Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less Stress

Posted on February 28, 2012 Written by Leave a Comment

SanteSpaVictoria 300x168 Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less StressI haven’t been to many spas. It’s not that I think they’re some kind of attack on my manhood, it’s just they aren’t something I think about. The only time I’ve done some “spa-ing” was during an all-inclusive stay at a resort in the Dominican Republic where a 4’11 woman beat the crap out of me (in a good way) before making my feet look pretty (in a manly way). Jen Spencer, Spa Director at Sante Spa Victoria, heard that I do a blog on customer service and figured she’d put her spa to my challenge with a complimentary experience. It’s on, Jen!

Full disclosure: I know Jen personally and she knew I wouldn’t be nice even if she offered me a massage for the low, low price of free.

THE ORDER
I made the appointment for an earlyish Sunday morning for what Sante Spa describes as a “Relaxation Massage.” Being a bit of a spa novice, I thought all massages were relaxing but that shows you what I know. I made my way into the swanky foyer where I was quickly greeted by one of the front desk staff. She smiled, took my jacket and handed me a medical checklist to fill out…a pretty extensive medical checklist. Well, probably best to know everything so there’s no surprises. I was given a quick tour and led to the change room to get “robe ready”…I just came up with that (this phrase is not endorsed by Sante Spa). As soon as I was ready, I was greeted by Dana who told me she’d be my masseuse for the hour and then asked me where she should focus: full body or back/shoulders. Stress has made my back/shoulders hate me so I asked her to give them a beating. I slipped under the covers and Dana went to work. After 60 minutes, I was a relaxed “muscle puddle” (also not endorsed by Sante Spa) that spilled out into a relaxation room and finally into a mineral pool. Unfortunately, eventually my brain had to switch back to “errands to do” mode, but really, not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning.

THE SERVICE
The engagement and service can be split into three parts: front staff, tour and masseuse.  

Episode 1: The Front Counter Staff – Clear, friendly, to the point. Beyond the medical checklist, I didn’t really talk much with the front counter. Their roles seemed far more as facilitators than anything else. They made eye contact, they smiled, they answered any questions I had…plainly, they got me closer to the service I was there for. Beyond a little small talk (which may or may not be necessary, and it wasn’t for me), they were grand.

Episode 2: The Tour – Got me where I need to go. I’m not sure if they do the quick tour for everyone but let’s assume they do. After taking my coat, the staff member walked me to where I was going, a waiting room and the change room. She did point to other rooms but really didn’t go far in explaining them. Having never been there before, it would have been nice to know if there were any facilities beyond the 4-5 rooms (massage, changing, sauna, waiting room and mineral pool) I was directed to. If that’s it, then that’s fine but it wasn’t much of a tour. More of a: that’s that, that’s this and you go in there.

Episode 3: The Massage. Dana was fantastic. As soon as I was changed, she was waiting for me to take me to my room and proceeded to be with me every step of the way without feeling intrusive. During the massage, she asked every once in a while how I was doing…which is great for someone with as little experience as myself. How do I know what I like? What’s too much? Too little? When I told her she was “adequately kicking my ass”, she laughed. Apparently she was giving light to medium pressure. I’m a wuss. But you know what, it was a good place to start and I’ll have a baseline for next time. She was friendly, engaging and I’d highly recommend her.

THE CONCLUSION
spork21 Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less Stressspork21 Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less Stressspork21 Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less Stressspork21 Sante Spa Victoria: Service with Less StressGoing steady – This could be the beginning of something major. Our date started off pretty formal and matter-of-fact but when we finally connected…damn. You were there for me, talked enough to keep me engaged but not so much as to ruin our time together. I didn’t have a lot of experience on these kind of dates but I’m definitely up for another.

Service Rating System:

Friend Zone – I just don’t like you in “that way.”
Booty Call - If I don’t have anything else better going on, I’ll stop by.
2nd Date – I’ll give you a second chance.
Going steady – This could be the beginning of something major.

Filed Under: My Reviews Tagged: , , ,

How Do You Define Customer Service?

Posted on February 25, 2012 Written by Leave a Comment

Recently I did a blog post about definitions, and whether it’s Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, or one of those stuffy academia types,  it’s important to go back to the source.

“The provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.” – Wikipedia

“Assistance and other resources that a company provides to the people who buy or use its products or services.” – Dictionary.com

“The assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services.” – Oxford Dictionary

“Nada, zip, zilch” – Merriam-Webster (apparently don’t define “customer service”)

But what’s also as important is listening to your customers. How do you define customer service. If businesses had a better understanding of what you’re looking for, would they be better prepared to offer it?

