Shaz Memon, Founder of Digimax Dental | The worlds highest rated Dental Marketing Agency | Charity: Wells on Wheels | Best-Selling Author
I’m quite lucky with my clients. Yesterday I worked with Lady Gaga in the morning, Raheem Sterling in the afternoon and Antonio Banderas in the evening. Hold on. Now I come to think of it; it wasn’t actually them. It just felt like it was them. Allow me to explain.
When my partner and I stayed at a five-star hotel in Chiang Mai, we were slightly disappointed to discover that the sense of serenity in the “serenity spa” was drowned out by noise from nearby construction. A small bit of feedback I gave to the team was that they should’ve alerted us ahead of our stay so it didn’t come as a surprise.
They responded by offering us complimentary dinner, and when we turned up at the restaurant, we were treated like celebrities. The best service we’ve ever received. We were greeted with beaming smiles. All the waiters knew our names, and the chef came out to personally talk through the dishes and the menu. He even asked what we liked and brought us something perfectly tailored to our tastes.
We were so impressed; we decided to return the following day. The experience was completely different. The food was still delicious, and we were still treated well, but we weren’t greeted by name. No one smiled, and waiters walked past and only turned if we needed their attention. It’s hard to explain, but the atmosphere was completely different. We were just regular folk having a good experience. There was no story to be told.
As we left the restaurant after that wonderful first night, it hadn’t even occurred to me that the celebrity treatment was part of their attempt at service recovery. I thought the complimentary meal was the service recovery, and the treatment was simply how they treated everyone. I assumed this was the sort of place where everyone felt like a celebrity.
And this got me thinking. Why wasn’t it the sort of place where everyone felt like a celebrity? And, more to the point, why aren’t all customers made to feel this way when they go to a reputable establishment?
Making a conscious effort to ensure every client you work with is treated the same way you would treat Gaga, Sterling, Banderas or any other celebrity name is easily one of the best reputation-building exercises a business can make with little or even no financial investment.
Creating wow moments can come from the smallest of actions. While running workshops, I noticed that most people have a difficult time arriving at a new venue if they’ve never been before. I thought to myself, what would I appreciate if I was in this situation? And so, at 6 a.m. on the event day, we send a video by text message to each attendee showing them precisely what the walking route from the tube exit to the venue looks like. It’s a video of me doing the walk! Anticipating attendee needs and taking the thinking out of the process means that they arrive relaxed and have an enjoyable experience.
In five-star hotels, there’s a feature in the booking systems called profile notes. Profile notes are available to any team member and include preferences and other vital information that help deliver a five-star experience. The concept of profile notes can be utilized anywhere, though. For example, if you manage a dental practice you could have profile notes for your guests. These could contain preferences about favorite drinks on arrival, choice of music during treatment, special upcoming events or vacations the patients may have discussed. As a proactive team, you can act on this information.
As another example from my own experience, a client once called me to discuss a dental website design on behalf of her employer. Once we got talking, she shared with me that she was going to Los Angeles for the first time and was excited. So, I went on Amazon and sent her a city guide to Los Angeles. She was so wowed that she shouted about it on social media and even insisted her employer use us to design his website.
I’ve written previously about the curious phenomenon whereby businesses get repeat customers from people who initially complain about the service they have received. This is because the company goes to huge lengths to overcompensate for the error. It certainly makes sense to treat disappointed customers in this way, but why not make things easier for yourself by proactively extending this treatment to everyone? Celebrity endorsements can be a huge boost for any business. But if you create a culture where everybody is treated like a celebrity, you might find word spreads just as fast. Studies show that 51% of UK consumers trust recommendations from friends or partners more than any other brand advertising.
And, in today’s world, with so many influential people around us, you never know when you might be serving someone who could have a huge impact on how your business is perceived. So come on, let’s treat everyone like an A-lister. And who knows, maybe one day soon, you’ll find yourself saying, “I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Banderas, but we’re booked up for months.”
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