Clark Brian Howard is a popular consumer expert and host of the nationally syndicated Clark Howard Show. His daily talk radio show advises consumers on ways to save more, spend less, avoid rip-offs, prepare their finances for the future, and squeeze every cent out of their dollar.

I have heard him many times talk about “customer no service” when discussing certain companies who are driven by money instead of what is best for their customers.

A story was recently shared with me of a hotel that was the mirror image of this.

Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A man had stayed in a city on numerous occasions. There were 3 hotels on the right side of the road and 1 on the left side of the road. He normally stayed in one of the three hotels on the right side, which were local hotels. The service was fantastic at these hotels.

On his last visit, he decided to stay in the hotel on the left side because it was a nationally known hotel chain. Since the price was comparable, he thought he would receive even better service. He received a major disappointment.

He arrived a little bit early and when he went to the desk some workers were behind the desk carrying on a conversation. Finally, they paused long enough to ask what he wanted. He told them that he had a reservation and if possible would like to check in early. They told him to come back in 2 hours and he could check in.

The next morning when he went to leave, his car would not start, so he went to the front desk and ask if someone could assist him and they told him no. Since it was in the middle of the week and there were not many customers, he asked the clerk if she could jump off his car because the battery is dead. The lady said no. I can’t do that. The man eventually found someone next door at a fast food restaurant who came to his rescue.

He vowed that he would never stay in that hotel again. They would have made the Clark Howard show on customer no service.

Several years ago I heard about how bad news travels. If someone has a great experience he or she will tell 5 people who will tell 4 others for a net result of 20; however, if someone has a bad experience he or she will tell 5 others who will tell 11 others for a net result of 55.

As a business professional, you can’t afford to be the star of “customer no service” because the news will travel almost 3 times faster than any good service that you have performed.

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       James Barber

       Author of The Networking Guru

       Networking-Guru.com