100 Days of Gratitude, Day 9: Little Touches Mean a Lot

When you're on the road as often as we are, with a modest budget, you kind of get used to basic lodging. We don't generally stay at "bad" places (although there was that one trip in February...) but we certainly don't go luxury. We work with nonprofit organizations, after all!

That's why this place, Le Pavillon in New Orleans, was such a pleasant surprise. I got a killer deal on this hotel on Expedia, and thanks to my  Expedia Elite membership, we received quite the welcome!

First of all, Le Pavillon is an elegant, old-school New Orleans hotel. Then, the little touches really made me feel important. A friendly greeting, prompt check in, complimentary water, a little fruit basket, cookies, a personalized note from one of the management team with a drink coupon, fluffy robe, and extra peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since we arrived very late.

For very little additional cost, the staff at Le Pavillon made this guest feel really important.

Is your organization able to do this? Of course. Here's a few simple tips:

Le Pavillon's PB&J Buffet

• A little food goes a long way. Yes, people have all sorts of food issues nowadays, but don't let that scare you away from providing a few treats here and there. I'm always amazed how far a pizza party or ice cream social will go with volunteers and donors!
• Making something personalized will always be welcomed. I'm guessing that the management team member who wrote my note has that saved in a file; I'm not presuming that she wrote it especially for me. But it was addressed to me, and it thanked me for picking this property. That was nice.
• Training is critical, and should be offered to everyone, regardless of how much interaction you think they will have with the public. I can't tell you the number of times I have arrived late to a hotel after a long day of travel. And, I'm often dealing with the person stuck with the overnight shift who doesn't like people. How many times have things gone sour with a donor because of a single unexpected interaction with someone who's "not supposed to talk to donors"?

These little touches didn't cost much, but they seemed to be offered with genuine caring and hospitality. Think about ways that you can provide extra little things for people in your life and they'll feel special too. Thanks, Le Pavillon, for reminding me of that.

100 Days of Gratitude, Day 4: Unexpected Friends

Margo Hudson is not someone we expected to meet. She's one of the housekeeping staff at the United President's Club at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

When we met Margo, we were on a strange itinerary in May 2012 that involved a long layover in Cleveland. I arrived first and settled in, then Jim joined an hour later.

Margo takes very good care of her club. She is constantly on the lookout for items that need to be picked up, tables that need to be cleared, chairs that need to be straightened.

She came to clear our used items. Jim tried to help, and dropped a cup of ranch dressing on the floor. Upside down.

When Jim started to clean it up, Margo was horrified. "Oh no, sir, I can do that."

Jim replied, "My Grandma always said it's not wrong to make a mess, it's wrong to leave one."

Margo grinned, and we all became instant friends. She checked on us regularly, teased us about how long our layover was, and asked when we'd be back. I returned a couple days later and ended up exchanging emails.

Many months later, I flew through Cleveland again. On a whim, I stopped at the Club to see if Margo was there. She was.

"Alice! You came back! How's your friend, Jim? And where have you been since I saw you last?"

We've exchanged several emails since then, including one today: Margo was featured in Cleveland Magazine for her connection with Seeds of Literacy, as a student and now as a volunteer!

After congratulating her, we thanked Margo for being our unexpected friend and an inspiration. She's been one of the highlights of our travels, and I hope we get to see her in person again soon.

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Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Don't Tell Me How I CAN'T do this, tell me how I CAN

Two phrases that aggravate me to no end:

• "I have no control over that."
• "I'm just an employee."

After a particularly challenging evening of poor customer service, and one stellar experience this morning, I'm reminded of a phrase I have used many times: Don't tell me how I can't do this, tell me how I CAN.

So in an attempt to find something useful from my experiences today, here are a few tips for customer service.

If things aren't going as planned, own up to it. On two occasions recently, I had a restaurant reservation where I did not get seated for an hour or more after the reservation time, and there was no place to comfortably wait. On both occasions, the hostess tried to gloss over the wait by saying, "It won't be long." Excuse me, but an hour wait is definitely long. Had I been informed a realistic wait time, I could have made an informed decision about staying or leaving. Customers can tell if you're not being completely transparent.

Never underestimate the power of a token gift to make amends. A complimentary upgrade or small gift doesn't cost much and can go a long way to restoring a customer's trust in you.

Give your front line decision making authority. At Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport this morning, the line for security was incredibly long. Even the priority lane was 50 people deep. Then, from no where, an airport employee said, "If this group would follow me, the checkpoint on the other side has a shorter line. I'll take you there." As we were walking briskly to the other area, one of my fellow travelers commented, "I hope this was worth the hike." Our hero employee said, "If the line isn't shorter, I'll personally take you all through the employee lane." He probably trimmed over 30 minutes from our wait through security. All because he was empowered to redirect passenger traffic. Rock star.

I'm going to try to stay focused on the one guy who was exceptional rather than the others who were not. Live by the surprising example of the airport employee who cared!

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Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim