Valuing customers — Service remains a key to business success — yesterday and today

My inner history nerd was given free reign in this month’s Uniquely Pittsburgh on the Omni William Penn Hotel. As a fan of old movies who gets excited about the 31 days of Oscar on the Turner Classic Movie network, I loved learning about the antics of Hollywood stars who passed through the Palm Court Lobby, as well as some local legends. (Honestly, bathing in buttermilk daily sounds like something Jennifer Lopez or Lady Gaga would do.)
But aside from soaking up a sense of the glamorous past, something else struck me about the William Penn — service, service, service.
 
‘Service was an art’
As an example, during the hotel’s heyday in 1940, management took service seriously. A file survives that is stocked full of complaints, which hotel staff personally answered. One reads:

Dear Sir:

I arrived at your hotel about noon on Wednesday. There was a strange clerk back of the desk whom I had never seen before and who did not know me. I have been going to your hotel for 22 years and although, as manager, you have the privilege of having anyone you see fit back of the desk, it seems to me that with the number of officials in your organization there should be someone continually in the lobby, who knows the public, especially when there is a new clerk back of the desk.

I have called this to your attention two or three times during the year about having someone to welcome people — someone who knows them and knows what they want. Anyone who has been going to your hotel for 22 years does not like to give his life history every time he arrives.

The hotel’s first female restaurant manager recounts that with 1,600 rooms, the hotel advertised one employee for every room.
And Bellman Frank Perry, who worked at the hotel for 49 years, remembers, “Service was an art then. Travel was leisurely and pleasurable — a luxury. People would stop and talk. Now it seems everyone is in a hurry.”
The basic needs of guests, however, remained the same through his time at the hotel — cleanliness, courtesy and good food.
 
Ready to listen
While everything in today’s world is even faster paced than Perry was talking about, successful businesses still hold on to service as a key differentiator.
Service should be seen as an art. In order to take care of the human element, customer service should be fluid and adaptable. Companies shouldn’t overly focus on rigid processes and procedures, but rather find caregivers who enjoy helping others, with the ability to stop and talk if that’s what a customer needs.
The guest who wrote the aforementioned letter sent a number of complaints to the hotel. He wanted to be heard. He’d been coming to the hotel for 22 years and sought acknowledgement for his loyalty.

If you put so much effort into building a brand that people want to be a part of, doesn’t it make sense to listen and let that passionate customer feel like a valued part of your business?