58. The Small Little Touches

Here are some examples:


  • The Starbucks barista serving small cups of water to the queueing customers as they await for their takeaway drinks.
  • At the Bhava Spa in Bangkok, the employees always walk out to welcome arriving customers. They also ensure that the customers' shoes are turned around ready for wear during departure. Similarly, they always accompany the departing customers out of the spa building until they reach the end of the driveway.
  • Once, the Okura Prestige Hotel had overbooked and ended up having to "walk the guests" and have them stay at the adjacent hotel. Yes, the limousine was offered and yes, F&B privileges were also extended. But what made the real difference was that the Director of Rooms, along with a few other staff of the first hotel stood ready at the second place of accommodation to convey their personal apologies and offered further assistance. (Most hotels would have just let things be and shy away from meeting the guests who were definitely not in the best of mood!)
  • When housekeeping teams leave small packet of microfibre cloth next to the laptop or sunglasses. Or a bookmark for an unfinished book. Or the cable wrap to tidy up charging cables (even though these touches are getting more common now).
  • Receiving an unexpected note of acknowledgement in the guest room for the delayed breakfast service that morning.

Reflective thoughts: What are some other small little touches that easily make a positive difference and turn a negative into a positive?

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