I've studied customer service tenets for decades and I've learned from the best, the Pooles, an Oregon family corporation dedicated to the notion that all employees exist for one reason: to serve the customer. But all my training, all my expectations were trumped this week at a lovely Portland, Oregon, hotel, the Hotel Deluxe (www.hoteldeluxeportland.com). How did this happen? With three little, teeny words: "Make It So." The phrase wasn't posted on the door. Wasn't inscripted on the hotel registration. Wasn't beamed through employees' gritted grins. Where was it? In my room, on the desk, on the nightstand, on the phone.
"Make It So." What did this mean? Well, I learned that, if I didn't like any of the five pillows on the bed, I could hit the "Make It So" buttton on the phone and request other pillows, choosing from a menu of seven options of softness, size and shape.
"Make It So." If I'd left on my Oregon journey in such a haste that I'd forgotten my iPod, I was still okay. I could hit the "Make It So" button on my phone and, voila, one with my kind of music (six options) would be delivered to my room. What a relief!
"Make It So." What else did this mean for me? Amazingly, it meant spiritual survival. I could peruse the Spiritual Menu near the desk phone and request the tome that best fit my current religious needs. Did I need the Tao? Or a King James bible? Or was the Koran the best choice for my soul today? All I had to do was choose and hit the "Make It So" button. Salvation has never been this easy.
I was impressed. Sure, the hotel was delightful, everything the website promised. But this was different. This was magic. This was fairy-godmother, shooting star magic. "Make It So." Cinderella must have voiced the phrase as the little critters twirled around her ashen feet. Jack's beans must have cheered each other on this way as they soared their green stems heaven-ward. Yearning for Kansas, Dorothy must have prayed this phrase.
Wouldn't it be great to have "Make It So" buttons in our lives? There are lots of things I'd like to request for our planet, country, and state. And my family and friends...wouldn't I love to choose health and serenity for them and "Make It So"...just with the push of a button?
Maybe I can't do that but there is something I can do. I can carry out my life's work, serving external and internal customers, in my paying job as well as my other life business, with the same kind of mindset. I can pretend I do have a "Make It So" button. When I hear a request, whether it's seeking information or an attentive ear, I'll focus on the request and then push that imaginary button. When my customer offers up the gift of a request, I will just "Make It So."
That kind of customer service is such a pleasure to run into. I am thrilled when I find it and businesses that practice it earn my loyalty. I must check out the Hotel Deluxe!
ReplyDeleteYour description of this attitude is exactly what I wish I had had for many of my clients while I still working. If their customer service is this proactive model, I wonder how proactive the rest of their model is. I am also checking out this hotel.
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