A Flowershop
I love great hotels. Why? Because from the moment you set foot in one, it is a non-stop entourage of doing all of the “little things” right. Here at the Davenport in Spokane, Washington it starts with a flower shop. From the moment you walk through the sliding glass doors, your senses are greeted with a near perfect aroma. The flower shop that they have integrated into the lobby near the front desk permeates the entire first floor.
The next thing that usually seperates a “great” hotel from a “nice” hotel is the elevator. When you leave the front desk of a great hotel, the elevator door is open. You don’t have to press a button, you don’t have to wait, you just walk directly in and head to your room. This is chiefly a trait of only the best hotels. And, it’s absolutely brilliant, unexpected, and absolutely charming.
I think organizations can learn a lot from this attention to detail. Sometimes the little things are the most important. People love the little things so much, they don’t even realize they are missing them until someone leaves that elevator door open for them. Even after they walk into the experience, it’s so subtle they aren’t yet sure they are a part of it. Then, a hotel like this keeps delivering. Turn-down service with bathrobes, a typed letter under the door telling you that it is daylight savings, rearranging your bathroom supplies cleanly on top of a towel. It’s a recognition of the need for attention to detail, then executing it.
What if every organization paid this much attention to customers? There’s a reason these hotels bring people back. Many of them are in completely random locations. The Davenport in Spokane, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. But people come back, they pay a premium and love every minute of it. Then they tell their friends (and write in their blogs about it).
What if you (and all of your people) took to a whiteboard and wrote down every great “little thing” associated with your business or product? What if you took 25% of those things up a notch this quarter? What if you innovated 50% next? People would notice.
Trust me.
April 3rd, 2005 at 8:51 am
When Eric stayed there, he said it was one or the top five hotels that he has ever stayed at in all of his travels. We are looking forward, with even greater anticipation, to our stay there in May.
April 4th, 2005 at 9:20 am
I stayed there a few months ago and it is has become one of my favorite places to stay. Great service, flower shop, candies, and history. This is a place that once washed all the money they returned to guests so they wouldn’t handle dirty money. A heritage of paying attention to details.
April 4th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Cheers to the last 10%. Red Bull is one of the best at building value into its brand and they do it in exactly the same way. Over delivering. Not many people have had the pleasure of having the true full- “Red Bull Experience” but those who have are hooked for life. How about taking a custom made 6 wheeled military vehicle to a secret road gap so you and your friends can film and go big? Its been done and people never cease talking about it. It might cost a bit more and lacks concrete, immediate ROI but companies like Red Bull, The Davenport and Apple are proving the value of the extra 10%
April 12th, 2005 at 8:21 pm
I studied Learning and Organizational Change in college. This whole entry makes me giddy to think that someone else notices and thinks about all of this stuff. So often, the solution to effective change is committing to the change of a tiny detail! I love it. We have to share our thoughts on this more often.