Page 171 - The New Gold Standard

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him. It really made my day to know that I had made a memory
for them. I probably got as much, if not more, out of that occa-
sion than they did.” To produce the memories, leadership must
help staff to both inquire and execute on the details of the infor-
mation gathered.
One of the greatest risks, however, to asking guests their
preferences is that it sets up an expectation that those preferences
will be acted upon. President Simon Cooper cites, “That’s why
we like to pick up as much as we can about a guest from our di-
rect observation, and not draw too much attention to those mo-
ments when we specifically seek out preferences.” Guest Greg
Anderson, director of Crown Council, a prestigious alliance of
dental practices, offers resounding evidence for the high cost of
asking and then not delivering on a guest’s preference.
Greg shares, “We were searching for a location for one of our
Crown Council meetings. It had been suggested that the Ritz-
Carlton in San Francisco would be a good location. I called the
hotel and scheduled a site visit for my entire advance team. I had
a most interesting conversation with the sales representative. She
asked me if there was anything in particular that would make
my stay more enjoyable at the hotel. I said absolutely, yes; my
wife loves Caffeine-free Diet Coke. I told the salesperson that if
they could stock a few cans of her soda, I would consider it a real
treat. She said, ‘I can make that happen.’ I also happened to
mention that the weekend we were going to be in San Francisco
was my birthday. She was so excited that she almost came through
the phone. I was very impressed with her enthusiasm. She asked
me what my favorite dessert was and I told her ice cream, espe-
cially any ice cream with cherries in it.
“So we visited the hotel. It was a fabulous property, and it was
set up exactly the way we needed it. The location would be per-
fect for one of our smaller Crown Council gatherings. We stayed
about three days, including my birthday, and we never ever saw
a can of Caffeine-free Diet Coke or any recognition of my birth-
day, even though we met with the hotel personnel twice. We

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