A Secret Service system with a major impact is the way we incorporate the client’s name into the processes of scheduling an appointment, checking in, and checking out. This is a policy from Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Springs, California. At every customer interaction, the Marriott staff member uses the customer’s name at least four times.
We instituted this system after the size of our salon and spa expanded from 2,000 to 8,000 square feet. Our clients’ biggest complaint suddenly was that nobody knew them any more. We heard this com-plaint from clients coming in twice a week, as well as from those coming every 4 to 6 weeks. Both groups feel they are our very good clients.
What if a new hostess asks Mrs. Smith, who visits us twice a week, “Have you ever been to John Robert’s before?” Mrs. Smith, who knows almost everyone’s first and last names, would look at the new hostess and say, “Honey, have I ever been here before? Have you ever been here before?”
When we expanded, we increased our guest care team from five to twenty almost overnight. We needed to make sure we didn’t offend any of our customers, especially our best ones. We needed low turnover, which would result in our guest care team eventually learning many of our clients’ names. We also needed to train this team well.
At John Robert’s, every guest care person now makes an attempt to say the client’s name at least four times when the client is checking in, checking out, or scheduling an appointment. This simple procedure has helped us eliminate virtually all complaints about not feeling recognized.
For example, when Mrs. Smith walks in, the hostess says, “Welcome, Mrs. Smith. I just notified Stacy that you have arrived. Mrs. Smith, can I hang up your jacket and get you a cup of hot coffee? What do you take in your coffee, Mrs. Smith? Would you like to change into a smock before Stacy comes to get you, Mrs. Smith?”
