I’m not staying at any of the hotels that are across the street from the convention centre, where the Expo is held. Instead, I’m staying at the Ramada, which is a five-minute walk away. I stayed here last year and just love how quiet it is.
Last night, I attended Jason Van Orden’s pool party. By the time I got there, the burgers had run out. So, I went over to Tim Street’s party, complete with French Maids. Tim didn’t have any food by the time I got to his party either. So, I ended up having dinner with Susan Bratton, David Lawrence and Jody Colvard, among a few others.
It was late by the time we finished up. I wasn’t going to walk back to the Ramada so I asked the Marriott concierge to call me a cab.
“What’s your room number?” asked the concierge.
“Oh, I’m not a guest here,” I said.
“Not a problem. I’ll call one for you. It’ll be about 15-minutes.”
As I waited, I continued speaking to the Concierge. He then told me to hang on, picked up the phone and had a quiet conversation with someone. As he hung up the phone, he smiled at me and said:
“I called the Bellhop, Ricardo. He’ll drive you to your hotel instead. I’ll cancel the cab and that way, you’ll save about $10.”
I was shocked. Absolutely amazed. I’m not a guest at the Marriott, yet the Concierge got the hotel van to drive me over to my hotel at no cost.
I had a very nice conversation with Ricardo on the way over to the Ramada. As he dropped me off, he pulled out a card and said:
“When you need to get back to the convention centre in the morning, call this number and we’ll get the van from the Marriott to come over and pick you up.”
What??? I’m a guest spending money at another hotel, however, the Marriott is treating me like I’m their guest. All this fabulous treatment got me thinking – the next time I’m in Ontario, California, I’m going to stay at the Marriott.
It also got me thinking about my own business. What is the nicest thing I can do for prospects who have yet to spend money with me to show them that I care about their prosperity? And I’ll throw this question to you – what have you done lately for your own prospects to show them that you care? Share your ideas in the comment area.
What a great blog and such an important one too. My wife, her girlfriend (Mommy of Many) and I met you at the expo and really enjoyed your contribution to the event. You too are a great example of someone who clearly treated everyone you ran into with “the fabulous treatment”
In all my experiences it goes back to the old saying good karma begets good karma and as you experienced the fabulous treatment of the Concierge we too experienced that with you.
Thank you…. Too
Martin
Wow, that is a shocking experience.
I love the business twist you put on it as well. Definitely gets me thinking about that very question.
Thanks,
Will
I think that scalability is very important here. What if your customers base doubles next week? Will you be able to serve them as good as today? If you can answer that question positively, then you can, with confidence, show your prospects that you care.