The Golden Rule to Get 100% Customer Satisfaction. Get this WRONG, and you will ALWAYS FAIL.

It is a chilling evening in October. The night shift is well underway, with the restaurant finishing occupying all their tables and the hotel expecting just under ten bookings to arrive.

Tonight is the last night I have to ensure the new night manager feels confident about doing the job independently. This means that I am only here to intervene when absolutely necessary. They are in control tonight.

Naturally, I still set up as per my typical protocols, looking at the remaining arrivals and anticipating only one problem—a big problem. A few months ago, the very involved General Manager left, and under the new management, little attention is now paid to returning guests (the bulk of our business). Orders from the revenue team tonight are not to upgrade a Mr & Mrs White, returning for their 60th stay at the hotel, booked in a standard room. The loss of revenue by offering a complimentary upgrade would not be too significant. Still, the new direction is to stop spoiling the returning clientele, especially when staying just under 10 nights.

I take my time to review the extensive profile notes and immediately understand that they prefer the larger rooms facing south as they get more natural light. Complaints were logged every time they stayed in the suites (despite their larger size), and the comments were that they were too dark, dampening their overall happiness.

The night manager is well-trained, and this has also been spotted. They place a suite on the side, anticipating a complaint that the guests will dispute staying in the room they have booked as they expect an upgrade. I ask if they are absolutely sure that this is the strategy they want to go with. They say "yes" and list all of the standard amenities in the suite, expecting Mr & Mrs White to recognise the gesture and be delighted with the suite.

The moment has arrived, and so does the guest. The night manager hits the usual points, makes good conversation, delivers the key, and shows the couple to the lift, saying, "Enjoy your stay!". The night manager looks relieved until I ask, "I don't think I heard you confirm the room type, though". I am met by dismissing remark that "it is fine, they know what they booked". A few moments go by, and the lift doors open; Mr White charges the desk whilst Mrs White tells the bellboy who was about to catch the lift to stay put; they are not staying with us after all.

The night manager naturally apologises, while Mr White turns almost purple from screaming. "After all of our stays here, I do not understand why you are treating us this badly," Mr White says. The night manager tells Mr White that this will be rectified immediately and shows Mr and Mrs White to the backup suite, fearing losing the revenue of almost ten nights. In the meantime, I continue looking after the other guests and the lobby.

I am now waiting to see what happens with the alternative suite being shown. It does not go well.

Mr & Mrs White return with the night manager and ask the bellboy to arrange a taxi. The night manager comes to me dismissing how they feel about the suite but also concerned about how this will look with senior management. I now had to intervene.

"Mr White, may I have one moment of your time before you leave?" I ask. He looks at me, sizing me up and doesn't seem too impressed. "I am very disappointed with the hospitality I received tonight", he replies, not giving me approval or rejection. "Mr White, firstly, I apologise for the service you received tonight. You are right; I will report on this to ensure we learn and improve. I would hate for you and Mrs White to go elsewhere when you have been loyal supporters of our hotel. I have another studio that I believe is better suited to what you are looking for; it would give you ample space and, more importantly, has a lot of natural light, making the room feel fresh. If you give me a moment to show it, I believe it would be the room you are looking for". The offer was too enticing, and Mr and Mrs White agreed to see the room. They barely took ten steps in and immediately said they would take it. I explained the differences between the rooms and asked if they would agree to pay half the price of the difference. They immediately agreed.

When I returned to the desk, the night manager was in awe and angry. They couldn't believe the guest would take a smaller room than the suite, "I showed them a suite! Why on earth would they ever take a smaller studio?!". I explained, "Because everything is about perceived value. The notes about the guest mentioned that they like natural light. For us, the suite is more expensive and, therefore, more valuable; for them, it is not. We all need to listen to what the guest is telling us and pay attention to the things that perhaps are not obvious, but they make a service bespoke".

A few months later, we sat down together and discussed that night and how it had changed how they listened to guests. Complaints have a magical way of disappearing when you just listen to who is speaking.

The golden rule is simple yet easy to get wrong: just listen.

Even though the room type should have been confirmed on arrival, this was purposefully missed so that we would avoid dealing with the guest complaining immediately. This only made things worse.

Since first taking the mantle of Reception Manager back in 2018, how I handle complaints has changed significantly. In most cases (ones not requiring a technical aspect), I purposefully avoid listening to colleagues explaining what happened that led to the complaint. Instead, I will go directly to the guest, introduce myself, and take the conversation from there. When hearing the complaint beforehand, most of us will automatically start formulating arguments, coming up with ideas to provide a solution immediately or, worse, armouring ourselves and telling the guest to find a place where the sun doesn't shine.

Most may still think that it is essential to listen to everything from our colleagues so you can go prepared with a ready-made solution; in my experience and from what I have witnessed, it makes the guests feel entirely dismissed and that they are more of a nuisance than someone valued. Nine out of ten times, most of the complaints I handle by just listening are resolved with a straightforward conversation, and the guests are happy to report publicly on their experience.

Failure to do this is what leads to abysmal service.

Some light housekeeping: names have been modified, and certain elements of the story have changed to protect identities and other sensitive information.