We are a service business!

 

We went away for the weekend a couple of weeks ago, just a two day trip to the ocean with my parents. We had a great time. We did the tourist thing in Georgetown, SC. Good company, good food and good sites. We did, however, have an experience that got me thinking.

We were only in Georgetown for one night and stayed at a Hampton Inn there. Very nice facility, always a good breakfast at the Hampton Inns and a reasonable price for being close to the ocean. We had a little problem, though. We stayed at the Inn on Friday night and were to check out by 11:00AM. My father and myself were going to play golf early on Saturday and wanted to be able to come back to the Inn and freshen up (maybe catch an early football game) after we played. We requested a “late check out”.  The young lady at the desk was quite definite that that would not be possible, but I could check with the manager. I spoke with the manager and received the same response, “any late stay would require the payment for an additional day”.  Not very flexible. I received an email from the Hampton Inn people a couple of days later and they requested some feedback on my stay. I shared with them that I was disappointed with the staff’s service level.

100% Hampton Gaurantee

I share this with you why? One of the main reasons that I tell organizations issues I have with them is to see how they react. Hampton Inn has a “100% Hampton Guarantee” . Not satisfied, don’t pay. I thought that I quite clearly let them know that I was not satisified and I have yet to hear from them. I believe that their “100% Hampton Gaurantee” still needs some work.

Hampton Inn is not selling me a room for the night, they are selling me the complete lodging experience, the room is just part of it. They are a service organization.

When I was young, my mother had a package of peanuts that she bought that were stale, terribly. She wrote the company and let them know. She received a letter with an appoligy and some new peanuts. WHAT? That was awesome. In most companies, that would make no sense at all. Spend $40 or $50 over a complaint on a $1 bag of peanuts? Are you crazy? Unless you have a committment to serving your customer.  They knew that they were a service organization.

Tom Peters’ books are great reading for some of the incredible stories he tells of customer service. Companies that understand that they may make and sell products but they are a service company.

As I mentioned when I started this, my experience at Hampton Inn started me thinking. What is all this talk about the US developing in to a “service economy”? I sure hope so.  I hope every company, organization and association realizes that they are in the service business.

Well, we certainly try to make McDonald Containers act and look like a service business.  I hope you would agree with that statement. If not, let me know, send me some feedback, tell me where we can do better, our goal is to be part of the service economy. Oh, and by the way, we may try to sell a couple of cremation trays or shipping trays too while we’re serving you. Hey, stop by and visit us at www.mcdonaldcontainers.com.

Jim

Hmmm, emotion provoking.

I was in a little gift souvenir shop a couple of weeks ago and came across a little card that really got me energized. It was from a company called quotablecards (www.quotablecards.com). On the cover of the card were a series of quotes that spoke to life in general, a number of which really sparked me. It got me wondering why do we so much value quotations, what about them inspires us, causes us to smile, nod with understanding or maybe makes us set our jaw firm and determine to do better / different /more.

It seems that some quotes just cause a great emotional response. “My name is Inigo Montoya” . Don’t movie quotes just cause a smile to jump to your face or maybe another one causes a tear to form in your eye or your heart to warm slightly or it makes you want to turn on a nightlight. Five words can bring an emotional rush. It’s like a small key opening a big room.

Successories (www.succesories.com) has made a business of using quotes as inspirational and motivation triggers combined with pictures. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. They have an incredibly large offering of everything that you could hope for in little reminders to fire you up. If fact, I believe that they may offer you the ability to

quotablecards

make your own.

Quotes can serve to steady your ship in the midst of the chaos going on around you, reestablish your focus and get you back on the path. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” I think it is often that we need gentle reminders we are part of a larger community.

 

And lastly, quotes also teach us / remind us / hit us along side the head with a two by four about the larger things that we forget about while we are involved in the day to day to day to day minutia that is our lives. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son”. I should tattoo that one to the inside of my eyelids.

I love quotes. They are like vacation photographs that say so much more than what is visible in the picture. “Great things do come in small packages”.

Jim