The Chrystal Service Award Goes To…

Recently, I wrote about asking how you treat your best customers, and while it’s still an extremely valid question (and a huge part of the reason for my visit to Calgary this week), I have another question – and metric – for you to consider?

How do you treat customers you may never see again?

“Well hello, Tim!” she said, as if we were old friends.

Only we weren’t old friends or even friends. She was my restaurant server the day before… and I had never given her my name.

Chrystal would be my server this day as well, and before I sat down, she was pouring my coffee. As she poured, she said:

“Coffee again today, Tim? And water, too?”

“Umm, yes. Yes! Please…” I said, still trying to figure out how she knew my name.

At this point, I should mention I’m staying at the delightful Hotel Blackfoot in Calgary. It’s a busy hotel and hotel restaurant. I say this because Chrystal very likely had dozens of other tables and customers the day of my first visit. So, my surprise (and delight) continued when she came to take my order and said:

“Same as yesterday, Tim, or would you like to try something new?”

“Oh, I think same as yesterday, thank you… I’ll have—,” I said.

“Pancakes, yes, and brown toast, right?” she said.

“Umm, yes. Yes! Please…” I said, still trying to figure out how she knew my name.

I had to know her secret.

“Chrystal,” I said, at the end of breakfast, “what’s your secret?”

“Soory?” she asked. (I’m still unsure how to spell the Canadian version of “sorry” but it sounds way cooler than the American version.)

“You knew my name when I came in,” I said.

“Oh that,” she said, downplaying it, “I just remembered it off the ticket you signed.”

“Okay,” I said, still impressed, “so how did you remember my order amidst all the other customers – whose orders I’m assuming you remembered, too.”

“No secret,” she said.

“Sorry?” I said… not sounding near as cool when I said it as Chrystal.

“Just paying attention.”

How well do your employees pay attention? How well do they focus – even if it’s just for perhaps three seconds at a clip?

How do you expect me to ever pick another Calgary hotel or restaurant when I visit Canada? Or how can you expect me to recommend another hotel or restaurant to my friends and colleagues (including you)?

Yes, your regular customers deserve preferential treatment, but it’s worth mapping your customer experience for new customers as well, and it’s worth asking yourself – as you fine-tune those touch points – how simple, free tools like kindness, focus, and memory can help you turn a simple breakfast into an unforgettable one.

Thanks, Chrystal. Thanks, Blackfoot. Thanks, Calgary!

Oh, and PS – it’s worth noting that another server just came out to the lobby where I’m sitting. I’d forgotten my sweetener on the table, and she was so thankful she got to give it to me personally. She said, “don’t worry now about the voicemail I left in your room.” I didn’t catch the server’s name. I regret that. She was awesome, too.