My favorite vacation spot is Hawaii. My love of the island of Oahu came from my grandmother, it was her favorite island. It was my honor to take her there the last time she got to visit the island before she passed away.
We stayed at a hotel in Waikiki and had booked the penthouse suite. When I went to check in, the front desk asked for all the names of the people who would be staying in the suite (it slept up to 14). I told them it was just my grandmother and I. The girl’s face dropped and replied “Just 2?” Yes, I replied, smiling.
Lesson #1: Customer service counts and it starts with your first impression, whether face-to-face or online.
That night we asked the concierge for a recommendation for dinner. He asked if we wanted authentic or tourist — we responded authentic and within walking distance (Grandma was in her 80’s by now). He told us to go across the street, down the ramp of a parking garage and look to the right. OK…
We walked down the ramp but really didn’t need to look for a sign, the smells coming out of this place were incredible and there were colored pictures of Chinese food dishes taped to the windows, so we were in the right place.
Lesson #2: Be flexible and take guidance from people who are smarter than you.
We walked in and found no additional customers in the entire place but could smell wonderful food. We both thought we should leave, but the smells were AMAZING. We are seated toward the back of the restaurant — large round tables of 10 filled the restaurant. The waitress seemed terribly nervous but was pleasant enough. We placed our order after looking at the extensive menu and waited.
Lesson #3: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Something wonderful always happens when you are willing to get uncomfortable.
As soon as the waitress walked into the kitchen, all hell broke loose. The chef started to scream (in Chinese, but I am pretty sure it was cursing) and he started throwing pots and pans. He even came out to see who we were while holding a large carving knife. After returning to the kitchen, we received the first of several courses of the best Chinese food we had ever had.
Lesson #4: You can make a lot of noise, but you still have to do the work.
So even though the chef really didn’t want to serve us and he made a lot of noise about doing it, he still had to do the work. As we headed out, the front door opened and about 200 Chinese tourists poured into the restaurant — filling the 20 tables of 10 in front. Trays of beautifully cooked fish, fresh vegetables and soups started flowing from the kitchen like a beautiful parade.
What we realized is that we had interrupted the chef getting ready for the 200 guests coming in about an hour after we arrived. We were 2 ladies from the main land, who were also customers, so we were also important and received the best meal of our trip!
Lesson #5: No matter how small, every sales counts!
Cathi Harley, Sr. Vice President
