I had to wake at 4am to catch a 6am flight to LaGuardia. I ate two bagels when I landed. Breakfast accomplished. I worked all day...skipping lunch...at a client's location, then proceeded on to what is normally a half-hour drive to the airport to catch my flight to Chicago. After two hours in traffic, I got to the airport, ran through security, ran through the terminal, ran to my gate and was the last one to board the flight. The plane pushed away from the gate at 7pm, and we didn't take off until 8pm. For dinner, I had a wonderful can of ginger ale as I sat cramped in my seat, elbow-to-elbow with my seatmates, with my underwear giving me a screaming wedgie.
Upon landing, I found my rental car (with free upgrade...thank you Avis!), and drove to the DoubleTree Hotel in Arlington Heights, outside Chicago. By the time I got to the hotel, it was 11:15pm Eastern time, and I had been up since 4am with only two bagels and a can of soda in my belly. As I checked in, the wonderful gentleman behind the counter offered me a warm chocolate chip cookie. A home-made....warm....chocolate chip cookie.
I sat on the edge of the bed, took off my shoes and socks, scrunched up my toes on the carpet, and let that warm chocolate chip goodness remove all the badness from the day's travels.
As a small business owner, I have been reading many books lately on how to run a business. I am just finishing "Hug Your Customers", which is written by the man who started Mitchell's clothing store...a high-end clothier who bends over backward to not only serve their customers, but get to know them and treat them like family. This is how I want to treat my customers.
That chocolate chip cookie was a small expense on their part, but you can't imagine the value this hungry traveler placed on it. Talk about a big hug! Thank you DoubleTree.
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