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The Storyteller

The Common Sense of Intuitive Service

This means knowing what and when to do to whom.

It is also about common sense, which surprisingly, is not all that common.


Here are just common examples:

  • Restaurant: Don’t offer magazines when guests are busy on the phone.

  • Restaurant: Don’t ask about the dish just as the diner is trying to chew and swallow the food, and yet continue standing right besides to await the response

  • Hotel (Check-in): Keep it short and sweet, especially when the guest says it has been a long flight/is feeling tired, when it is already very late, and those with young kids or infants.

  • Hotel (Housekeeping): Don’t spread out all the collaterals in the room, after guest has put them away. Once checked in, guests can arrange the room as they want.

  • Hotel (Room service): Don’t continue to upsell desserts when guest states the one-dish order is sufficient.

  • Hotel (Concierge): To ask about guest when they request for a doctor or ask for medication.

  • Hotel (Check-out): Show interest about their stay rather than ask about the mini-bar right away


Reflective thoughts: If your team was asked to come up with a list of top 10 non-intuitive gestures when dealing with guests/customers, what would the list look like? How can we plug in these service gaps?

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