7 Top tips to provide the best hotel customer service
With hundreds if not thousands of hotel options in one given area, customers are spoilt for choice when choosing a place to stay. The quality of your customer service can either grow your business or be detrimental. If your customer service is lacking, it is likely, your guests won’t return and worse leave negative reviews or share their bad experience with others. Here are 7 top tips to provide the best customer service to ensure guests keep coming through the door.
Great customer service begins before your guests even arrive
The reservation process should be easy, and your guest’s requests should be catered to. The information listed on your website and booking sites must be current and up to date. For instance, if someone has booked a trip at your hotel specifically for the heated pool but, it is undergoing maintenance and unusable, then you need to state this. If your guests arrive and have no idea because you have not disclosed this information, you can guarantee that they are not going to be happy from the get-go.
Efficient and friendly check-in
Checking in is generally your guests first encounter with the hotel staff. First impressions count and can set the tone for your guests’ stay. Your priority should be to make your guests feel welcome the minute they arrive by being friendly and approachable. If your guests have to wait around in long lines to check-in or their room isn’t ready, their level of satisfaction is going to decline, so it’s important to get it right. Here are simple things that can make a good first impression on your guests:
- Listen to what they say
- Make eye contact
- A clean foyer
- Quick check-in
- Open body language
- Smiling and being friendly
If you want to make a fantastic impression, offer them a free drink or room upgrade if it’s available.
Make your guests feel special
You must treat everyone equally that stays at your hotel. Your staff should be attentive and have a nothing is too much trouble attitude. Address your guests by their names and if they have noted that they are staying to celebrate a special occasion, acknowledge that. Throwing in something for free can make your guests feel appreciated and special. When you put a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction and ensure that your guests are feeling at home and special, they are less likely nit-pick at minor details and will be more satisfied with their stay overall. When a guest is not happy with the level of customer service they receive, even the smallest missed detail will add to their frustration.
Attention to detail
Sometimes it’s the small details that can make all the difference. For example, if your guests are travelling with young children and have requested a cot on their booking, it should be set up in the room for when they arrive, they shouldn’t have to chase it up. If your guests have booked a room with two single beds, only to arrive and see that their room has a double bed only, they are going to have to wait to relax as they’ll probably have to change rooms – not a good start. When your guests arrive, they should feel a sense of relaxation and not have to wait around for things they requested in the first place.
Be consistent
There’s no point going above and beyond for one guest and not for the next. This will only lead to disappointment. if a guest books with you based on someone else’s positive experience only to arrive at the complete opposite, they won’t return. Your hotel must provide consistently good customer service and staff should have ongoing training on how to make their guests stay enjoyable. People have high expectations when they stay somewhere. If you’re marketing your business in a certain light it needs to reflect that when your guests stay. People return to hotels that they know are good and maintain the same consistent service and amenities. Consistency will lead to more positive experiences and reviews, which will lead to more customers booking your hotel. It is vital to your businesses success.
Take feedback on board and implement it
If your guests have taken the time to offer feedback on their stay, regardless of whether it was good or bad, take it on board. That’s how hotels become successful, by learning from their right and wrongdoings to move forward and be better than they were yesterday. Even if your guests haven’t offered any negative feedback, you should always be looking for ways you can enhance your guests stay. It can be anything from adding another recreational element or something simple like being extra attentive to elderly guests.
Equip staff with the knowledge and authority to make quick decisions
If a guest asks a question the last thing they want to be doing is waiting around for the staff member to chase down the manager to answer it. Ensure all your staff know how to troubleshoot common issues/problems/questions efficiently. It should be everyone’s duty to anticipate your customers’ needs and meet them.
There’s no denying how essential exceptional customer service is to a hotel’s growth and success. It is the backbone of the industry and without you don’t have much of a hotel.
Lepack is all about enhancing your guests stay and we specialise in the finest quality hotel supplies and breakfast boxes. If you have any questions, get in touch with our friendly team or alternatively check out our website for further information.
