Refining your brand’s service culture can have exponential effects on the guest experience and create a return customer for years to come
We all know the importance of good customer service. But have you ever taken the time to evaluate your property’s service culture? The standards you set for your hotel’s service culture can make or break a guest’s experience. If executed correctly, your service culture can ensure a guest for life.
But before you evaluate your property’s service culture, let’s first define what service culture is and why it’s important.
What is Service Culture?
Service culture is an environment where employees are focused solely on offering the best customer service possible. An effective service culture has all employees’ duties center around offering the best guest experience. Not surprisingly, service culture leads to guests associating your brand with a positive experience, which in turn, leads to positive online reviews, favorable word-of-mouth and a regular customer.
So, what are some ways to hone your property’s service culture? Incorporating initiatives that are specific to your brand’s mission should be first and foremost when defining your brand’s service culture. Once defined, here are a few steps you can take to ensure a proper service culture.
Train Your Employees
Instruct employees from day one what your brand’s unique service culture is and how they can implement it at all times. Hold semi-regular team meetings that remind employees of your company’s service culture. Make an outline of your service mission with tips on how to enact them in daily guest interactions and post them anywhere employees gather so they stay front-of-mind at all times.
Include All Employees in the Mission
If a guest has a great experience at the front desk, spa and hotel bar, but a terrible experience at valet, then your service culture has failed. Your customer service culture needs to permeate your entire brand. From front-of-house to back-of-house, all employees must be on board and focused on the same service goals.
Remember Your Guests’ Names
One of the simplest ways to make your guests feel valued is remembering and addressing them by name whenever you interact with them. Writer and lecturer Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” This simple but impactful gesture lets the customer know that you respect them as a person and value their business.
Remove the Needless Friction
Comb through your company rules, policies, and procedures and remove any redundancies or needless ones that may cause frustration. Unnecessary rules and policies reduce the chances of a customer doing business with you in the future.
Practice Service Recovery
So something went wrong — we’re all human. When a mistake is made, admit it and do whatever it takes to correct it. Instill in your employees the importance of acting swiftly to correct an error. Remind them to take responsibility for the mistake made and work to correct it as soon as possible. Following up with a guest immediately after a mistake is made is also critical.
To learn more about how you can improve the guest experience and create a positive service culture using hotel technology, request a demo today.
