I feel like I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the last three months. First, my family took an unforgettable trip to Europe for most of June. Upon my return in July, I immediately flew to a marketing conference in Miami to support Priceguide with my business partner, Marcus Sheridan. Right after that, I dropped my daughter off at summer camp in North Carolina, then quickly left for San Francisco with my brother and son for a last send-off trip before he went to college. I drove back to North Carolina to pick up my daughter, then flew down to Fort Myers to be a beta tester in IntegrateU’s new training facility for the Lighting Excellence Dojo. Finally, I drove up to Syracuse to drop off my son for his freshman year of college.
I got back two days ago and realized that it might’ve been too much travel. Needless to say, I could write nonstop about everything I’ve seen. One of these road dog moments stood out as a simple yet telling example of where a brand chooses to focus its energy.
At the end of a long day, I checked into a DoubleTree hotel in Fort Myers, Florida. I hadn’t even noticed at first that it was a DoubleTree. After checking me in, the front desk person asked, “Hey, would you like a cookie?” My mood immediately changed. If you’ve ever stayed in a DoubleTree, you know what I mean. These cookies are amazing. They have a warming drawer filled with these little sinful treats behind the front desk, each encased in its own brown paper sleeve. Did I mention you can have as many as you want?
That warm cookie after a long day worked wonders for my mood. I didn’t think much of it until I saw its doppelganger a week later.
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We stayed overnight at a Comfort Suites in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I knew we weren’t getting a warm cookie, but I noticed something interesting. To the right of the front desk counter sat a Lucite case with three drawers filled with neatly arranged chocolate chip cookies. They looked more like display props than food. Next to the case sat a basket with tongs. It gave off the vibe that no one had touched those cookies ever, and they weren’t meant for eating. It felt like they were trying to say, “We’re kind of like DoubleTree, too,” but the effect couldn’t have been more different.
I snapped a photo of the case sitting next to the clearly harried shift manager and wondered about the cost difference between the two cookie programs. DoubleTree has invested in warming drawers, training, and even sells tins of cookies in the lobby store. During the pandemic, they published the recipe so people could make them at home. Their “cookie welcome” program has built a cult following, and I wonder if, from a cost-versus-profit-center perspective, it has strengthened their brand equity?
Comfort Suites, on the other hand, seems to acknowledge that a front desk treat is a good idea but has chosen not to invest in training or infrastructure to make it special. I would argue it makes the experience worse. I’d almost suggest removing the Lucite cookie case altogether because it only reminds guests they could have stayed at a DoubleTree, where the cookies are warm and memorable.
This got me thinking about our own businesses. To what extent do we have Lucite cookie cases where we could go above and beyond, but don’t because it’s harder (or more expensive)? Small things like handwritten thank-you notes, client gifts, and personal calls and letters often get cast aside in the daily grind, but we do so at our own peril. As small businesses, we have an edge over large corporate boxes. We can be personal and high touch when we want to be. Human beings don’t do well with automation. We have to remind our teams why we’re doing it and obsess over the customer experience.
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If nothing else, I hope my tale of two cookies serves as a reminder that we could all do a little better every day to avoid Lucite prop food case moments in our businesses. Those are often the times when a customer goes down the street to a competitor offering warm treats.
What will you do to reboot your cookie program?
Stay frosty, and see you in the field.
