“Welcome Back! We are so glad to see you again!”
The heartfelt hello and warm smile came from the concierge
at the hotel I had just checked into.
“Where have they put you?” he asked, and when I responded “Oh
no, that’s in the back of the hotel, would you prefer to be in the front
section? I can see about moving you up.”
I have to say that I refused the kind offer, I explained
that I was only there for the night and there was no point really. Why did the
concierge remember me? I do something that I see so few people do – I thanked
him for his time and trouble. The last time I was there he guided me to some
truly cool off-the-tourist-radar type things. He took the time during my last
visit to make sure that I was enjoying my stay and to give me the wealth of his
expertise in getting the best of my visit.
Now there are two schools of thought here. The first is the
group like me who believe in never letting a good job go unrecognized. I sent a
personal note thanking him and an email to his manager (I would have done this
in person and try to do so when I can) explaining the reason for the compliment
and giving examples of where he had gone above-and-beyond.
The other school of thought is the (lamentably) much larger
group who think to themselves, when they deign to think about the service staff
at any place they patronize, “Isn’t that his job?”
I am glad to say that I don’t compliment the people that I
feel do an exceptional job for any ulterior reason; I do it because it makes ME
feel good to do so. When someone has done a good job it makes me feel good to
make a note of it. I hope it makes them feel better too! Occasionally, on the
rare example when it makes an impression, I perhaps get a smile or a handshake
on my return. In this one case, it made the concierge remember me. And that was
pretty cool!
As an added surprise, when I saw him on my way out of the
hotel, he thanked me for the kind feedback and assured me that his manager had
commended him for the positive feedback. I do highly recommend that more people
do this. And not in the expectation of perks! That is NEVER the reason to pay a
compliment – do it because it is the right thing to do to recognize a job well
done. Would you want any less from your customers, clients, co-workers?
I think I read something about this somewhere. How did that
go again? Something like “Do Unto Others…”
Wherever you are this
morning I hope that you have had an adventure this weekend!
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