Any corporation in the hospitality sector is considered to be a customer service-based company by default. That means that it has a mandate to make customers happy and satisfied at all times, no matter what the situation. It encompasses everything from cruise ships to theme parks and it is all about earning customers feel completely welcome at any time of their stay. Customer service, then, is perhaps the most important pillar on which a hospitality company’s success is measured.
But excellent customer service is just the beginning. To ensure long-term customer loyalty and referrals, you need to have excellent product knowledge. In fact, it is more likely that the people who book your rooms will be doing so because of product knowledge – they are seeking a particular type of accommodation, experience or setting. So you can think of product knowledge as the backbone of your customer service strategy. You need a comprehensive understanding of your product portfolio. And you need to be skilled in delivering that product knowledge, whatever your current market niche may be.
It is therefore important that you should maintain an excellent level of customer service in your hotels, motels and inns. But in many parts of the hospitality industry, including most of the boutique properties, this is not necessarily the case. What this means is that the practices that you employ in providing excellent customer service in hospitality might not necessarily be applicable to your core markets, especially if the products and services being offered are different to those offered by other hotels, motels and inns.
However, there is one arena where such practices can still make a real difference: peer reviews. Many hospitality buyers prefer to rely on the experiences of their peers and recommend them to other buyers. And peer reviews are widely seen to be very effective. But what if the buyer reviewing your service isn’t necessarily a peer reviewer? In some cases, great customer service in hospitality can still be as effectively delivered by one of your hotel’s customer service representatives, even if that person is not technically part of your hotel’s customer service team.
Some of the best practices in customer service in hospitality are also applicable to customer service in other industries. Great customer service in hospitality is about more than just being polite. It is also about understanding what your customer needs, whether that needs may be a simple inquiry or a complex issue. It is about being able to listen carefully and then understanding what the customer needs. Finally, it is about understanding that your customer service is not just about great service but about making the customer happy.
So, can you really deliver great customer service in hospitality without having a representative or manager on every floor? Certainly not. However, you can use peer reviews to improve your service in hospitality. However, even without a manager, you can make significant improvements in your service by improving your customer service. And, of course, you can make significant improvements in your bottom line by reviewing your service and asking your peers about your service.