This week I have been staying at the Marriott hotel in Waltham, MA. Now when I get bad customer experience, I usually bitch. For example, when City Center Florists tried to rip me off last year, I posted this blog entry. When Hillcrest plumbers and Rheem scammed me, I exposed it.
As much as I bitch about bad companies, I also want to acknowledge companies that go out of their way to provide great customer experience management. The Marriott hotel in Waltham, MA this week had four significant issues related to my stay:
1. A fire alarm that disturbed all guests in the middle of the day
2. A power outage that prevented movie ordering and room service
3. The iron in my room was defective
4. One day the cash register at the coffee stand died (in the AM no less)
Now none of these things really matters in the overall scheme of things, but nevertheless, Marriott management sent me an apology letter for #1, gifted me points for #3 even though when I called they had a working iron in my room in less than 3 minutes and even ordered me a pizza from a third company for #2. The clerk in #4 got me my caffeine and settled the bill later (I also gave her a huge tip). On top of that, the staff rocked. Every phone call was answered with courtesy and offers of solutions.
They also had very courteous staff and made do with what they had. When the cash register at the coffee shop stopped working, the clerk still served coffee and made sure we all had what we needed.
In my book, Marriott hotels are doing a great job of managing their customers' experience. I wish other companies would follow their lead. They recognize that customer experience management is an important factor in overall long term success. Technoracle (me) gives them 9.5/10!!
This is a totally unsolicited report and I just want to publicly acknowledge that Marriott Hotels really seem to care about CEM. Great job! Thank you Marriott. You have a new depth of loyalty from me!
Duane Nickull
As much as I bitch about bad companies, I also want to acknowledge companies that go out of their way to provide great customer experience management. The Marriott hotel in Waltham, MA this week had four significant issues related to my stay:
1. A fire alarm that disturbed all guests in the middle of the day
2. A power outage that prevented movie ordering and room service
3. The iron in my room was defective
4. One day the cash register at the coffee stand died (in the AM no less)
Now none of these things really matters in the overall scheme of things, but nevertheless, Marriott management sent me an apology letter for #1, gifted me points for #3 even though when I called they had a working iron in my room in less than 3 minutes and even ordered me a pizza from a third company for #2. The clerk in #4 got me my caffeine and settled the bill later (I also gave her a huge tip). On top of that, the staff rocked. Every phone call was answered with courtesy and offers of solutions.
They also had very courteous staff and made do with what they had. When the cash register at the coffee shop stopped working, the clerk still served coffee and made sure we all had what we needed.
In my book, Marriott hotels are doing a great job of managing their customers' experience. I wish other companies would follow their lead. They recognize that customer experience management is an important factor in overall long term success. Technoracle (me) gives them 9.5/10!!
This is a totally unsolicited report and I just want to publicly acknowledge that Marriott Hotels really seem to care about CEM. Great job! Thank you Marriott. You have a new depth of loyalty from me!
Duane Nickull
