Sometimes taking care of a customer is more important than making a profit; in an ideal world the two would go together, and that’s the ultimate goal of any salesperson. However, there are times when helping out a fellow human is just simply a higher priority.

My niece shared this story with me recently and I thought the message was important enough to share with all of you. She was in college and a friend suddenly passed away, and she had to travel a fair distance to attend the funeral. Well any of you who went to college remember that college students don’t have any money, and she was traveling across three states with very limited funds.

Everything was going fine until the day before the funeral when she hit weather that slowed her down. She was forced to find a hotel room just to get a little rest before the funeral, but she was only going to be there for four hours. She really did not have the money to pay for a hotel room; after all she still had to get back home.

She explained her situation to the hotel manager; she was only going to be there a few hours, and she was on a limited budget. She asked if she could have a room at half price given those circumstances, and the manager agreed to those terms. In addition to giving my niece the room at half-price, they also got her something to eat at no charge and provided her with a gas voucher for one tank of gas.

The hotel lost some money that night, but they’ve made it back and more in the years since. My niece stays there whenever she travels and has shared this story with numerous people over the years. Yes the customer service was outstanding, but there’s a bigger lesson to remember here.

Even if my niece had never gone back to that hotel or shared the story, it was simply the right thing to do for the manager of the hotel. Making a profit and closing sales is always the goal, but sometimes life and lending a helping hand is just more important.

FINAO - Brad Huisken