DailyGREEN: Speak up!
‘i’m going to write a letter.’
my friends all make fun of me because i say that ALL. THE. TIME.
no, really, i do.
in jr. high, we spent a week in language arts class (that’s what they called it ‘back then’) writing letters to companies to both praise them and complain. and almost all of us heard back. it was a valuable lesson for me and to this day, i write letters all the time. i think people who do good work deserve a pat on the back and i know how good a few words of praise can feel. but i also think that a company can only improve if they know what the problem is. and i’m not going to lie, sometimes you get some free loot as a result; just a happy little bonus if you ask me.
last weekend i stayed at a hyatt summerfield suites outside of philly. it was an almost entirely excellent experience. clean, friendly, convenient. but something happened our second day there that really frustrated me: housekeeping came in to ‘clean’ and spent their 2 minutes in our suite putting two coffee mugs in the dishwasher (and nothing else) and turning it on. it was a complete waste of time, energy and water and an indication of poor training. either hyatt is not training their staff (or contractors) appropriately, or hyatt doesn’t really care about the same things i do. as a big corporation, i find that horribly irresponsible and frankly, a total turn off. one seemingly small thing essentially ruined an otherwise pleasant experience for me and will absolutely impact my decision to stay with them again in the future.
but just venting online or to my friends is silly. its unproductive. so, i let the front desk know (and got a rather predictable response), but i also submitted a written comment online. this might seem futile, but i’m telling you, they get read. as i said before, i almost always get a response. and hopefully they will take that feedback and make a change. i can’t blame hyatt for a housekeeping team’s single action, but i can let them know and help them solve the problem.
next time you are unsatisfied, or thrilled with your experience, speak up! its a hell of a lot more productive than ranting and raving all by your lonesome. choose to be a part of the solution.
