Guiding the guest experience
The clichés are endless:
1. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do
2. Actions speak louder than words
3. The customer is always right
By definition, clichés are sentences or phrases expressing a common thought void of innovation. So let’s get right to it: The guest experience drives your revenue engine.
You, as the fearless experience engineer for your team and guests, have the responsibility to define a service culture that transcends cliché and borders extraordinary. All it takes is a splash of ingenuity, a healthy dose of empathy and a thorough understanding of what your guests really want.
What your team does and says impacts how your guests feel and, thereby, helps your guests decide where to spend their money. If you operate a full service venue with rooms, food and beverage and spa, you are literally banking on these outlets to be complimentary. They will be, so long as each person on your team understands the big picture and has an insatiable desire to be a guest’s personal champion.
When your venue’s service level falters, intended guest loyalty will not equal actual guest loyalty. Said simply, if a guest booked an accommodation with you because you have a great spa, they intend to be loyal. However, if their room is dirty upon arrival, that intent will not be actualized and they will cancel their spa appointment. An extreme example follows:
Tom and Barb are checking-in to your full service spot for the first time. They haven’t heard much about your place, were unaware you had a website, haven’t liked you on Facebook, don’t follow you on Twitter, haven’t heard of TripAdvisor, don’t Yelp and are ridiculously excited to enjoy a weekend getaway for the first time in far too long.
Though you have already missed fifteen chances to provide outstanding service (five social media outlets multiplied by three operational outlets) you will have the chance to recover as they enjoy your world class property and team for a few days.
Tom and Barb roll into your parking lot and find a nice spot. They congratulate themselves on tearing away from home and work and open the car door to the best weekend escape ever. As they leap out of the car, they’re asked a question: “Can you read?”
They sure can, and, as it turns out, they’ve parked in the “registered guests only” spot, not the “guests checking in spot.” An honest mistake the helpful porter helps them correct so his day will go much smoother.
They haul their luggage to the front desk and find it unattended. The lady texting out front must be the apologizer in the note explaining that she has stepped away for a moment. Tom and Barb get lost in each other’s eyes for a few moments and simply wait for the desk attendant to return.
Return she does. The property of few questions, your front desk associate asks “Last name?” The answer is easy and that’s the only chance Tom and Barb get to speak. They are told what to do and how to do it in the time they are allowed to stay, handed a keycard and sent on their way.
Another five opportunities for superlative service are squandered. For the accountants reading among us, Tom and Barb have collected a sizeable lot of negative experiences before arriving to their guestroom – twenty.
Because you clearly get the idea, we’ll stop this tale of misery by saying that within moments of arriving to their room, Tom and Barb accomplish the following:
This anecdote quantifies the impact of your marketing team on your economic engine. Not the home office marketers, but the team you’ve got marketing you on your property everyday all day to each and every guest. Your guests don’t trust your central marketing team and their crafty messaging, that’s why social media is so popular to start with. Your guests trust your other guests – their peers.
Social media outlets help amplify the guest experience and get the word out about how great you heavy lifters are. That is, of course, unless your heavy lifters are not all that great. That word gets out too.
Your heavy lifters are generally the lowest paid on your property and traditionally handle critical tasks which directly impact a guest experience. These include housekeeping, engineering and front desk responsibilities.
The good news? Understanding the following will help you deliver a better guest experience consistently, internally and virtually.
Written by us and reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.hotelexecutive.com
The clichés are endless:
1. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do
2. Actions speak louder than words
3. The customer is always right
By definition, clichés are sentences or phrases expressing a common thought void of innovation. So let’s get right to it: The guest experience drives your revenue engine.
What your team does and says impacts how your guests feel and, thereby, helps your guests decide where to spend their money. If you operate a full service venue with rooms, food and beverage and spa, you are literally banking on these outlets to be complimentary. They will be, so long as each person on your team understands the big picture and has an insatiable desire to be a guest’s personal champion.
When your venue’s service level falters, intended guest loyalty will not equal actual guest loyalty. Said simply, if a guest booked an accommodation with you because you have a great spa, they intend to be loyal. However, if their room is dirty upon arrival, that intent will not be actualized and they will cancel their spa appointment. An extreme example follows:
Tom and Barb are checking-in to your full service spot for the first time. They haven’t heard much about your place, were unaware you had a website, haven’t liked you on Facebook, don’t follow you on Twitter, haven’t heard of TripAdvisor, don’t Yelp and are ridiculously excited to enjoy a weekend getaway for the first time in far too long.
Though you have already missed fifteen chances to provide outstanding service (five social media outlets multiplied by three operational outlets) you will have the chance to recover as they enjoy your world class property and team for a few days.
Tom and Barb roll into your parking lot and find a nice spot. They congratulate themselves on tearing away from home and work and open the car door to the best weekend escape ever. As they leap out of the car, they’re asked a question: “Can you read?”
They sure can, and, as it turns out, they’ve parked in the “registered guests only” spot, not the “guests checking in spot.” An honest mistake the helpful porter helps them correct so his day will go much smoother.
They haul their luggage to the front desk and find it unattended. The lady texting out front must be the apologizer in the note explaining that she has stepped away for a moment. Tom and Barb get lost in each other’s eyes for a few moments and simply wait for the desk attendant to return.
Return she does. The property of few questions, your front desk associate asks “Last name?” The answer is easy and that’s the only chance Tom and Barb get to speak. They are told what to do and how to do it in the time they are allowed to stay, handed a keycard and sent on their way.
Another five opportunities for superlative service are squandered. For the accountants reading among us, Tom and Barb have collected a sizeable lot of negative experiences before arriving to their guestroom – twenty.
Because you clearly get the idea, we’ll stop this tale of misery by saying that within moments of arriving to their room, Tom and Barb accomplish the following:
This anecdote quantifies the impact of your marketing team on your economic engine. Not the home office marketers, but the team you’ve got marketing you on your property everyday all day to each and every guest. Your guests don’t trust your central marketing team and their crafty messaging, that’s why social media is so popular to start with. Your guests trust your other guests – their peers.
Social media outlets help amplify the guest experience and get the word out about how great you heavy lifters are. That is, of course, unless your heavy lifters are not all that great. That word gets out too.
Your heavy lifters are generally the lowest paid on your property and traditionally handle critical tasks which directly impact a guest experience. These include housekeeping, engineering and front desk responsibilities.
The good news? Understanding the following will help you deliver a better guest experience consistently, internally and virtually.
Written by us and reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.hotelexecutive.com
