 Which
Way do I Go?
Dubai
International Airport is one of my favorite airports
in the world. It’s big, clean and exciting. But
in such a terrific environment, little inconveniences
stand out.
Inside this great airport is a modern and attractive
hotel. Inside the transit area is an elevator going
up from arrivals and departures to the hotel floors.
In the elevator, clear buttons read: Departures, Arrivals,
Hotel 1, and Hotel 2.
If you wanted to check-in at the hotel, which button
would you push?
We pushed ‘Hotel 1’, which took us to a
residential floor with no reception desk; only a long
hallway with locked hotel room doors.
We got back in the elevator and pushed ‘Hotel
2’, which took us up to another floor with a long
hallway of locked doors.
We got back in the elevator and wondered where to go.
Thinking we must have missed something, we returned
to the departure level.
Once again, however, there was nothing and no one to
assist us. Finally, with only one choice left, we got
back in the elevator and pressed ‘Arrivals’.
Stepping out of the elevator we turned left and walked
toward a bar in a large lobby area. It was early afternoon
and no one was behind the counter.
We turned around and saw another counter across the
lobby. There was no sign, but there were two people
waving at us and smiling.
We crossed the landing and found ourselves, finally,
at the hotel reception counter.
When I explained what happened in the elevator, the
staff apologized and said, ‘We know. It happens
all the time.’
I asked why there was no sign in the elevator pointing
to the hotel reception desk. I asked why there was no
sign outside the elevator directing guests to ‘Reception’.
I asked why there was no sign even at the desk itself.
‘We know,’ she said again politely. ‘Everyone
asks us that. We have asked for signs many times, but
we are still waiting. The airport did a renovation behind
the desk recently to change the colors, and we were
hoping for signs, but they did not come.’
On my way out, we took a different elevator. Someone
(in desperation?) had made a small sign reading ‘Reception’
and pasted it inside the elevator near the buttons.
The little sign is paper, handmade and peeling.
The handwritten sign looks pathetic amid such elegant
steel and glass, but at least in one elevator someone
did something – and that’s better than doing
nothing at all.
Key Learning
Point
Awkward service situations
can persist for days, months, even years, with no one
looking carefully to improve them. Is this happening at
your company or organization?
If you look closely, can you find a ‘small thing’
that could be done better? Will you make that change right
now or will you allow another day, month or year of customer
inconvenience to pass ?
Action Steps
I always recommend
improvements when I see the opportunity and the need.
You can do this, too. But remember, action counts.
Just talking about it doesn’t count for much.
PS: One week after I sent this suggestion to the airport,
new elevator signage was installed. Bravo Dubai Airport!
Next Article in Customer Service Perception Points >>
The Words You Choose to Use
First Article in Customer Service Recovery >>
What to do When Your Customer is About to Explode
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