The Hardest Thing

The Hardest Thing

Congratulations! You have run your motel for a year. Summer is in full swing. Spring and winter have been haggard, and boring. You are ready for this new business.

May is busy, June is busier, and now it's mid-July. You realize you have been working 24/7 for six months straight, and suddenly every glitch and problem, and most of all - customer - is getting on your frayed nerves. Where is the break?

Did we not have one over the winter?

It was not much of a break. Salting sidewalks, shoveling snow, negotiating paths for the maid's cart to follow, freezing, and dealing with a significant drop in revenue compared to the summer (round about 83%), frozen pipes, etc.

While you are grateful for the traffic,and revenue is going strong, your nerves are fried. The hardest thing to do in this environment, and one skill you must develop is the ability to engage a customer . . . with sincerity. If you have made it this far you have learned to do one thing better than most other professionals - you have learned to smile, strongly, sincerely, and consistently no matter what mood you are in.

Manager's Note:

What I have begun to observe about myself in the last few weeks is that I really do engage the customer. I used to fidget, smile insincerely, put on some arrogance, and talk too much when a customer was utilizing my time.

Now, I exude an interested patience. I let them talk. I let them chew the proverbial fat. I listen with interest. I get something out of my guests. I watch their expressions, listen to their tone. When the guest has my attention, there is no other person in the world. Nor am I leading them in the conversation. They are in charge, and I am the ear, the shoulder, the . . . manager.

Professionalism:

The mark of a professional is clear communication. The ability to articulate, and get a clear message across. Furthermore, the best communication results when you close your mouth, and open your ears. Listening is such a key component to successful customer service it should be principle number one.

1.) Listen - that means shut your mouth, open your ears, pay attention, and most challenging of all (particularly in this environment of pandemic apathy): sincerely care about what is being said.

When followed this formula cannot fail. Read that again. When followed this formula cannot fail. You will get nothing but sincere smiles, compliments, satisfied customers, and that most golden of tokens within the business world: repeat business.

The Value of a Smile:

Repeat business creates another component in the lifeblood of a company - word of mouth marketing. The TJ Motel, if you will recall, is located in the middle of the Idaho desert. The nearest city whose population is over 10,000 is 65 miles away. How then, can the TJ Motel stay open? Reputation. Word of mouth. I have customers that come in from all over the world saying that they were recommended this motel for their Yellowstone/Craters of the Moon trip by a friend, or colleague.

The fact that those dollars travel so far across the world to end up in my cash drawer attests to the power of the smile. Ultimately, no matter how clean your rooms, or how comprehensive your amenities, the motel is ultimately you. How do you come across? Are you 'hospitable' or are you hostile? Friendly and courteous, or impatient and disrespectful? More importantly, if you have flaws in your customer service, are you willing to work on improving?

Attitude Extends to Effort:

When I came on at the TJ I had a vision to improve as a professional. I wanted to learn leadership, I wanted to learn patience, I wanted to learn professionalism, I wanted to learn entrepreneurship (remember I am wholly in charge), and I wanted to become better than I had ever been before. For most of my life I had learned "the hard way."

I finally understand what "the hard way" is. It is an attitude of not paying attention. It's touching the hot pot. It's stepping on the nail. It's punching the rock wall. Learning the hard way is making yourself experience the pain by not thinking first, planning out the action, or being proactive. At the motel I had to put on the smile, I had to stop and listen, I had to genuinely put it out there that I do care. "Genuinely care" being the key principle there. That requires effort. That can be learned, but it has to be exercised. You must take every opportunity to build that skill. When you don't want to do it is the best time to do it.

The final straw came when I offended that person by mocking his coughing. I finally understood that you really cannot mess with anyone. The customer does not expect a regular, everyday guy to come into the office and josh them around while they rent a room. What they expect is a business manager, with a certain professionalism, and formality that they feel comfortable with. That can be said in any profession. You are your motel, so decide what you want that to mean.

Contrast and Conclusion:

Yesterday I trained a girl to run the front desk so I have the opportunity step out for a few hours. What I learned from that training session has stuck with me all day. I learned just how far I had come as a professional. I found that I was in charge of the situation with my customers, I was professional, courteous, helpful, kind, and highly communicative with my guests. I commanded the room, and sent them away with a smile. In contrast my trainee never smiled, acted stressed, was uninterested in the customer, or did not know how to interact with them. First days can be tough, but the contrast marked between she and I served to illuminate how much I have developed. Were I in a more challenging position than a motel manager I am confident I could perform exceptionally well.

The hardest thing to do is smile sincerely, listen wholeheartedly, and give of your time and self when you have had a rough day. The payoff, however, is enormous. Remember that from day to day, and from transaction to transaction you are marketing the business. They remember you. But will they recommend you? That is why it is paramount to master the skill of the smile. When you smile, everything else follows.

Go ahead. Smile. Now try to feel bad.

Just does not work, does it.

Lesson number one.