Case Studies VIP Gets Lost in the Service Shuffle, or How the ABC Hotel Dropped the Ball Monday 10:00 A.M. The eight o'clock Monday-morning sales meeting had been more tedious than most, Ms. Sarah Salesperson thought as she made her way back to her office. She poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting at her computer to compose a memo. The director of sales had hammered away at one of her pet themes that morning: "The secret to sales is, 'Don't drop the ball!"" I suppose she's right, Sarah mused as she began to type; dropping the ball is certainly easy enough to do at a 600 -room hotel. In light of the morning meeting, she thought it might be wise to send a note about Mr. Bigbucks to Ray Smith, the front office manager. Mr. Bigbucks was a director at XYZ Corporation, an international firm that could mean $500,000 or more in room bookings in the next two years-if Mr. Bigbucks could be persuaded to place some of his group meetings and other business with the hotel. He was due to arrive at 1:30 P.M. today, and Sarah wanted everything to be perfect for him. Dear Ray: Just wanted to remind you that Mr. Bigbucks of the XYZ Corporation is arriving at 1:30 r.M. today for an overnight stay. Please make sure he gets the full VIP treatment. I've chatted with him on the phone a few times, and will meet with him in person next month about the possibility of booking some business with the hotel, but I won't be able to connect with him this visit-I'm flying to Dallas this morning. Don't worry -I remembered to fill out the VIP forms this time and everybody should have them by now! Sincerely, Sarah 10:30 A.M. To make doubly sure Ray understood the importance of Mr. Bigbucks, Sarah walked down to the front office to deliver her memo in person, but Ray was not The Role of Horisckeeping in Hospitafity Openutions 385 at his desk. Oh well, he Il probably be back in a minute, she thought. She left the memo on Ray's chair so he would notice it first thing. 11:10 A.M. Ray finally escaped for a few minutes from a meeting the general manager called that morning, and went straight to his desk to theck for messages. He read Sarah's memo and decided to drop it off at the front desk on his way back to the meeting. 11:20 A.M. At the front desk, Evert was trying to stay calm and friendly despite the crowd milling in the lobby. He had been a front desk agent for only three weeks and still got nervous when tour buses pulled up outside the hotel. That morning two groups, the American Society of Poets and the Plate Glass Producers, were checking in; this afternoon the American Pharmaceutical Association would arrive for a four-day regional meeting. Evert didn't even notice Ray until Ray tapped him on the shoulder. "Make sure housekeeping knows about this," Ray said, and placed Sarah's memo beside Evert's computer keyboard. Evert half-turned and nodded while continuing to check in a guest. 11:45AM. Evert took advantage of a lull to read what Ray had dropped off. He quickly picked up a walkie-talkie and called Gail, the executive housekeeper. "Hi Gail, ir's Evert at the front desk. We've got a VIP, Mr. Bigbucks, arriving at 1:30 this aftemoon. I'm changing room 816 from 'clean and ready' to 'out of order' until you can give it the VIP treatment, okay? Thanks." 11:50 A.M. Why am I always at the other end of the hotel when I get a call like this? Gail thought as she hurried to the employee lunchroom. And why is it always when my staff is eating lunch or taking a break? She asked Mary and Teresa, two of her best room attendants, to interrupt their lunches and follow her to room 816 . As the three of them were walking to the linen closet to get fresh bedspreads and blankets, she called Roger, the head of maintenance and engineering, and asked him to send someone to 816 . Then she called George in the kitchen. "George, this is Gail. Are the amenities for 816 ready?" George said he was just finishing up and someone would drop them off soon. 1:20 r.M. Gail stood in the doorway and cast a critical eye over room 816 one last time. The quiet and order she surveyed were in sharp contrast to the noise and bustle of the tast hour and a half. A small army had descended on the suite and performed all the tasks needed to transform a guestroom from merely "excellent" to "perfect." As Mr. Thompson, the hotel general manager, had said to Gail on more than one occasion, "It's your job to put the 'wow factor' in every VIP room. When they open that guestroom door for the first time, that's what I want them to think: "Wow!" Gail reviewed her informal "wow" checklist in her mind. The dean bed linen. blankets, and bedspread were upgraded to freshly ironed sheets, new blankets. and a new bedspread. Mary edged the carpet with a whisk broom to get every The Role of Houschecping in Hosgutality Oyerations 387 Dr. Lucky put his bags down while the front desk agent scanned the computer terminal. "We have a suite on the eighth floot available." A bell attendant started to place Dr. Luckys bags on a luggage cart but De. Lucky stopped him. He liked to gave money on his business trips whenever he coald. He collected his room key. rode the elevator to the eighth floot, and followed the arrows to 816 . He set his suitcases down and fumbled briefly with the electronic door lock before swinging the doot open. He bent to pick up his bags. When he caught sight of the suite, he straightened up slowly, the bags forgotien. "Wowl" he sighed reverently. 