This post was mentioned on Twitter by navednoorani: Customer Service and the Butterfly Effect http://bit.ly/91Ha7J...

The true test of any organisation’s service standards is in its ability to *fix* those problems that inevitably arise.

This is a somewhat more rare trait …

And no, I didn't work for Hyatt. :-)

A man was in town on business, and unexpectedly had to stay over a couple extra days. Needing some extra cash, he went into the (headquarters) office of his company's local bank to cash a check. He was treated pretty badly by the teller, and asked to speak to an officer, and was again pretty shabbily treated. He decided to escalate and asked to speak to the manager, and was told the manager was not available and wouldn't be able to help him in any case. The gentleman left.

By the close of business that day, the man's company had begun terminating their entire relationship with the bank, including lockbox, payroll impress, trust services, international remittances, and regional operating accounts. The company was a Fortune 500, the man who had been treated badly was the CEO and Chairman, and their local operation one of the 2 or 3 largest customers of the bank.

Two or three people made some very bad choices and cost the bank a huge relationship. The bank's senior management tried to salvage the situation, but it was way too late.

Staffing appropriately, even if it means more expenses, is crucial to making good customer impressions. It not only affected me that day, but also many other people who had to wait in a long line to check in and all the people calling the hotel and being put on hold for a looooong time to speak with this one lonely worker behind the desk.

GREAT reminder of the importance of getting the basics right… the first time.

Having worked for an outside vendor in a couple of different Hyatts, I've had a closer perspective than most on some of the inner workings of their hotels.

Neither of the hotels I worked in were owned by Hyatt. But rather, managed by Hyatt.

Sometimes the owners would refuse to open their wallets to pay for things that Hyatt employees had determined were essential. Sometimes they would merely delay the expense.

I saw that in one hotel with the owner's years-long delay in putting in an elevator for guests to get to the second-floor meeting rooms. And then going "cheap" on the project by forcing the contractor to work days, but stop work during every timeframe there was a meeting being held. (Made the project go WAY over budget and WAY, WAY longer than scheduled.) Meanwhile, the Hyatt employees were left to fight with the Contractor on behalf of their Meeting Planners/Guests, and placate their Meeting Planners/Guests for the mess, noise, and inconvenience. And the owners' decisions gave the Hyatt brand a blow.)

Sometimes they would insist on going the cheap route to save a buck (or a few pennies.)

This sounds like what was going on with the internet service in Dallas.

In the same hotel with the elevator issue, the owners decided not to spend the money necessary to replace the carpets and A/C in a couple of other areas with meeting rooms. The best Hyatt could figure to do was continuously air the rooms out as much as possible and regularly go through spraying air freshener.

Every time they did those things, it made Hyatt's job that much more difficult. And the employees would have to go to rather great lengths to "cover" for the stinginess.

When employees continue to be forced to "cover" for their bosses' (or owners') decisions, they are more likely to not care as much about the customers – since the higher-ups have demonstrated that they don't really care.

In my experience, the hotel that had the delayed elevator and stinky rooms, ended up going out of business. 300+ employees lost their jobs. But Hyatt did their best to absorb those they could in other hotels and held a job fair for the rest.

The other hotel continues to thrive. Why?

Starting with the Gen. Mgr. He made it a point to get out of his office and get to know as many of the hotel employees as possible, and really understand their work environment. (On several occasions I met him in the cafeteria. He had on an apron and was behind the counter serving the food, and greeting everyone who came through the line!)

The Directors would meet weekly. And one of their topics of discussion was progress on past "issues" and to raise any new "issues" – thinking not only long-term but short-term as well.

The Sales and Catering/Convention Services staff would go out "on the floor" a few times a week to look for anything that was amiss and/or could be improved upon. And they'd bring back their reports/suggestions to their Directors (or the appropriate Dept. if there was an urgent need.)

The HR Dept. held training classes, not only for new-hires, but also monthly classes for ALL employees.

And ALL employees were empowered to address problems they'd identified. (Suggestions were VERY ACTIVELY solicited.)

Result? With very few exceptions, morale was very high, service was outstanding, customers were very pleased, and vendors (like my company) saw the hotel's staff functioning as a group of very good friends, if not a family. (One inspector was so impressed, he made the effort to hand-write a letter to Hyatt's Nat'l HQ, about how shocked he was at the camaraderie shown "backstage". He was used to seeing employees of hotels put on a good face when they were "on stage", but according to him, most of the hotels he'd inspected had lots and lots of bickering and fighting between Depts. and even sometimes within Depts.)

All that to say, not all Hyatts are "created equal." Some are managed well. Some, clearly, are not managed well.

The keys, I think, are:
Hiring the right people – people with a real service attitude/perspective, people who really care and are going to OWN their jobs.
Training/equipping those people – empowering them, developing their skill to succeed in their positions, and providing appropriate resources so they can do their job efficiently and effectively.
Setting a good example – from the top down.