September, 2007

Customer service without the lucky roll of the dice!
By Tim Trotter

Many people are seeing first hand the declining customer service levels in our business world today. Many businesses talk about their excellent customer service, but in reality several customers find something far less than acceptable service levels. It seems as if exceptional service is truly a lucky roll of the dice.

Recently, my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for a long weekend and experienced the best customer service ever. Our great experience was coordinated by Joan Osheroff, Front Office Associate at Caesar’s Palace. We arrived at the hotel 4 hours prior to check in. We really did not expect a room at that time since the hotel was sold out the night before. Our goal was just to pre- register. Joan wanted to get us settled into a room immediately, so we could begin our stay and enjoy the amenities. After she placed a few quick phone calls, she had a room ready for us. And to top it off, she upgraded us into an exceptional room for no additional charge.

Perhaps what impressed me the most is after we got settled into our room; Joan called me to make sure the accommodations were to our liking. She wanted us to know that her shift would be over soon and wanted to see if there was anything else she could do to make our stay the best it could be. She told me that if we needed anything else to please call the front desk. Surprisingly we found all of the Caesar’s employees to be the same as Joan. It was not the luck of Vegas. It was customer service at its best.

Now for those of you who know me, I had to ask what Joan’s secret is in providing exceptional customer service. She was very pleased that I asked and proceeded to share her simple secret…”The sooner I get you checked in, the sooner you can start having fun. After all, that is why I am here!” After some more conversation, Joan mentioned that she is striving to achieve the hotel’s president’s award. In my opinion, she is going to do just that.

The question I have for all of our business and organizational leaders--- Is your customer service by design or just a lucky roll of the dice?