Does it really matter if you can’t get a cup of coffee after 9pm?  In the whole scheme of things, it is a bit of a first world problem.

After a busy year so far, Joanne and I have taken a little time off to visit her family in Melbourne for the first time since the pandemic, followed by a relaxing visit to Great Barrier Reef territory at Port Douglas.

We’re staying in a wonderful resort and the town itself is really lovely. The beaches and surrounding rainforest is amazing.

All fantastic until we wanted a cup of coffee at ten past nine last night. We often have a coffee around this time at home.

It seems room service clean and shut off their coffee machine at 9pm.

Two hotels and a restaurant in town also shut off their coffee machines at 9pm.

One of the people I spoke to told me to try the little Italian ice cream shop as they often do late night coffee (I didn’t realise that 9pm counts as late!). He told me where it was so off I trekked.

I found them at 9:30 getting ready to close. I asked if they could still do a coffee and the lady said they had just chemically cleaned the machine, however, if I gave her 10 minutes, she would flush the machine and make me the coffees. I asked what time they close and she said “30 minutes ago.”

I said I didn’t want to put her out but she said I was polite to her, looked happy and smiley and I wanted a coffee … so they were happy to do it!

The coffee was perfect, the attitude even better! They certainly have our business while we’re here and they get a post like this one on Trip Advisor.

What little things really matter to your customers, that may be inconvenient to you, but customer-experience defining to them?  And, more importantly, do you and your team do them?

As Danny Wallace said … “Sometimes the little opportunities that fly at us each day can have the biggest impact.”

Something for us all to think about …