Getting Things Right When You Get It Wrong

So much of guest services is about getting the experience right: we proactively plan the experience, thinking through every touchpoint from the perspective of our guests. We mentally work through variables and contexts, attempting to put ourselves in the shoes of those we serve. We show up ready to go, firing on all cylinders to make sure people know they are loved and cared for, that we wanted them to show up and can’t wait for them to come back.

But sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes we don’t meet our own expectations, much less those of our guests. And when we get things wrong, I believe there’s an embedded opportunity to make things right.

In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath recount a story of a custom home builder who gained a unique insight from surveys on his customers’ satisfaction:

To maximize customer satisfaction, you don’t want to be perfect. You want to get two things wrong, have the customer bring those mistakes to your attention, and then hustle like mad to fix those problems.

My guess is that you or your team got something wrong this weekend (I’m raising my hand for myself over here). Here’s the question: what did you do about it? Did you hustle like mad to fix it, or did you simply ignore it, hoping the guest didn’t notice or – if they did – that they’ll choose to overlook it and come back anyway?

We’re going to get things wrong…that comes with the nature of humanity. What can you do today to serve the guest who had a less-than-stellar experience?

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