Chapter 13 enhance your customer service. excellent customer service is the lifeblood of any hospitality property. You can extend promotions and cut room rates to bring in as many new guests as you want. But unless you can get some of those guests to come back, your property will not be lucrative for long. good customer service is about inviting guests in giving them an excellent experience, sending them away happy enough to want to come back and then to pass positive feedback about your property to others who may want to try it and in turn become repeat guests. If your property looks pleasant, you may get a guest once.
It is the way you deal with that person, the customer service which will determine if that guest would like to come back. Customer Service means forming relationships with your guests a relationship that that guest would like to continue How do you form such relationships by removing Remembering you and your property will be judged by what you do, not what you say. This may sound simple, but providing great customer service means consistency. And consistency can only happen if you have a working organizational structure in place. Is there a way to tell if your customer service is working? Do you recognize any of these?
Does it seem that you have had more than your fair share of complaints recently? Do your employees feel dejected? And this is having an effect on your guests? Are you getting the initial business, the reviews are not great, and you're getting very little repeat business. No one is booking even though you're offering some real enticing incentives. Maybe none of these are a problem.
But you realize the value of delivering an excellent customer experience and it could be costly to let that slip. There are many different ways to enhance your customer guests experience with great customer service. Let's take some time. I'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I had mentioned in chapter nine, how to hire winners, that your goal is to find employees that will benefit your property. Not everyone is cut out to work in the hospitality property industry.
A great hospitality property employee is one who has the ability to be compassionate, to empathize with your guests. A great hospitality employee is one the guests feel is on their side. What other traits and skills are necessary for your hospitality property employees if you want to be able to offer consistent great customer service, one patience, the ability to remain calm, quiet, even tempered and diligent when confronted with what could be considered a stressful situation. The ability to stay relaxed during these types of situations will come across as great customer service and great customer service beats fast service every time to attempt have the ability to really listen to customers is so crucial for providing great customer service. And by listening to I mean the actual words and watching the body language, guests might be saying one thing, that means something else. Three, clear communication skills.
For those of you who love to talk and talk and talk, or for those of you that are members, this is important. It's okay to find out more about your customers, but they don't need to know how your day is going. When giving information, make sure it's clear and concise. You don't want your guests walking outside or going to the room, scratching their head saying, but to the same when it comes to important points that you need to really clearly to customers. Keep it simple and leave nothing in doubt. For knowledge of the product.
Make sure all your employees know all about your property and any services you may provide. If they don't know what you Have to offer inside and out, you're leaving money on the table. Five, able to use positive language. Language is a very important part of influence, and guests create opinions about you and your property based on the language you use. Small changes that utilize positive language can greatly affect how the customer hears your response. For example, without positive language, sorry, there are no reservations available at the restaurant at 8pm.
With positive language, you have a choice. You can enjoy a pre dinner drink in our bar and dine at 9pm or dine at 7pm and then enjoy an after dinner stroll on our grounds. Six acting skills. This is a skill that every great hospitality property employee needs. There are going to be people that you come across that will not be happy no matter what you do. Here you have to fake it seven time management skills.
If you're dealing with two situations at the same time, or a situation where you do not have the answer, find the best person available to help you. Don't waste time trying to go above and beyond for a customer in an area where you'll just end up wasting both of your time. Eight ability to read customers, you won't always be able to see customers face to face. And in some instances, you won't even hear a customer's voice. look and listen for subtle clues about their current mood, patience level and personality. This can go far and keeping your customers interactions positive nine, a calming presence.
This is the ability to stay calm and even influence others when things get a little hectic. The best hospitality property employees know that they cannot let a heated customer forced them to lose their cool. In fact, it is their job to try to be the rock for a customer who thinks the world is falling. Due to their current problem 10 ability to handle surprises, does in these situations when it's best for you and an employee to be able to think on your feet. But it's even better to create guidelines for yourself within these sorts of situations. Have a well trained employees faced with a situation that surprises them, and they handled it the best way they see fit, you have to be willing to support them in their decision.
However, persuasive skills if you have a property that offers additional services or products, being able to upsell is a skill that can be beneficial to both your employees and your business. I will talk more about this in chapter 15. How to upsell 12 results. A great work ethic and willingness to do what needs to be done is a key skill when providing the kind of service that people talk about. Many memorable customer service stories out there were created by a single employee who refused to do just the status quo. When it came to helping somebody out 13 willingness to learn, this is probably the most general skill on the list, but still necessary.
If you're following the guidelines I have shared so far, this is a skill you'll definitely have. Alright, these are the traits and skills you and your employees need to ensure great customer service. Ways to surprise guests and not spend a fortune. Something I've noticed over the years is that it is the little things people remember. One way to surprise your guests is by doing little research. When taking the reservation, whether it be online or over the phone, you should have a question or space in place for special occasions.
For example, when taking a phone reservation, and it's for the weekend, you could say the weekends here a wonderful, great for special getaways. This is a type of leading sense and the guest might give you the reason for the booking. If the guest mentions the booking is for a wedding anniversary or a birthday. You can Have a box of chocolates in the room the day they arrive. This question or one similar could be part of your standard script when taking reservations, but made to sound like part of the conversation. I've mentioned this story before.
Once my wife and I visited a bed and breakfast on a vineyard in Germany. The host invited us down for a glass of wine. And when we were finished, gave us the glasses. The glasses were etched with the logo of the winery. The glasses were beautiful, and I asked the host about the price. And he told me there were less than two year old each because of bulk buying.
And then he said, Of course we price that into the cost of the room. We keep the glasses prominently displayed, and quite often they are a topic of conversation. We've been back many times and consider the owners friends, the following or other ideas we have seen handwritten notes left on the pillow saying have sweet dreams or have a pleasant sleep. take home puzzles of the property left in rooms of families with children and owner of the property in case Breton Canada caters to an older clientele and always asks when they arrive. If for any reason they would like to visit the drugstore to let her know, and they'll be driven. Very few take advantage but everybody remembers.
One property I stayed at was so proud of the cleanliness of the rooms, they challenged you to find dirt. Under the bed was a card that said, Yes, we clean here and for finding the card come to the desk for a free specialty coffee. I was traveling with a group in Newfoundland and Labrador Canada, and when we checked in the front desk employee offered each of us a small plate of local fish specialty, cod cheeks and tongue. This is something that I probably would not have chosen from a local menu, but they were delicious. This happened 20 years ago and it's still a great memory. After a week on the road in Ireland, my wife and I checked into a bed and breakfast in Galway, we had laundry to be done and asked the owner for the closest laundry mat so we could take our wash sheet said you will do no such thing took a wash and told us to go enjoy the sights.
When we arrived back, the wash was done and neatly folded in our room. These were little extras that could not have been missed have not done but have since become memories and stories to be shared, if at all possible. When checking guests out. Do not let them leave empty handed. These items should not be expensive, but are tangible, such as a coffee mug and cover with a property logo filled with coffee. A reusable water bottle with the property logo.
As I mentioned before the wine glasses a small book with the history of your property or region, your house specialty or local recipe. Tea canister, a small framed picture of the property or the region. Something region is known for, for example, chocolates, jam or fruit. The ideas are endless. Remember, your goal is to stand out from your competitors