We are all in the name business, it is the core of what makes a club a club. We all think that our staff use Member’s names on a regular basis; as they were trained and should. How impactful is the use of a name?
On a flight I was on a few years ago, the use of my name catapulted the expected excellent service to phenomenal service; a lesson that any club, hotel or hospitality establishment could take a cue from.
Flying in the front cabins you would expect the flight attendants to greet you at your seat, use your name and continue throughout the flight; fairly standard on most international flights. But the ramp crew? Now that’s a new level of customer recognition. After having my passport and ticket checked and making my way past the counter I was warmly greeted by the airport ramp staff standing at the first door of the ramp with a, “welcome aboard Mr. Marcus”.
What? How do you think I felt for that flight and more importantly beyond the flight? Any chance of my flying another airline? I don’t think so. On the flight I had 10 hours to ponder just what training and communication systems were needed to make such a profound difference in just a few seconds and at no cost.
It’s reminiscent of a Distinguished Club in Southern California putting stickers with the Member’s name in the door of their car so every time they pulled in the valet could use their name to welcome them home.
A simple lesson for any team-member on just how powerful the use of a name can be!
Tell me about your best service experience, I love to hear new stories.
Brian Marcus is one of our executive recruiters specializing in private clubs and hospitality. Brian has over 10 years of club experience and 25 years of hotel, restaurant and F&B experience in numerous countries. For more information contact Brian at 626-836-1222 or brian@globalhospitality.com