Last Spring Break I was fortunate to go to St. Lucia and stay at a luxury hotel resort on the beach. As soon as the cab driver pulled up the hotel, my wife and I were treated like royalty. Now I have stayed at many hotels and was treated like a rock star, but this hotel took it to another level. A bell hop opened the cab door and assisted us into the hotel lobby with our luggage. Inside the lobby we were greeted with a champagne toast. Instead of checking in at a front desk, we sat in an intimate setting with a concierge who offered all the hotels amenities to us. However, this special treatment was not limited to us no matter how special they made us feel; they treated every hotel guest the same as if we were secret shopping.
St. Lucia is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that offers a tropical setting. Most Caribbean Islands are flat and more desert like. This resort is one with the rainforests and sea. As soon as we opened the hotel room door, our feet were on the beach.
With all that, this resort exceeded my expectation. Why? It was clear that the staffs’ goal was to exceed the custom’s expectations, whether the customer was secret shopping or not. From the doorman to the concierge to the banquet employees, every single person is focused on the guest. Any time I engaged an employee it was clear that I was that person’s priority. I asked one employee how to get into town. He said if you wait for a few minutes until I get off work, I’ll take you around myself. I asked another employee on some dinner recommendations and when I got to the restaurant we were treated to appetizers and champagne courtesy of the hotel employee. And my wife and I were not secret shopping. We were just there to get away from it all.
The food at this resort was awful and this is coming from no food critic. I tend to like everything served on my plate. So if I don’t like the chicken alfredo or the shrimp scampi, something is terribly wrong. Everything was boiled, including the fish. Though, the English tourist seemed to enjoy it.
However, I would go back to this resort despite the bad cooking because the customer service was exceptional. The staff more than made up for the stringy shrimp and gummy baked potatoes.
So why am I telling you this? Because the hustle and bustle understood by customer service employees, it’s easy to lose sight of what is important. And what’s important is exceeding your customer’s expectations. Though I was interested in the tropical island atmosphere and good food, it was the hotel employees that made my great experience because they wanted me to. They were not interested in secret shopping results; they were interested in the customer’s vacation results.
If you are interested in every self storage customer who comes into your self storage property, and you make it your goal to exceed their expectations, I can’t imagine that you would be worried about someone secret shopping you.
Source :
Secret Shopping Trip
Boat Storage
