a quick example.  Recently I was in Denver, CO at a beautiful hotel.  Great room, decent front desk service and a friendly staff.  Unfortunately, one small detail left a bad impression that I can't get out of my head.  It wasn't a big deal...actually, it was a pretty minor detail, but it was big enough to make me think twice about the establishments attention to detail. 

It was a public restroom on the first floor of the hotel with a washroom attendant just leaving, having wiped down the counter and mirrors.  All sounds like great attention to detail until this... 

Attention to Detail?

Yes, I actually took a picture of a garbage can in a restroom.  Really you say?  Forgive me, but it made an impression.  I watched the washroom attendant put all of his attention into the little details like wiping down the sinks and washing the mirrors, yet in his business and rush to move onto the next chore of the day, he forgot to pay attention to this little detail.  A little detail that wasn't so little.  Why didn't he empty the garbage or at least compress it?  He was too busy being busy.

So what's the point you ask? The point is that attention to detail matters!  Your ability to focus on detail can set your company apart, because your competition probably isn't taking the time to do that.

 Let me contrast this example with a recent experience that we had at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara.  Just two weeks ago we had an open house breakfast event for our CEL Core class. 

They paid attention to every detail.  Let me walk you through our few hours on site.  I personally arrived about an hour early.  The room was set from the night before and everything looked great.  I sat at a rear table to review some presentation materials.  Not one minute later, someone was offering a cheerful good morning greeting and offering a cup of coffee.  Did I need anything?  Did I want anything?  I can go on an on about this particular venue and the event, but let me sum it up this way.  ABOVE and BEYOND!  Above and beyond in every interaction from maintenance worker to server to banquet manager to hotel manager.  Every single person was focused on us, the customer and our clients.  I can't explain how they did it, but it is obviously part of their culture.  The attention was in the details and the positive attitude that every team member exuded.  It was obvious to us that the entire team was focused in serving the customer with a genuine sincerity that flowed seamlessly through their team. 

Why should you care?  Because this type of over the top customer service is so rare that if your organization has it, you have an incredible competitive experience in the marketplace and you can likely charge a premium for it.  Is the Buffalo Marriott Niagara the cheapest place to hold our events?  Absolutely not, they are on the higher end of the choices available to us.  That being said, we will gladly pay a premium for our team and our clients to experience that magic that happens when customer service is the focus and not an afterthought.