Guess where I am?
Which hotel do you think I was in when I took this picture of the guest services aka concierge counter?
Ok, it’s not a hotel.
So which casino do you think I was in?
Sorry, wrong again.
I wasn’t at a hotel or a casino.
I was at a movie theater.
Once again, we got beat.
Wouldn’t it be great if theaters had concierges? (I would actually argue that the theater-going crowd is probably more likely to expect and utilize such services.)
A theater concierge could get a limo for you, a dinner reservation, or . . . wait for it . . . build up enough trust with the client in order to recommend and sell tickets to other shows in the same complex or theater chain! 
They could do everything that a traditional concierge does, and through commissions, tips, etc., could probably pay for itself with little or no financial strain on the venue. At the same time, the venue would create a trusting relationship with their audience that would turn into loyalty and additional business (and a great mailing list). At the very least it would create a remarkable experience that would get talked about.
Then again, maybe they wouldn’t do anything except let people know where the bathrooms are. But that’s enough for me. Hotels, casinos, and other luxury service providers are there to take care of their customers not just when they need them, but IF they need them. And we should be too.
It’s this type of value that keeps people coming back and paying the big bucks.
Let’s not get beat by the movies again, Ok? They only charge $11.75. That’s when we really start to look bad.
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Ken, this is just exactly right. Good service is, essentially, free, but you have to have the will to provide it.
Here’s a thing I did way, way back a number of years ago that illustrates that.
I worked for a company called Noah’s Bagels here in California. It was (and is) a high-end bagel place mostly located in nice neighborhoods around the state’s big cities (and in WA and OR, too).
We had a consistent problem in many of the stores where at rush times, mostly the mornings and lunch, people were waiting too long. After some digging, it became obvious that it was because the staff at those was not fully focused on serving customers and was doing some prep and other kinds of work that could be done outside of rush hours.
So I came up with a program called “Showtime.” All it was, really, was that the manager would designate “showtime” hours in the morning and at lunch, and all employees would work in the front from the start to the finish of those periods of time. They organized the prep around those peaks so that none was necessary during the peak times.
Finally, we made it a little bit fun. We created special “alternate” nametags with ’showtime’ themes that the employees would switch to during showtime, and just before the start of Showtime, the manager would have a very brief (2 minutes or less) meeting with everybody right there behind the counter to give them any product news, info or whatever might have been happening that day, but also to announce that Showtime was starting.
It really cost virtually nothing, but it made a big impact. More people got energetic, focused service and the employees felt they were doing something important by making a special effort.
Funny that it was called “Showtime.” Maybe I was destined to be in this business (live entertainment) even when I wasn’t…
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