Case Study

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 P.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 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 only been a front desk agent for 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.
11:45 A.M.
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, it's Evert at the front desk. We've got a VIP, Mr.
Bigbucks, arriving at 1:30 this afternoon. I'm changing room 816 from 'clean and ready' to 'out of
order' until you can give it the VIP treatment, OK? 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 P.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 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 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 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 get every speck of dust, the furniture was pulled out and the carpet vacuumed
underneath, and the chair and chair cushions were vacuumed. Then the carpet was spot cleaned. All
the drawers in the bedroom and bathroom were wiped out to make sure no dust or hair was hiding. As
the drapes were taken down and replaced with freshly cleaned ones, Chris Jones arrived from
maintenance and checked over all the room's mechanicals. While he was checking the bathroom, he
noticed a small rust stain on the toilet seat. Teresa could not scrub it off, so Chris went off to find a new
toilet seat to replace the old one. Nothing in the room made of wood escaped the polishing cloths. At
around 1:00 P.M., Jessie arrived from the restaurant with the hotel's platinum amenities package: a
miniature wicker chair about two feet high containing cheese, crackers, a bottle of wine, fruit,
nuts, and bread sticks interlaced with packets of hard candy made by the hotel chef.
Personalized matchbooks embossed with Mr. Bigbucks's' initials, a vase of fresh-cut flowers, and a
gilt-edged note signed by Mr. Thompson himself completed the amenities. The installation of the
sparkling new toilet seat was completed just ten minutes before.
Gail gazed down at the undisturbed herringbone pattern in the carpeting, left 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 front desk, and went off to see if she could sneak in a few bites of lunch.
4:35 P.M.
Mr. Bigbucks arrived at the hotel looking a bit rumpled from the long plane trip and the taxi 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 unoccupied spot along the regular front desk area and
waited until a front desk agent could break away from the group check-ins.
"Good afternoon, welcome to the ABC Hotel, my name is Joan. How can I help you?"
"Hi, my name is Bigbucks. 1 have a reservation for tonight."
"Let me check that for you." The computer keys ticked quickly. "Yes, you'll be staying for one night.
Do you need help with your luggage?"
"No, 1 have just one small bag."
Joan finished the check-in process, smiling and remembering to make frequent eye contact, and
gave Mr. Bigbucks the key packet to room 616.
4:40 P.M.
When Mr. Bigbucks opened the door to 616, he was mildly disappointed to find nothing waiting for
him in the room. The room was spotless and fresh, but at most hotels he found flowers, chocolates,
maybe a note to welcome him. Here.. .nothing. Maybe it's because I'm only staying one night, he
thought, although he didn't know why that would make a difference. His flight had been delayed, so he
arrived at the hotel much later than he'd planned 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 P.M.
Dr. Lucky, a dentist from Omaha, walked up to the front desk with a suitcase in each hand. He was
in town for a three-day meeting at the city's convention center near the hotel. "I'd like a suite please,"
he said.
Dr. Lucky put his bags down while the front desk agent scanned the computer terminal. "We have a
suite on the eighth floor available." A bell attendant started to place Dr. Lucky's bags on a luggage cart
but Dr. Lucky stopped him. He liked to save money on his business trips whenever he could. He
collected his room key, rode the elevator to the eighth floor, and followed the arrows to 816. He set his
suitcases down and fumbled briefly with the electronic door lock before swinging the door open. He bent
to pick up his bags. When he caught sight of the suite, he straightened up slowly, the bags forgotten.
"Wow!" he sighed reverently.

5:35 P.M.
After hesitating a moment over stepping on the perfectly 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
decided to splurge a bit on this trip. I've got to do this more often, 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—he'd never seen any quite like them before—when he
noticed a note on the dresser:
Dear Mr. Bigbucks:
We hope you enjoy your stay with the ABC Hotel. If there is anything we
can do to make your experience with us more pleasant, please let us
know.
Jim Thompson, General Manager
Dr. 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?

5:40 P.M.
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 directions.

6:00 P.M.
Dr. Lucky changed into more casual clothes and decided to spend the evening finding the convention
center and exploring the city around the hotel. It was an easy decision to wait until tomorrow morning
to call the front desk and straighten out the mix-up.

Tuesday 8:00 A.M.

Dr. Lucky went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Since he planned to go back to his room
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. Dr. Lucky promised himself he would
stop at the front desk and get things straightened out when he got back. 8:30 A.M.
Mr. Bigbucks picked up his bag and pulled the door to room 616 closed behind him. He hadn't slept
well. He was hoping the all-day meeting at corporate headquarters would end early so he could
change his seven o'clock flight back home to something earlier. At the front desk, the agent was
exceptionally friendly and efficient. On the way out to his cab Mr. Bigbucks passed Ray Smith. Ray
was in a hurry; he had another meeting with the general manager about improving guest service.

Discussion Questions
1. What did the ABC Hotel do wrong? Ray do not type in the new room for Mr. Bigbucks.
2. How could the hotel have recovered with Mr. Bigbucks had it discovered its mistake while he
was still at the hotel? Manager will apologize Mr. Bigbucks of their mistake and immidiately
replace with new suit room. We can offe the discount or even free for that night
How can the hotel recover with Mr. Bigbucks now? General manager sends the apologize letter and
refund the money or money.
3. What procedures should the hotel put in place to avoid such a mix-up in the future?
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