You Get What You Pay For

I ventured out to ERE and IAEWS yesterday in San Diego. And I do mean ventured. I think in my efforts to save my company money- "marketing dollars" that I tried too hard. I achieved success and in the process, achieved a horrible experience.

Yes, I am staying in a dump. I have teased, stating that I was saving my marketing dollars for advertising on RecruitingBlogs.com. It is, in a sense, true. It seems completely frivolous to pay over $200 for a bed for one night and so..., I refuse, and in the process, one might think I lose but what I truly gain is perspective.

I checked in... FAIL.
I checked in..., again.... FAIL.
Third time's a charm, right?

Thank goodness right. This time, there were clean sheets on the bed and no hash browns in the counter (like the first room they me). When you go without, then you truly appreciate the "with."

While perceived value is important, actual value is even better. What kind of experience are you giving your client? Your Hiring Manager? Do they really know you? Do they wantt to know you? Should they know you? If not, check out. The name you are giving our game isn't good enough.

We have enough "yahoos" messing up the room or leaving the place a disgrace. Don't mess it up for the rest of us. Whether you are a Hilton or a Vagabond Inn. A Target or a Sak's 5th Avenue. Ocean-Front property or the crappy apartment complex on Fifth. You get what pay for, yes. But are you giving more than what you paid.

You can't always afford the best.
You can't always get the top of the
line.

But as a service provider, do you really fulfill the promises in your "About Us" page?
Promises unfulfilled are promises broken. No matter how you slice it.

So, how are you gonna slice it?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fran Hogan on March 16, 2010 at 10:26am

You are a trooper Rayanne. I was too busy feeling badly about your terrible accommodations to notice your typos.
I am sure you will be making the best of this experience and will come away with value for you and your company.
Safe travels!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on March 16, 2010 at 4:46pm

Was the hash brown part of the breakfast included with the room?

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Permalink Reply by Randy Levinson on March 16, 2010 at 5:11pm

Rayanne,
I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I recently had a less than stellar hotel experience and I came away with the same feeling. My philosophy is - if you are going to do just one thing, do it exceptionally well. I was going to relate a story about one of my wife's experiences during the birth of one of our children and I had to pull the intern aside to offer just this advice. the details would be TMI but I think the female readers of this blog will get it without the details. Suffice it to say that this is an earmark for great customer service. Boil down what you do to a reasonable and memorable mission statement and then do that better than anyone else ever has or would do. That's great customer service no matter what business you are in.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 12:46pm

One of those hotel room that makes you feel like you need a cheneille bathrobe with a safety pin holding it together and a bottle of bad gin that goes with the exposed lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

The only attitude one can take about these disasters is that they will make a great story someday. I checked into one of those places on the horse show circuit once that convinced me that no one had stayed there since the James gang went through Kansas. Suffice it to say that sleeping on the hay in front of the stalls in a barn was a lot cleaner and safer and i was ready to ride very early the next morning.

I just have one question. How did you know it was hashbrowns? Don't answer that. :)