5:-35 PM. After hesitating a moment over stepping on the pertectly groomed carpeting, Dr. Lucky walked into the suite. He paused a moment to take it all in-the shining surfaces, the hint of fragrance from the flowers, the wicker basket (was that a tiny chair?) - before bringing in his suitcases, shutting the door, and opening up the wine. He usually didn't stay at hotels as nice as the ABC Hotel, but he had decided to splunge a bit on this trip, f've got to do this more oiten, he thought, I had no idea ordinary guests were treated so well at these posh hotels. He was munching happily on the cheese and crackers and looking curiously at the candies-hed never seen any quite like them before - when he noticed a note on the dresser Dear Mr. Bigbucks: We hope you enioy your stay with the ABC Hotel. If there is anything we can do to make your experience with us more pleasant, plesse let us know: firs Thompson, Gencenal Manager De. Lucky stopped in mid-chew, Oh, no, he thought, I've already eaten half the stuff in the basket. Will I have to pay extra for this? 5c40nst. Mr. Bigbucks got in the elevator and pushed the button for the hotel lobby: At the third floor, the elevator stopped and the hotel's director of sales got in. The director and Mr. Bigbucks rode in silence to the lobby, where they both got off and headed in opposite difections. 6co0r.s. Dr. Lucky changed into more casual clothes and decided to spend the evening finding the convention center and exploting the city around the hotel. It was an easy decision to wait until tomorrow moming to call the front deak and straighten out the mix-up. Tuesday 8:00Aa. De. Lucky went down to the hotel restaurant for breakiast. Since he planned to go back to his roon before leaving for the convention center, he decided he would call the front desk later to discuss the wine-and-flowers mix-up. At the restaurant. he ran into a dentist he knew. They ate breakfast together and shared a cab ride directly to the convention center. De. Lucky peomised himself he would stop at the front desk and get things straightened out when he got back. The Role of Houseleeping in Hospitality Operations 385 at his desk. Oh well, he'll probably be back in a minute, she thought. She left the memo on Ray's chair so he would notice it first thing. 11:10 A.M. Ray finally escaped for a few minutes from a meeting the general manager called that morning, and went straight to his desk to check for messages. He read Sarah's memo and decided to drop it off at the front desk on his way back to the meeting. 11:20 A.M. At the front desk, Evert was trying to stay calm and friendly despite the crowd milling in the lobby. He had been a front desk agent for only three weeks and still got nervous when tour buses pulled up outside the hotel. That moming two groups, the American Society of Poets and the Plate Glass Producers, were checking in; this afternoon the American Pharmaceutical Association would arrive for a four-day regional meeting. Evert didn't even notice Ray until Ray tapped him on the shoulder. "Make sure housekeeping knows about this," Ray said, and placed Sarah's memo beside Evert's computer keyboard. Evert half-turned and nodded while continuing to check in a guest. 11:45AM. Evert took advantage of a lull to read what Ray had dropped off. He quickly picked up a walkie-talkie and ealled Gail, the executive housekeeper. "Hi Gail, it's Evert at the front desk. We've got a VIP, Mr. Bigbucks, arriving at 1:30 this aftemoon. I'm changing room 816 from 'clean and ready' to 'out of order' until you can give it the VIP treatment, okay? Thanks." 11:50 A.M. Why am I always at the other end of the hotel when I get a call like this? Gail thought as she hurried to the employee lunchroom. And why is it always when my atatf is eating lunch or taking a break? She asked Mary and Teresa, two of her best room attendants, to inserrupt their lunches and follow her to room 816. As the three of them were walking to the linen closet to get fresh bedspeeads and blankets, she called Roger, the head of maintenance and engineering, and asked him to send someone to 816 . Then she called George in the kitchen. "George, this is Gail. Are the amenities for 816 ready?" George said he was just finishing up and someone would drop them off soon. 1:20xM Gail stood in the doorway and cast a critical eye over room 816 one last time. The quiet and order she surveyed were in sharp contrast to the noise and bustle of the last hour and a half. A small army had descended on the suite and performed all the tasks needed to transform a guestroom from merely "excellent" to "perfect" As Mr. Thompson, the hotel general manager, had said to Gail on mote than one occasion, "It's your job to put the 'wow factor' in every VIP room. When they open that guestroom door for the first time, that's what I want them to think. 