In the service industry, there are many nuances and warmth is one of them.
Appointments can take a very different turn from what we expect, and we need to be prepared.
It was a cold November night a few years ago, around 8:00 PM, when the phone at Ken Tui rang.
At the time, I managed the spa services company that I had founded, which served most of the 5-star hotels in Amsterdam. I often attended guests personally, as I would be doing that night.
I knew the suite well. It was one of the most luxurious, overlooking one of the city’s main canals. The guest had requested a 90-minute treatment. I arrived 10 minutes early, just in time to prepare everything and begin her session without any delay, as it should be.
When I walked in, this was the scene: a woman in her 40s, with well-kept skin and hair, wearing a white bathrobe from the hotel. There was also a child, about 10 years old, sleeping on a sofa at the foot of the bed. The woman looked emotionally drained.
I greeted her and asked if she was okay. She answered “no.” I felt she needed to talk, that what she really needed was to be heard. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and began to share her story.
Let’s call her Helena. Helena was a Canadian woman, with two university degrees and a postgraduate diploma, who had fallen in love with a European executive that had moved to one of the most famous capitals twelve years before that night. Everything seemed to be going well in her life. She had her own business; she had a healthy son and a stable marriage. She had adapted to her husband’s culture.
At that point in the story, she paused for a bit longer. I asked if she’d like some water. She accepted it. With a trembling voice, she continued. Two years earlier, her younger sister — a teenager, then 18 years old — had moved from Canada to live with them and attend university. This sister was an unexpected child, born when their mother was quite mature and the other siblings were already adults. Still, she had been welcomed with joy and raised like a princess by everyone.
Then, just one week before that night, her husband called her for a conversation. He told her that her sister was pregnant. The child was his. Yes, they had been having an affair for over a year and he wanted a divorce to be with the sister-in-law. He had already bought another apartment for his “ex-wife” and their 10-year-old son to move into, because he wanted to keep their current house, as it was close to his office.
At that point, she began to sob uncontrollably. (I don’t know how the boy didn’t wake up.) I sat down beside her and hugged her. She rested her head on my shoulder and just cried.
She cried for about 40 minutes non-stop, and I simply held space for her. Then I gently helped her lie down in bed. It was around 10 PM. These suites always offer a variety of teas. I made her one. While she sipped it, we talked a little more. I asked about her son, what sort of things he liked, if he played any sports. Eventually, the boy woke up hungry. She ordered a sandwich for him. After eating, he fell asleep again, and we kept talking. When I saw that she was calmer, I checked the time. It was almost 1:00 AM. She thanked me deeply for listening and for everything I had done for her. Helena asked for my business card. She would be checking out the next day.
The following morning, the hotel called and asked me to stop by. She had left something for me. There was a large bouquet of flowers and a handwritten note on the hotel’s stationery — a beautiful thank-you letter. She had paid for four hours of service instead of the originally booked 90 minutes. But what touched me most was that she had written a lovely review on the hotel’s website, praising the excellence of the service, saying it was “warm, that it had gone far beyond expectations,” and that she would recommend me by name to any of her friends visiting the city.
We stayed in touch for almost two years. She returned to Amsterdam a few times and always called me for treatments. She genuinely recommended me and my company to friends and family. A few years later, she decided to return to Canada and start over there.
It is essential to pay attention to what our client really needs in that moment, and to adapt our service accordingly.
Attention is the new luxury.