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Reservations and Low Expectations

Written by: Don Doman

Article Overview: John arrived at the hotel only to be told that he had a room with a twin bed. "I'm six foot four," John used as part of his argument. It didn't help. His confirming the day before didn't help, either. The clerk advised him to curl up in the twin bed.

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Reservations and Low Expectations

John Procaccino, a Seattle actor and radio talk show host was telling of his recent trip to New York. He is six foot three plus. When he's irritated he says he's six foot four.

John carefully made reservations requesting a "King Size Bed" to accommodate his height. He didn't name the classic hotel, but it's on Park Avenue. The day before arrival he even called to double-check that he had what he wanted. The clerk announced he was "confirming the request" in the computer as they spoke.

John arrived at the hotel only to be told that he had a room with a twin bed. "I'm six foot four," John used as part of his argument. It didn't help. His confirming the day before didn't help, either. The clerk advised him to curl up in the twin bed. He did.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld in an episode from his television show illustrates the same problem. Jerry goes to a car rental agency and is told they don't have a car for him.

Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my reservation?
Rental Car Agent: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.
Rental Car Agent: I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.
-- script from Seinfeld

Of course the problem is that hotels and rental agencies are dealing with "current" customers. That is their priority. Customers change their minds. They stay an extra day or two in their hotel room. They don't return their rental car on time, or they extend their reservations. Customers that are about to become current customers get leftovers.

Complaints to customer service representatives will produce nothing except apologies and maybe a "thank you for being so understanding" reward. A customer service rep cannot wave a magic wand and produce a king-size bed or a four-door sedan.

I'm sure everyone has similar stories. I remember another comedian being asked about what he looked for in a woman. He replied, "Low expectations." I think this is perhaps a policy we need to adapt when traveling: Low Expectations. I don't see hotels or car rental agencies changing their policies. I think this is something we just have to live with.

In traveling we need to accept several possibilities:
Things will go wrong.
We will miss connections.
Our plans will go awry.
We won't always get what we want.

If we all adapt a policy of "lowered expectations" we can probably survive trips better anyway. Ummm, it sounds a lot like life.

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About the Author: Don Doman
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Don Doman is a published author of self-help books on small business. He and his wife own Ideas and Training, which supplies business training products to organizations around the world. Don and Peg also own and operate PNW Video Productions, which produces video productions for distribution and internet viewing.

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Re: looking for partner Re: looking for partner - Partnerships in business can be tricky. Most partnerships fail. Here are a few points to ponder before starting a partnership: - Should have common goal and vision - Level of commitment in business - Expectations from business and each other. - Good sense of self-worth - Financial Position – Have a good experience in related business with strong financial standing I suggest you to go on Google type “Partnership Assessment form” and Partnership Assessment Tool” You find some good results. Further apart from this forum look into on social media and business sites.
Re: Non-profit Organizations Re: Non-profit Organizations - I helped set up a non-profit charity for helping stray pets and people who had lost their pets in our local area last year. There are so many things I learned from the experience, I'm not sure where to start. First of all, I hold to the teaching if you can dream it, you can do it! In one way, it was incredibly easy to find support for something we were so passionate about. On the other hand, our passion needed to be tampered with reason so that we didn't burn ourselves out. It is so important to set things in order as soon as possible. There should be an official board of directors and at least general protocols set in place for key services. Expectations among board members should be clear. Keep non-urgent decision making to during meetings only! Otherwise, you will be working 24 hours a day! And make sure you use your volunteers as soon as you get clarity on your first steps. Clarify your message as a whole before you take it to the public. Otherwise, you will create confusion on what you do or don't do. It was really helpful to connect with other organizations in the area who had a similar mission. In our case, we met with the SPCA so we could avoid doubling up on services and instead fill in the gaps of what they were unable to provide in our area. Fundraising IS important, but make sure you are keeping up with the services you offer. The mission of your organization is the priority. In a nutshell, setting up a charity was a great experience, but I certainly didn't need to work as hard as I did. I plan on doing it again in about 2 years where I will set up a charity to help women in both Canada and Third World countries.


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