I love hotels. When you visit a hotel you can tell so much about the way it is run, what is important to them and whether you will be looked after almost as soon as you walk through the front door. Recently we went to Paris and stayed in a small hotel called Jays on the Rue Copernic not far from the Trocadero. When we arrived they knew who we were “ah hello Mr and Mrs Ames did you have a good journey?” and the first thing they did was sit us down and offer us a drink. Check in was not at a desk but a coffee table by the sofa in a comfortable sitting room.
Each of the Maitre D’s knew us by name, took an interest in our itinerary and offered enormous amounts of local knowledge as well as tickets to various attractions so we didn’t have to queue. Also any piece of paper they gave us had our names on whether it was the weather report for the day or a Google map giving us directions to the restaurant they had booked for us.
Now why is this important and why am I bothering to tell you about it. Here’s why. They made us feel special, important even as though we really did matter to them and that they were genuinely interested in helping us to squeeze every last ounce of pleasure from our trip. This feeling made us feel connected to them – win:win situation then. Fair enough but with only five bedrooms and a sizeable tariff to play with I suppose you could argue why wouldn’t they. Well the important thing for me wasn’t what they did but rather how they made us feel the way they did. I came to the conclusion it was because of the following reasons: –
- They used our name a lot. If someone says your name in a crowded room you are likely to hear it – apparently it is important to us.
- They took a genuine interest in us. They really wanted to hear where we had been and what our plans were; isn’t time one of the greatest gifts to give?
- They actually wanted to help in any way they could – they were clearly chosen because of their knowledge and personality but nonetheless I believe that they were really keen to help.
So how can you translate this into your world I wonder? Names on things that you give to people where you would not normally expect to see a name, contacting somebody just to see how they are and no other reason or perhaps just giving people the gift of time when you meet them.
Image courtesy of basketman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
