My Hands Are Tied

My hands are tied! 

These were the words of a banqueting manager when I asked that complimentary bottles of water be given to a group of sixty to whom we were serving arrival dinner!You are either upset right now or wondering what my point is exactly. Whichever category you fall in, let me give you more to chew on. 

On this occasion, the group booking was for 96 rooms for two nights plus a full day of conferencing for 120 participants and I, by this request was adding-on dinners-on-arrival for sixty of the ninety-six delegates. In light of all this, one would think that a manager will; have the regulatory scope to give complimentary bottles of water as part of dinner, or, will have the right service attitude to commit to trying to make it happen. After all, i wasn't asking for champagne.

Thankfully, before I had the chance to take the manger in question to school, his colleague came to his rescue  asking him be quiet and go and look into making it work. He, the new entrant, said he was sure something could be done about my request for complimentary bottles of water and promised that his colleague will be back with some news. Please note that he did not commit but at least he promised to try.

Still waiting for what my difficulty was? For everyone and especially an event coordinator, YES is music to the ear. More so for us than for individual guests because we ask on behalf of many other people who are all our responsibility. Additionally, it is important to remember that the impact of service quality on a group booking is more far reaching than on an individual or family reservation or event. Let me be the first to admit that there are those special people who far outweigh a group by very far 👑!

Per experience, the service profession requires an awful lot of flexibility. Your first response to a clients non-criminal request 😄😂 cannot be an outright no. There is a need to make the guest feel like you are willing to make an effort. Service is so malleable, it comprises so many moving parts that can be shifted, replaced or swapped to maintain profitability and yet keep the customer happy. 

A good lot of us, event managers, are not interested in running down the hotels or venues we work with. This is primarily because it takes quite some doing to find a place that fits the many dynamic needs of an event. So when we do find one that works, we, at least I, will like to see the venue stay and improve in business so that we needn't jump the huddles of venue selection every time a function is coming up.

That being said, I am happy to tell you that my water got served and my event went really very well!!!

To my dear event and group booking managers, by all means please make it a point stay in business, but more importantly,  get those hands untied and make a habit of trying or saying YES first! 

Lots of Love 
YSO