Over to you:

people speaking at once 300x290 How Do You Define Customer Service?

What are your customers saying?

@lemonzestlady – Really CARING about cust. needs/wants. Doing everything to convey: I CARE, YOU and your satisfaction are important 2 me.

@koltie – a real and interesting conversation. Listening.

@toomuchrock4one – Good customer service=feeling listened to and having my questions answered honestly or admitting that they don’t know the answer.

@PatrickTussie – Good customer service: Eye contact, genuine smile. A “welcome to my home” attitude. Polite, courteous, knowledgeable…

@kevwrites – Nobody goes to bed angry.

Corey James Rolston Smile and a wink! But if it’s a waiter it’s awkward.

Emily Skey Outstanding customer service is when you feel like you should reciprocate and do something nice for the ‘server’ in return. You forget it’s their job.

Scott McDonald To be treated as you would like to be treated. In order to do that the server, adviser, etc MUST qualify you – Why are you there? Who are you buying for? What are your likes/dislikes? Are you buying now or later? Why are you buying? So, in a sentence: Good customer service is that which quickly, but patiently and unobtrusively identifies a customer’s real needs and then exceeds them.

Doug Brown Good customer service is when I walk out feeling like I am their most important customer and I therefore become their salesman in the market.

Krista Waddington Johnston Genuinely giving a s**t about your customer and their needs. And as Scott said, exceed them.

Though these definitions are all different, they do have some pretty similar themes: genuine, feeling of importance,  exceeding expectation, really caring…and it’s not like we haven’t heard all this before. The issue is that we keep hearing these things.

 

Filed Under: My Tips Tagged: , , , ,

5 Reasons Why You Should Not Expect a Tip

Posted on February 2, 2012 Written by 35 Comments
tip on table 199x300 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Expect a Tip

No Tip for You!

This past Fall, my girlfriend and I took to the road for a trip to Disneyland. She’d never been (insert gasp) and I hadn’t been as an adult. Let the frivolity commence. One of our stops really made me stop and think about how tips have now become expected. While at Storytellers Café, a part of the Disney Grand Californian Hotel, we had a whirlwind of servers (only saw ours at the beginning and the end) and a less than remarkable experience only to be presented with a card in our bill fold explaining the way tipping worked, and how much gratuity is in the United States. What? Huh? Come again? Tipping isn’t a right. As I’ve mentioned before, I lived in that service industry world a long, long, tear, long time (12 years) and depended on tips. So, I feel I can throw this question back at those gratuity-expectant servers – “Did you do anything to deserve a tip?”

Here are a couple of reasons you shouldn’t get your 15%-20% (automatic for parties of 8 or more):

1)   You don’t add to the experience.

From the moment I walked through your doors to the moment I leave, can you say you in any way made my experience better? Just doing your job doesn’t count. For example: If your job is to make a sandwich and you do that, you didn’t improve my experience. If your job is to tell me about your product, you didn’t improve my experience. If you smiled…sorry, that’s the bare minimum of making it all better.

2)   You don’t engage in any way.

Did you make eye contact with me when you did your quality check (coming back to a table to ask if you’re enjoying your meal)? It doesn’t happen as often as you’d think. Did you try to connect to me on a human-level rather than just an exchange of goods and services? If the answer is no…no tip for you.

3)   You aren’t present.

We all have bad days. We all have other things going on in our lives besides the 8ish hours a day we work. Or the 6ish hours servers work. Customers completely understand that. But if you’re day dreaming or chatting it up with other co-workers instead of catching the eye of a customer trying to get service, you’re not “present.”  You’re “presently” wasting your employers and my time.

4)   You can’t be bothered.

The customer isn’t there to ruin your day, cause you grief or generally put a crimp in your style, they just want you to do your job. You may think what you’re doing is pretty important but if it doesn’t involve getting me a drink, food or helping another customer…it isn’t. How many times have you talked to staff and it seemed like you were bothering them? Sorry about that…oh and yeah, no tip.

5)   You are part of the problem, not the solution.

When a guest comes into your store, they’re looking to have a problem solved. They’re hungry, feel caffeine-deprived, want to get out of the house … Any number of things are not working for them so they want your food or service to make it all better. Are you getting in the way of that? Is your attitude or lack of interest in your job stopping the customer satisfaction from happening?  Forget about that grat.

This Top 5 is full of “Don’t…aren’t…can’t.” Aim for “do, are and can.” Tips are a reflection of added value. Your work can’t just be about order-taking but rather how you left your customer feeling after you engaged with them. Just doing your job doesn’t count.

Filed Under: My Tips Tagged: , , , , , ,