In Nigeria, I check the customer service in a hotel by going to the gym at 04:30 am. (Well, that is if they have a gym or know where the keys are.)
Usually, at that time, the makeup is off and you can check professionalism and care.
In most cases, you find staff sprawled across chairs and floors, in unsightly ways. At the sound of your footsteps, some jump into action, making you wonder if they’re human, but most go into a slow startup process, requiring prompts with your voice.
What I have not figured out is if “behind the scene” rooms and beds cannot be provided for these staff, considering management clearly knows they sleep. There are cameras everywhere.
And if they’re not supposed to be sleeping, why is it condoned?
In digging deeper into this question, I found out that hotel workers, especially receptionists have some of the worst working hours and pay. You will be shocked at what they earn and the shifts they put in. You will wonder how they still muster a smile. You will understand why they do the minimum required and why you always have to ask for the manager or supervisor.
I have had people complain about dirty shower heads, dusty curtains, dirty drawers, dusty corners and lots more.
What we should do more is look into the eyes of the receptionist, look beyond the smile and ask, “how are you feeling?”
Talk to the hotel porter while on the way to your room. Don’t let them get away with rambling. Hold his eyes and ask, “how are you feeling?”
And if you do not want to connect because you’re scared that a tip might be required at the end of the conversation, just pay attention.
Most customer service companies do not take care of their internal customers. You can stretch that to say, they do not even care about you (the intended customers) either. They just want to have as short a time with you as possible, and milk as much as they can, before moving on.
The longer you stay or the deeper you check, the more you realise, that there is more to the opportunity in hospitality than anyone is currently exploring.
In most cases, we are funding the worst living conditions for other humans, and still complain that they do not give more.
Just as we demand for better maintained infrastructure in hotels, we can go a step further, and ask for better maintained people.
– Osasu Oviawe