The map was lit up in red, orange, and yellow indicating severe weather with the line of storms directly in our driving path. My husband called to ask me to try to cancel our hotel reservations even though the cancellation time was two days past. I wasn’t sure a national hotel chain would allow the cancellation but I tried.
I understand cancellation policies having planned and hosted hundreds of events over my 30 years as an event planner. No one can predict the future, especially the weather’s future when setting an important calendar date. It is the one unexpected event management element you must deal with periodically.
Women TIES Annual Retreat (Tracy Higginbotham, second from left), Governor Kathy Hochul (center)
When women were not coming to my events due to changes in their calendars, not because of the weather, I had to institute stronger cancellation policies so I didn’t literally eat their salads that were made in anticipation of their attendance. If an emergency came up, I could work with them and if it was weather-related, we had a discussion, and a decision was made based on the conversation and circumstance.
So, when 3 phone calls and 30 minutes later, the customer service department of the hotel chain allowed us to cancel the reservation based on the severe weather, I was grateful. I knew their policy. I didn’t buy insurance. I just explained the fact we had no way of knowing there was going to be a Tornado Warning in the hotel’s location. I also used the nicest voice I could find to state my case.
A combination of their bending their customer service policy, my tenacity to get the cancellation, and my pleasant demeanor helped to make the situation work in our favor.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is for you to consider ways you react to unexpected customer service issues. Are you steadfast in what you state, never changing your policy when someone asks you to change it? Are you more lenient depending on specific situations? Are you more likely to help a client if they are pleasant? Does your staff know your policies and how to make the right decisions when asked to go against what is printed?
As I thanked all three hotel employees I spoke with for their time, even making one laugh about not wanting to end up in Kansas instead of Ohio if we ran into a tornado trying to get to their hotel, I felt good about my approach and thankful for their leniency.
Women TIES 