Customers, Engagement, and Loyalty

 My family and I have been stranded in Montana for almost a week, now, waiting for repairs on our Miles City Hotel & Suites, the nicest hotel in town. They feature an indoor pool and spa, guest laundry, a hot breakfast, and, in their words, "ultra hi-speed Wi-Fi." (Fast Internet was an important feature. As a Google engineer, I live and die on Internet access.)

truck to be completed so we can finish our road trip and return home to Seattle. We've been staying at

We expect our truck to be all fixed late this afternoon. As I consider our departure tomorrow morning to resume our road trip, I got to thinking about this home-away-from-home here at the hotel.

I've had a few occasions to chat with Cheryl, the general manager here at the hotel. She covered the 3pm-7pm shift on the front desk this past weekend. From talking with her and the other front desk staff, I gathered that the hotel had recently given up its Holiday Inn franchise. Holiday Inn was being too picky about the decor and also expected the hotel to increase its room capacity by 50%, even if the local market or the building site would not support such expansion.

Well, my impression is that this hotel knows its business. The decor is very pleasant. The walls feature works by local Montana artists, the hotel has not been crowded, and the service here has been excellent.

Well, except for the Internet access. The Wi-Fi at the back of the hotel was acting up. Without getting too technical, I explained to Cheryl that it looked like their onsite authentication server needed to be rebooted. She put a call into their Internet vendor, Mid Rivers Communications, here in Miles City. It took three days, but they finally sent out a technician and fixed that server. (I also explained to Cheryl that their Wi-Fi at the front of the hotel was wide open. It did not ask for the pass code that had been provided us upon check-in. Mid Rivers still has not fixed that.)

This morning, as we approach the end of our stay, I find myself genuinely wishing success for this hotel. It has been my home for the past week. These glimpses behind the curtain of what it takes to operate a good hotel have built an emotional connection. I sympathize with the staff and the myriad issues that they must resolve every day. I hope that this hotel and the three local entrepreneurs that own it do really well.

There will be lots of "disposable customers" that walk through their doors --- not customers to throw away, but customers who are just looking for the basic services: a good night's sleep, hot shower, and hearty breakfast. They might expect to never return, to never pass this way again. And if this hotel is closed next time, there are another six or seven in town for them to choose from. These customers consider their connection to this hotel as disposable.

My connection here is not so disposable. I want the hotel to succeed after I go, even if I might never return. It got me to thinking: How can you, dear business owner, cultivate that kind of goodwill with your customers? I propose, as a hypothesis, that you can pull back the curtain and let your customers see how value is created and delivered. There is no intellectual property at stake, no secret sauce.

Granted, there's no need to air your dirty laundry for all to see, but you can let your customers see the industrial laundry room as they walk by. They know that cleaning rooms and serving breakfast is not easy. That's one reason why they pay you to do that sort of thing. Let them see your team at work doing whatever they do to make good on your value proposition.

But go past that. Partner with your customers. For those who are willing, invite them to inform your decisions, to help you create and deliver value back to them and others like them. Don't just take comments on a comment card. Start a conversation. Lead the customer to engage with you and your business. And empower your staff to engage in such conversations.

One-on-one engagement with all of your customers won't scale. It would be prohibitively expensive for you to develop and maintain that kind of relationship with everyone you serve. You and your staff don't have that kind of time. Don't worry. Most of your customers won't want to engage so closely. Others can engage vicariously. By engaging your customer in public, say, on your web site for all to see and comment on, you are letting more customers, both real and potential ones, engage at scale.

Yes, someone might gripe about your service or how you responded to a complaint. But that's not a threat to your business image, it's an opportunity. How you respond to that gripe is what everyone wants to see. Will you acknowledge their concern and either see to it getting fixed or explain why it cannot be fixed easily? Will you direct them to a competitor that is better equipped to meet their particular need? It's an opportunity to engage that customer to learn what they expect and let them partner with you to create and deliver (and sell) value. If that sales price makes your new customer/partner balk, then you've learned about what your customers are looking for and what they are or are not willing to pay to get it. That, in itself, is valuable market intelligence.

Seize the opportunity. Engage your customers. Invite them to help you create and deliver value. Your most loyal customers are your partners.