As you know, articles about customer service catch my attention. I truly believe that taking care of your customers should be your number one priority in business. That is one of the reasons why Phoenix-based Accent Transportation Services (@transaccent or http://www.transaccent.com/) has been able to thrive in a questionable economy.

Despite the economic challenges Arizona has faced surrounding immigration, two Arizona cities are listed among the top five best hotels for service across all of the United States. Those cities are Phoenix and Scottsdale.

When it comes to hotel guests who are pleased with the level of service, value and overall experience, Phoenix, Arizona is tops. These aren’t just your run of the mill budget hotels – these are three- and four-star hotels. The survey was done by hotel.info, which operates internationally.

Phoenix replaced Indianapolis at the top of the charts – it was ranked second last year. Rankings were based on a survey of customer reviews during the first half of the year. The top five cities, in order, were Phoenix, Indianapolis, Dallas, Las Vegas and Scottsdale.

I found it interesting that even if a guest’s stay was quite pleasant, in assessing the price paid for their accommodation, many guests ultimately gave a critical review of their personal experience at the hotel. This begs the question, was the room truly a bargain, or should the offer really have been less expensive?

We can draw three lessons from the winners. First, value is subjective. Remember, these were not low-end hotels but rather three and four-star establishments. It is cliché but value is in the eye of the beholder. In this case, the value was directly defined by the customer experience.

Second, price does not equal value. When a consumer spends the type of money necessary to stay in a hotel such as these they have expectations. I would guess that the top five hotels have some type of customer feedback process and they make changes based on comments.

Finally, the competition is always improving. Phoenix was not ranked first in last year’s survey. So, how did they move up in the ranking amidst a bad economy and negative press surrounding immigration and travel to Arizona? They did it through good old-fashioned customer service. I would bet they didn’t guess what their customers wanted – they asked.

This survey is done every six months. I will be interested to see if Phoenix can retain the title as the best value and best customer service. Will Phoenix hotel operators continue to offer good service at a fair price or will they relax their focus on serving their customers?

I hope these tips will help your company improve its customer service or help you to evaluate the companies you do business with. As for Accent Transportation Services, we’ll continue to be obsessed with serving our customers through Phoenix airport executive car service, Phoenix and Scottsdale limo service and special event transportation.

Leave us a comment on Twitter at @transaccent or friend us at http://www.facebook.com/transaccent. We’ll give you a 10 percent roundtrip discount for sharing your thoughts. After all, feedback gives us the opportunity to take our customer service to the next level.