Ray’s Response Rules!

by Dr. Michael Hudson
Filed under: Build Business, Get Results, Lead People, Take Action

Sometimes when you want to help people get a message, you have to expose a weakness of your own to make a point. This entry is one of those times.

It all started two weeks ago when I traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend a conference. The hotel where we were staying offered a town car shuttle service from the airport, and prior to leaving home I made a reservation for the service.

Upon arriving at the airport I placed a call to the service as they had requested and was told to meet the driver at space 18 outside of the baggage claim area. My traveling companion and I went to space 18 and found not a town car, but a dirty cab that was already occupied by two other people. The driver asked us to load our bags and get inside, but we declined, preferring not to ride in a dirty cab with two strangers. Instead we walked to the cab stand and requested a cab to take us to our destintation.

A few minutes later cab #449 pulled up and Ray jumped out to welcome us to Florida. Right away I knew that we had made the absolute right choice in passing on the group ride! Ray introduced himself, asked where we were headed, loaded our luggage into the trunk and drove us to our destination. As we arrived and were waiting at a traffic light across from the hotel, I noticed that Ray was writing something down.

Before the light changed, Ray turned and handed me a written receipt (the first written receipt from a cab driver that I can remember receiving in years…usually all they do is give you a blank piece of paper that might have their cab number pre-printed on it). He noted that he had written his phone number on it and told us that he would be happy to take us back to the airport when it was time for us to leave, and asked us to give him a call when the time came.

We drove across the street, Ray parked the cab, helped us with our luggage, and wished us a pleasant stay. Then he added a quick thank you and reminded us that he would be more than happy to take us back to the airport. The irony was that the ride with Ray actually cost us less than the alleged town car service, AND we were walking into the hotel before the cab that we turned down arrived (even though it left the airport at least 10 minuts before we did).

Now it probably goes without saying that we planned to use Ray to get back to the airport, but it turns out that the story is just beginning…

After checking into the hotel and heading up to the room, I reached for my cell phone, only to find that it was not in my pocket. After a quick search it became obvious that it was not in my possession anywhere. So what did I do? I called Ray to see if it was in the cab.

Ray quickly answered, checked in the back seat and discovered my phone. He then promised to drop it off at the hotel at 7:45 pm (which was in about 30 minutes).

At 7:45 pm I walked out the front door and there was Ray, smiling and holding my cell phone. He apoligized for my inconvenience…interesting, since he was the one being inconvenienced by having to return with my phone…and said he hoped to see us on Monday when we were heading back to the airport.

As you can no doubt imagine, I shared the story with several of the people I met at the conference and encouraged them to call Ray for a ride back to the airport. Then, on Sunday night when we returned from dinner there was a voice mail from Ray waiting on the hotel phone…wanting to confirm our plans for the morning and assure us that he would get us to the airport quickly and on time.

We called him back and made plans for our return trip. Then the next morning when we walked out of the hotel Ray was waiting as promised, complete with a dry-erase board sign with our names on it.

But the story doesn’t end there. Oddly enough I managed to leave my cell phone in the cab again that morning (I told you this story was not necessarily flattering to me). Once again I called Ray and once again Ray responded. Within 10 minutes he was back at the place where he dropped me off and delivered my missing cell phone to me.

So what is the point of this little story (aside from my needing a better way to keep my cell phone with me)?

First, notice that Ray differentiated himself from the start of our interactions. He got out of the cab, welcomed us, and loaded our bags, AND he told us his name.

Next, he wrote out a receipt, shared his phone number, and asked for the repeat business. The only thing he didn’t do was give me a couple of cards with his number that I could pass along to my friends and associates!

Finally, he responded and provided assistance when I left my cell phone in the cab. He was prompt, curteous, and he did his best to turn down my tip for his extra service of delivering the cell phone.

Action Question: How well would you and/or your team have performed in this situation? Do you deliver Ray’s Response to your customers every day?

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Ray’s Response Rules!

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