55 words or 10 phrases customers rarely hear (part 1)As a student of hospitality, I was constantly reminded that in a well run hotel, the manager must be present, available, and be visible. He or she should be out on the floor greeting guests and putting a face on hotel operations whilst staying connected, committed and setting the tone for the entire hotel. It was all about interaction with guests. Some may argue, with some justification, that over the years, it has somewhat evolved. There are now so many other demands of a business nature placed on general managers, which makes it more difficult for them to be as visible as they would like. However, going ‘invisible’ is going too far. When I stay in any hotel, and, in my lifetime I’ve stayed in over a hundred hotels, I try to look out for the hotel manager. Rarely do I succeed, and, the times I do – it is mostly because the hotel had recently appointed a new manager. In my experience and nowadays, a hotel guest may get a glimpse of the hotel manager, during the first few months of his or her new job or when he or she is shadow-tailing the occasional ‘big wig’ from head office, whose visit invariably causes ‘angst’. Thereafter, for the rest of their tenure of employment, most hotel managers, will remain glued in an office or will stay focused on holding or attending meetings all day long! Nowadays, the closest clue that the hotel has a manager is when you receive a printed ‘welcome’ letter. Ah…the times, how they have changed!
Someone…and I can’t recall his name, wrote of the welcome letter he received upon checking in to the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach a few years ago. The writer describes the hotel “as pretty much what you'd expect, but the attitude of the staff was phenomenal.” He goes on to explain “The following letter was in my room upon arrival, and during my stay - from the GM to Front Desk staff to Housekeeping attendant to the Restaurant brigade, they all lived up to their word.” The letter is as follows:
Welcome to the World Famous Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach! Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, we thought it would be the perfect time to remind you of how important you are to us. Today, we are spreading the love to friends, family, and co-workers. These 10 phrases are an illuminating reminder of how uncomplicated it is to make you, our guest, feel loved.
We hope you enjoy your stay with us! The Management & Staff, Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Walton Beach
What a profoundly refreshing message…simple, yet powerful – free of insincerity or boring clichés, no ‘cookie cutter’ language and extreme expressions used to convey meaningless nonsense statements designed to give the impression of substance. (Trust you caught my drift!). More importantly, the guest who wrote of the above welcome letter experienced the ‘walk-in-the-talk’, where staying connected, began from the top in this particular hotel. Seriously, why don’t anyone and everyone in the service sector take customer service seriously? Go on, pause a while and play-back the last five or more service interactions you’ve experience (airport, restaurant, hotel, bank, retail store, etc). Did you hear any one of the ten abovementioned phrases? Could it have made you as a customer, feel any different – especially feel better, had you heard one or more of these phrases? Think about it. These ten phrases illustrate a perfect example of managers, supervisors, trainers and the like claiming to know everything about it while few or none practice it. Why is that? Because it is ‘easier said than done’ and the inability to do the little things that count, is a powerful motivator for inertia. Lets revisit these ten phrases to remind ourselves how uncomplicated it is to make customers feel that we care.
To be continued |
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