April 26, 2009
Not everything goes smoothly sometimes…
Greetings from Vietnam!
For almost four months, I have been working on behalf of my client, the California Milk Advisory Board, to plan receptions and culinary training seminars in 5 Asian cities – Shanghai, Beijing, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Jakarta (photos/info to be posted soon). The Shanghai, Beijing and Manila activities occurred in March, while Saigon and Jakarta are in April. Saigon was last week to be exact.
In preparation for the activity in Saigon, I made a visit here before heading to Shanghai last month. I met with the Chamber of Commerce who were on the ground helping me plan the activities by inviting guests, getting in touch with the media, language translation, etc. I also met with the hotel to go through the reception plans, as well as what we needed for cooking demonstrations for the next day. It was all spelled out in the contract, “i’s were dotted, the “t”s were crossed. Somewhere between my visit and arriving back in Saigon, something went wrong…
The hotel representative who spoke better English than I left to get married. While I’m sure she tried (ok, I hope) to do her best in turning over my file/expectations, upon arrival, nothing went right. The deck ovens we needed were really not available in the first place…the entire reason why I chose the hotel ( I requested to do the training at a culinary school, but was told it was too far away–not sure if that’s correct but I have the USDA on it). All of our expectations, wishes, etc, were negated once the file was handed over to another banquet person. Had I known the hotel rep was leaving, I would have requested her replacement be at the meeting.
The lessons:
– Culture…”Yes” does not actually mean yes
– Communication…Everything can get lost in translation
– Flexibility…It’s a given that one needs to be flexible when working in international trade, I think this time took it to the limit.
– Patience…I have even more after this visit.
The resolution:
I had a meeting with the banquet manager and calmly let her know my dissatisfaction. She agreed that this was a learning lesson in that when dealing with Western cultures, don’t tell me yes when you can’t do it, just to get the business (did I mention this is a French owned/operated hotel?). Needless to say, I was not charged for a half day’s room rental.
As Westerners, we need to learn the culture/ways of business globally. But, when a hotel promises services it cannot deliver, it doesn’t matter what hemisphere one is from when their expectations are not met. One party is not going to be satisfied. During my meeting with the hotel rep, I also informed her of the inability to present a half day’s training to our target audience gave them the impression of inadequacy and totally ruined my relationship with the hotel. I would not be using/staying there when I return, nor will I recommend the hotel to the rest of my US counterparts who will be conducting activities in the city. The look on her face said it all…she understood what I was saying.
Let’s just hope everything goes smoothly in Jakarta. So far, my chef is delayed coming in from Saigon, the cheese that was shipped from the US hasn’t been released from customs and we HOPE it has been refrigerated since its arrival. The good news…I made it through customs with the cheese I had to bring for the chef…
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