Later that night, as I once again visited the front desk to ask about a good place to eat, I hear Paula respond to each person who walks up the counter by using their first or last name. I asked if these were regulars? “No, I just can remember names.”
She then went on to tell me a story where a guest had walked up the counter and like she always did, she used the persons name. “Hello Casey.” The lady stopped dead in her tracks and asked how did she know her name. Paula said that she remembered Casey from a previous stay at the hotel, and she pays very close attention to people’s names. Casey, in awe, said she’d not been in the hotel for SIX years!
I’ve heard of hotels that arm employees with ear pieces to make sure they can give each other the heads up on guests’ names so that they and their coworkers can address guests in the same way. Others post pictures on the walls of VIPs so that no one is overlooked.
If you have face-to-face contact with customers, what does your organization so to make customers feel special? Paula has a rare talent, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t develop a system that accomplishes the same result. Maybe you can put in place a call routing software program that picks up a VIP based on their phone number, or you can distribute pictures of incoming guests’ faces on cards bearing their names before major functions. If you can’t see a solution for all guests, define your VIPs and target them first.
If you want to go for the gusto and have everyone be recognized, your systems are going to have to be much more complex and may require a unique identifier that a customer carries on their key chain or a facial recognition software so that no one is missed.
Above is from http://davidgoldsmith.com/blog.
