I recently stayed at 5 star resort and was fortunate to get upgraded to fabulous suite complete with living room and fireplace, dinning room, master bedroom, 1 ½ baths and wet bar.
Certainly our expectations were more then exceeded. Part of our package included breakfast, which we were eagerly anticipating enjoying in their highly rated restaurant.
The next morning while in the restaurant it seemed we were invisible since wait staff just whizzed by without even a hello or acknowledgement. Finally I got up and approached the hostess as she seated another patron to ask who was waiting on our table. Coincidently our waitress showed up and spoke up to say she was our waitress without even offering an apology or greeting. Her demeanor and lack of service throughout breakfast coupled with an unimpressive buffet added to our disappointment.
Rather than wait for check I left and asked to speak to the manger. I told the manger that the service was inattentive and the entire dinning experience was horrible.
The thought of eating dinner at their highly rated restaurant was considered however based on our morning experience another restaurant was selected. The next morning we gave the hotel restaurant another try with zero expectations. We were pleasantly surprised since the waitress who was so inattentive the day before had a smile and was very attentive. The entire restaurant staff had entirely different attitude from the day before.
They certainly seemed be working together as a team and were helpful to one another. A total change from the day before but how did this change cone about?
Could it be that a senior executive was in the dinning room or was it my complaint that put management on notice?
The lesson is that consistency matters. Lack of consistency gives your clients little or no confidence in the quality of the product or service they are receiving but also raises the question about the competency of staff and management.
Management must develop a philosophy of consistency that is reinforced through standard operating procedures and policies coupled with training and oversight. This will empower employees to have the competence and confidence to provide the goods or services a client seeks. This is a winning formula for any business to be successful.
Look at any successful business you see consistency and customer service that is
a key ingredient to customer loyalty.