Lessons from Sandy Balls

It was the Summer of 2007, and Big Brother was massive. You may not be of that era, so a reminder that 'Eviction Night' was on a Friday. Coincidentally, this also was arrival day at Sandy Balls, a holiday park (think Center Parcs without the price tag).

These two things sound unrelated, but the New Forest isn't famed for its TV signal, and this was long before Wi-Fi in the forest could be considered a thing. As a Sandy Balls Guest Services representative on a Friday night (post check-in, so you are already exhausted), you wait for the phone to ring and for the doors to open as people settle into their accommodation and realize they cannot get Channel Four.

Most weeks I find myself using the patience I learned from listening to the whinging of holidaymakers in the heart of the New Forest. More lessons include:

1. Entitlement ruins any conversation. Anyone bringing entitlement to a conversation instantly ruins it. At Sandy Balls, this was holidaymakers who thought that because they'd paid for a cabin in the woods, I could actually control the traffic or secure a table outside the pub. In my career, that has been agencies that think they are entitled to tell me what to do with my brand, or meetings where everyone brings their entitlement to the group. In my experience, it has never once made a conversation better—leave your entitlement at the door and see what happens.

2. Muck in. Guest Services was amazing. I loved the nice desk and picking up the phone to have lovely conversations with happy customers; it made a nice break from my evening work as a waitress. However, on Fridays in summer, it got crazy. The housekeeping team had to turn around like a hundred cabins in a day—which means sometimes we had to go and help. Initially, I hated it. I thought I shouldn't have to and honestly thought I was above it (shameful). I realized really quickly that I gained the respect of a whole new group of people (who, by the way, I needed to keep guests happy!) when I just shut up and got on with it. I think about this all the time. Every time I've had a promotion, I've had to check myself and make sure I'm still mucking in—after all, no one wants to work with a diva.

3. You are the measure of how you deal with the bad, not the good. Difficult conversations happen all the time. From "My bed doesn't have enough pillows" to "You forgot to upload the promotion to Shopify"—in life, as in Guest Services, people are going to complain at you. There's a ton of automatic responses we feel when that happens (defensiveness is just one that springs to mind), but how you deal with those complaints is more of an indicator of your ability than dealing with the good. If you get a reputation for being able to manage challenging conversations, you'll quickly be able to navigate the ones that are best for your career, too. I still use my calm Guest Services voice when someone shouts at me (especially my toddler).

4. Don't ever feed New Forest ponies.

5. Feedback is a gift. There is nothing more annoying than a guest checking in and telling you that the door handle on the bathroom is broken. We used to leave forms everywhere, as well as the number for Guest Services. It would have taken five minutes for the previous guest to provide feedback that their handle was broken, and we could have fixed it so easily. Instead, the next person checks in, and it's still broken. Feedback is always a gift, especially when the ability to change it is so easy. I find the same is true in exit interviews—don't tell me something is broken too late. Be up front; you'll be amazed how easy a fix is sometimes.

6. It doesn't matter how many welcomes you've done—for that person, it's the first time. The beginning of a Friday for check-in, I was full of energy, excited to see people check in to their holiday—often with kids who were buzzing to be away. Regardless of how many times I had done my welcome 'bit'" I was conscious to always find a way to make it memorable for that family. It reminds me now of day-one employees, eagle-eyed and ready for new work. For a new team member, there is no chance to redo a welcome; it should always be a priority.