PLIGHTS AND INSIGHTS

Reach Out

NANCY M. LEVENBURG Nancy Levenburg, PhD, is a recently retired professor of management in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. She is the president of Edgewater Consulting and a member of Spring Lake Country Club in Spring Lake, MI. For more information, contact her at: levenbun@gvsu.edu or (616) 821-5678.

“Reach Out I’ll Be There” was a song performed by the Four Tops on “The Ed Sullivan Show” way back in 1966. “Reach Out and Touch [Somebody’s Hand]” was Diana Ross’ first solo single (1970).

“Reach out – reach out and touch someone” formed an AT&T advertising campaign and jingle. And today, “reach out” means trying to communicate with a person or a group of people, usually to help or involve them, according to the Cambridge Dictionary.

I hear “reach out” a lot. It seems to be one of those buzzwords that business folks – in fact, just about everybody – seem to be fond of using – along with other overused words and phrases, like “touch base,” “no-brainer,” “run it up the flagpole,” and “circle back.” Unfortunately, because “reach out” has been used so often – and so casually – it seems it has lost its meaning.

Here’s an example. A friend and I recently made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go on a mini vacation to the U.P. in Michigan. For those readers who are not Michiganders, U.P. (or UP) is the abbreviation for the Upper Peninsula, even though the lower peninsula of Michigan (where I live) is not referred to as the L.P. (Instead, we’re referred to as “fudgies” by Yoopers – those who live in the UP.).

We decided to visit and go kayaking along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, see the Tahquamenon Falls (one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River), and go bike riding at Mackinac Island (no cars are allowed on the island).

A four-day “Thelma & Louise” type of adventure. And although we encountered numerous hotels along our travels with “no vacancy” signs, we were able to secure a stay our final night at a two-story chain hotel in St. Ignace, which was beautifully situated along the stunning shores of Lake Michigan.

Unfortunately, “beautifully situated” is about the only positive thing I can say about this hotel. The room itself was in deplorable condition. So deplorable, in fact, that I took photos and wrote to the president of the parent hotel as soon as I returned home. What was wrong with the room?

A broken bed frame; a bathroom door that was battered, missing trim, and would not stay closed – even when locked; a broken plexiglass magazine that was nailed to the wall; holes in ceiling tiles; electrical cords that did not stay in outlets when inserted… you get the idea. And the “free breakfast” that was advertised consisted only of a fruit cup, a 1.3 ounce Kellogg’s NutriGrain bar, and a packaged muffin.

I received a reply from “Melissa” in the presidential office/ customer care department. She offered her “sincere apologies” and stated, “I will inform our operations team who will reach out to the property ownership group to review the experiences you shared and use this as an example to better improve our service and product.”

Melissa also offered to add 15,000 reward points to my friend’s account (since we booked the stay under her name) – enough, Melissa said, for an overnight stay in a “level two” property…whatever that means.

And what did Melissa do for me? Absolutely nothing. I could care less that she reached out to the property ownership group – I wanted her to reach out to me. I was the one who had to sleep in the bed with the broken frame that was resting on the floor, so it formed a “V” shape. Very uncomfortably, I might add.

So, all Melissa’s wonderful words about telling me that I was important and a valued customer and “your feedback is very important to the brand and you have our assurances we will investigate this” meant absolutely zero if she didn’t help me.

In fact, to make matters worse, because the font in the email she sent was two different colors (black and blue), it was obvious to me that she had used these words before and had merely copied and pasted them into my email. And exactly how special, important or valued did that make me feel? I’m only good enough for a copy and paste…?

Interestingly, too, when I replied to Melissa’s email to say that I remained extremely disappointed, particularly since I was the one who had to sleep in the bed with a broken frame (which I feel is absolutely inexcusable in a hotel), I received an automatically generated reply that stated: “Thank you! We’ve received your message. We will respond within 24-72 hours. We are currently experiencing a higher than normal volume, your patience is greatly appreciated.”

What!?! They admit that they’re receiving a higher than normal volume of mail in the customer care department? If other folks are being treated the same way I was, I’m not one bit surprised. Are you?

The bottom line for your folks in customer care/retention: If you’re going to “reach out” to your customers, at least be sincere in your efforts. And do something for your customers. BR