'Wow!' Gail reviewed her informal "wow" checklist in her mind. The clean bed linen. blankets, and bedspread were upgraded to freshly ironed sheets, new blankets. and a new bedspread. Mary edged the carpet with a whisk broom to bet every. Tension in the Housekeeping Department It was going to be a busy day at the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge. Today was Friday and 160 guests were checking out this moming. More than 200 room 5 would be checked into by the end of the day for what was going to be a beautiful woekend. Maria, the front office managec, reviewed the arrival list and wondered if her counterpart in houselieeping would have the stafl to ensure that all the rooms neoded would be available by 3000rm. Staffing was still an issue for nearly all departments at the resort. Some of the larger resort operations in the state had trouble fully staffing for the busy seasons. The challenge for the front office manager and the director of housekerping was to find qualitied employes in a time of low unemployment for the local area. The executive housekerper, Fran, was pleased because she had just hired a new room attendant, Adele. Fran had been in housekeeping for more than twenty years, and had been the executive housekeeper of the Boden for ten years. Her problem this morning centered on a seasoned veteran, Mona, who had been with the hotel more than seven years, She had never moved up from room attendant, however, because her co-workers found her difficult to wotk with. The next step in her carcer would have been to move to supervisor, but that entailed inspecting rooms and giving direction. While she was not a team player, she did a great job on her own. Recently she had hurt her back for the third time and the doctor had ordered her not to do jobs that required tepetitive motions. This 386 Chapter 10 speck of dust the furniture was pulled out and the carpet vacuimed underneath, and the chair and chair cushions were vacuumed. Then the carpet was spot: cleaned. All the drawers in the bedroom and buthroom were wiped oot to make sure no dust or hair was hiding. As the drapes were taken down and replaced with freshly cleaned ones, Chris jones arrived troms maintenanoe and checked over all the roomsk mechanicals. While he was chedeing the tuthroom, he notiond a small rast stain on the toilet seat. Teresa could not icrub it off, so Chris went odt to find a new foilet scat to replace the old ane. Nothing in the room made of wood escaped the pollshing cloths. At around 100 ra, jessie arrived from the restaurant with the hote's platinum amenities packoge a miniature wicher chair about two feet high containing chrese, crackers a botle of wine fruit, nuts, and bread sticks interlaced with packets of hard candy made by the hotel chef. Personalited matchbooks embossed with Mr. Bigbucks' initials, a wase of fresh-cut flowers, and a gilt-edged note signed by Mr. Thompson himielf completed the amenities. The installation of the sparkling new toilet seut was completed just ten minutes before. Gail gazed down at the undisturted herringbone pattem in the carpeting, lef by the vacuum Teresa ran as the last touch, and couldn't think of a thing she had missed. "Room 816 's ready," she called in to the froet desk, and went off to see if she could sheak in a few bites of lunch. 4.35 F.M. Mr. Bigbucks arrived at the hotel looking a bir numpled from the long plane trip and the taxd ride shared with four other people. The hotel lobby was crowded with pharmacists and late-arriving poets checking in at the conventions desk. He walked up to an uroccupied spot along the megular tront desk area and waited until a front desk agent could break away foom the group check-ins. "Cood attemoon, welcome to the ABC Hotel, any name is Joan. How can 1 help you? "Hi. my name is Bigbucks. I have a neservation for tonight" "Let me check that for you." The computer keys ticked quickly: "Yes, you'ti be staying for one night. Do you neod help with your luggage? "No, I have just one small bag" Joan linished the check-in procens samiling and remembering to make frequent eye contact, and gave Mr, Bigbucks the key packet to room 616 . 4:40RM When Mr. Bigbucks opened the door to 6li, he was mildly disappointed to find nothing waiting for him in the room. The noom was spotiess and frosh, but at most hotels he found flowers, chocolates, maybe a note to weloume him. Here. nothing. Maybe irs because I'm only staying one night he thought, although he didnt know why that would make a difference. His flight had been delayed, so he had arrived at the hotel much later than hed plarened and had just enough time to unpack and take a quick shower before heading out to dinner at the home of XYZ s president. 5:15 nim. Dr. Lucky, a dentist from Omaha, walked wp to the front desk with a suitcase in each hand. He was in town for a throe-day meeting at the city's cenvention center noar the hotel. "Td like a suite please" he sald