How To Genuinely Say Thank You

When my son was two, he said thank you a hundred times every day. Seriously. It was among his first—and favorite—phrases. And I loved the enthusiasm with which he said it. As a society we work really hard at teaching our children to be polite—yet somewhere along the way we lose sight of this very simple, and civilized, communication.

At hotels, the art of the “thank you” has been lost. Let’s be frank, guests don’t care about a printed, stock letter from the GM, and just because a four-star hotel does a new one each day doesn’t really make it any different than the letter the budget hotel puts in the binder on the coffee table. It’s just not genuine. And being genuine is the name of the game these days.

What if you encourage your staff to say, “Thank you.” Out loud! And often!

“Thank you for choosing our hotel.”

“Thank you for staying with us.”

“Thank you for having breakfast here.”

“Thank you for reporting the dripping faucet. We will get right on that.”

“Oh, your hair dryer is broken? Thank you for letting me know. I’ll make sure we get you a new one shortly.”

The key to making this work, however, is having a thankful staff. Instill in them that this is THE way to communicate with guests. To, whenever possible, start with a thank you.

Saying thank you goes a long way and may just save your reputation down the line.