What I learnt from a Luxury 5-Star Hotel that will blow your mind
There are many things that make a 5-star hotel a ‘5-star’ hotel. You know when you’re in one! And it’s not just about the high standards of the facilities, it is everything including the service excellence provided by the hotel. Hotels like Intercontinental are definitely your hotel choice if you seek a luxury experience and top quality service all round.
I had to travel to Ljubljana (in Slovenia) recently with a group of friends who all decided to take a short break from our professional careers. It was a weekend aimed at luxury, relaxation and lots of leisure. The obvious choice when we had to pick a hotel was the Intercontinental Ljubljana hotel, right there in the middle of the city. Knowing it was commutable proximity from everywhere we will need to travel to/from including the airport, we booked our rooms knowing fully well they were priced higher than other hotels on our recommended list.
Arriving at the hotel was an amazing experience. Asides the beautiful view around and within the hotel facilities, I was greeted to at least 4 front desk staff as I walked towards the hotel reception. You could tell they were glad to see another customer. I didn’t even have to queue, there were a number of well dressed ladies and gentlemen at the reception welcoming guests and checking them into their rooms.
As I picked up my key card to my room on the 13th floor, the gentleman attending to me initiated a conversation with me.
Gentleman: “What have you travelled to Ljubljana for by the way? Would you like me to book anything for you?”
Me: I replied, “Just here for a few days on holiday, and yes, what can you book for us?”
Gentleman: He replied asking, “What would you like? Tell me, I can sort it out for you”
Me: Realising how stressful it had been trying to book some activities for a group of 7 in the previous week, this was too good to be true. I replied, “Sure. We would like go-karting, indoor skydiving and archery. We have some other activities but we’ve booked them already.”
Gentleman: “No worries sir, leave it with me. I will contact the various vendors we know and will do our best to book the activities for you”.
Between 5pm when I arrived the hotel and breakfast the next day, the hotel front desk team had booked all our requested activities, rang me several times to confirm times, contacted me on my hotel room phone to keep me updated and even arranged our taxi pickups.
If there’s anything you can give a customer, it is what I call an exceptional and unforgettable service. I marvelled at the excellence, the support, the proactive service, the everything really.
The hotel had one job — to provide a 5-star experience to their guests, and here they were going the extra mile, not just providing 5-star facilities, but supporting it with the best customer service you can ever ask for.
How do they make Customer Service so excellent?
The following day I walked towards the reception, and of course I was received with smiles. But they were surprised at my question. I asked, “How do you make your customer service so excellent? I have been super-impressed since I checked-in”.
The ladies blushed in appreciation. They looked at themselves, looked at me and smiled even more. Then they said, “you know what, we love our job”!
I kept quiet for a minute, then I nodded in approval. “Ah I see, now it makes sense”.
They explained how they love their job a lot and they are naturally delighted to serve their guests (customers). They also mentioned that they have a very supportive manager who supports the teams. Lastly, they acknowledged the training they’ve received over the years, so it was what they would do anyway, deliver excellence, just as they’ve been trained to do.
One of the ladies mentioned, “We were taught to see ourselves as Ladies & Gentlemen, serving other Ladies & Gentlemen”. For me, that was it! They are an expression of the training they’ve had. They are an extension of the culture they live. And customers consistently receive the best experience possible, thanks to the team who enjoy doing their job.
What can you take into your business from this?
Every business may not be rated 5-star, but every business has the opportunity to create memorable experiences for their customers. Excellently delivered customer services result in an overall customer experience that customers will talk about to others (that’s how word of mouth and promotions work).
Here are 3 things to take away from this:
- Value, support and train your team. Without training, your customer experience is left to chance
- Design the customer experience from start to finish. Don’t leave any gaps. From the first interaction at your doorstep (physical or digital), design an experience that leaves your customers with positive experiences.
- Know your customer. Asking why we visited helped the gentleman at the front desk offer to help book some holiday activities for our group. Understanding who your customer is helps you deliver precisely and excellently
The world of Customer Experience is definitely a competing arena. Winning businesses know that they can boost customer lifetime value, increase customer satisfaction and drive customer retention/loyalty by delivering exceptional customer experiences.
Take customer experience more seriously. It makes a huge difference in any organisation.
What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below!
