Hospitality Customer Service

1. HospitalityCustomer Service What? Why? Who? and How! to be Successful

2. Hospitality Success

3. Hospitality Smile A great Customer Service smile will attract people to approach you and be friendly. An even friendlier smile and body language, means people will feel safe ask to you for help no matter where you are.

4. Agenda • What is Successful Customer Service? • Why is Customer Service so Important? • Who is Involved in Customer Service? • How to Offer the Best Customer Service? • Method • Recovery • Teamwork

5. What? is Successful HospitalityCustomer Service ?

6. What? Hospitality Success • What is Successful Hospitality Customer Service? • Hospitality is the friendly, generous welcome and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. (e.g. hotels, restaurants, etc) • Customer Service is EVERY interaction between a customer and an employee: • In-person • Telephone • E-mail or Letter • Website • Physical space (e.g: experience when customer walks into the room) • Successful Customer Service is when the customer and the server both have their needs and expectations met

7. Customer Experience Excellence

8. Customer’s have Feelings too

9. What? Legal Requirements • Safety • Hygiene / Health • Alcohol service • Gaming service • Discrimination • Accessibility for Disabilities

10. What? First Impression • Clean, Tidy, Visually appealing, Safe • Welcoming, Polite, Attentive, Friendly, Helpful, Willingness to listen, Respectful, Value my time • How long does it take to form a first impression? • Examples • KingBurger Video • Southwest Airlines Video • Fewest customer complaints 18 years in a row • Profitable for 40 years in a row • Top 10 companies to work for in the United States

11. What? Second Impression • Clean, Tidy, Visually appealing, Safe • Welcoming, Polite, Attentive, Friendly, Helpful, Willingness to listen, Respectful, Value my time • Good Communication, Knowledgeable, Responsive, Efficient, Responsible, Reliable, Organized, Trustworthy, Understanding, Good Follow-Up • Examples • Wendy 2:15 -end • Marriott 0:44-7:50

12. What? Loyalty Consistent quality & value for money Personalities look for: • Green: efficient, knowledgeable, innovative, • Blue : friendly, feel included, part of the family • Gold: consistent, predictable, feel important • Orange: variety, receives positive attention, specials

13. What? Loyalty

14. What? Server’s Needs • Respectful people • Clear communication about customer expectations • Clear communication about employer expectations • Positive Feedback

15. What? Reflection 1 • Choose a company where you have been a customer several times over the last year or more • E.g. grocery store, bank, restaurant, clothing store, coffee shop, cell phone company… • Answer first 4 questions

16. What? Complaints are Gifts

17. What? Complaints are Gifts

18. What? Complaints are Gifts • How can you find out the complaints from people who don’t complain because they are passive? • Be open and friendly and eager to listen • Ask questions, if they say ‘fine’ or ‘ok’ or you notice they won’t eye contact with you then try: • Please, I’m trying to learn ways to improve my customer service, can you help me?

19. What? Complaints are Gifts

20. What? Complaints are Gifts • Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. • I appreciate knowing about this and hope you will give me the opportunity to make it ‘right’. • Thank you for telling me and thank you for your patience while we do our best to win your trust back • Unhappy customers may be like this gorilla video

21. What? Your Turn • With a sentence or two, describe a difficult or challenging scenario that you observed or experienced during your Co-op, workplace or school.

22. Managing Conflict • Read note pg 43 in Customer Service Survival Toolkit • Share story pg 9 -ask students to prepare response. • Review the recommended response on pg11 and brainstorm what lessons there are to be learned. • Active listening with Empathy • Convince them you have listened and understood • Avoid empty apologies, excuses, blaming, getting defensive • … The Customer Survival Kit - What to say to Defuse even the Worst Customer Situations, Richard S. Gallagher, 2013

23. Customer Service Survival Tool Kit • Share story from pages 25 and ask students to prepare a response. • Review the recommended response on pg 26 and brainstorm what lessons there are to be learned. • Active listening with Empathy • Convince them you have listened and understood • Avoid empty apologies, excuses, blaming, getting defensive • …

24. What? Measuring Satisfaction A few ways of Measuring Satisfaction: • Comment Cards • On-the-spot surveys (Did you find what you wanted?) • Surveys (online or paper) • Online Reviews such as TripAdvisor • Mystery shopper • Loyalty Cards

25. Check Online Reviews

26. Tripadvisorsample reviews • Albert at Bay “Always a Great Stay” • Reviewed yesterday • Just returned from a 9 Night Stay. The suites are huge, clean, and the staff are all so friendly. My wife and I always feel safe and comfortable when we stay here. Always nice to see Bernadette and the front desk staff. This suites hotel gives you great value for your money. Thanks again for another great stay, • Westin Ottawa “Exceptional Service” • Reviewed 1 week ago • The vibe in this hotel is very energetic , the staff super friendly . Rooms ( and I am OCD on cleaniness) were clean, bright and beautiful. Before we even showed up the staff was in contact asking what we needed and though the notes were in a preset format their responses to my requests were anything but standard. The service and friendliness of their staff is what made this a 5 star visit.

27. Albert at Bay “Second to none!!!” • I travel very often and probably stay in different hotels 50 to 100 times a year. The Albert at Bay in Ottawa far exceeds anyplace I stay at in all of Ontario.Whether it is the front desk with Bernadette who I often refer to as the face of the Albert at Bay or when I make meeting arrangements with Erin (Catering Manager) or Danika in the Marketing group the service is always enjoyable and top rated.Even to the cleaning staff who refuse to get onto an elevator when a customer is already on it as I believe they do not want to inconvenience any of the guests with the smell of the cleaning carts, this just shows how much they care about your stay at their hotel. • I could go on and on in my review of how great this hotel is but when you are planning on a visit to the Nation's Capitol of Ottawa you need to experience this for yourself to truly appreciate the hospitality that comes from all who look after your every need and are always ready to resolve issues immediately.This is what a 5 star hotel should visit to strive after.

28. What? Measuring Satisfaction • Questions must be action oriented: • How would you Improve our product/service? • How can we improve? • If you could change one thing about our service what would it be? Why? • What was one thing you love about our service? Why? • How does our product compare to competitors? • What are a few words you’d use to describe our product/ service? • In what way is our product weak compared to competitors? • Note: if you only ask how happy they are, you won’t know how to change

29. What? Your Turn & Reflection 2 Question for customer video • For your Chosen company, answer question #5: • What customer satisfactions measurement tools do they use? • Are they effective tools? • What other tools would you recommend? • In your Teams, create some customer satisfaction measurement tools. (hint: who are your customers?)

30. Why? is SuccessfulCustomer Service Important?

31. Why? Why do we want to learn Successful Customer Service? • Success = Happy Customers & Employees => Future Customers

32. Why? Perception • Differences in perception between the Service Provider and the Service Receiver

33. How? Gold & Platinum Rules • Golden Rule = Treat others as you want them to treat you • Platinum Rule = • Treat others as they want to be treated Why is Platinum so much better for Customer Service?

34. Why? Needs vs Expectations • Need = solve a problem • e.g. Hungry = need food, Tired = need bed • Expectation = value expected for the money • The level of quality and service should match the amount spent • Different expectations • If spending $10 for meal or $50 for meal. • if spending $50 for a hotel room or $300 for room • 4 Tips 4 Success • Expectations & Surprises & Stories & Names

35. What? Predicting Expectations • Being able to predict your customer’s needs and expectations will make your work easier, more efficient, more effective and more rewarding • Practice by predicting 2 or 3 questions that will be on the final exam. Imagine HT is your customer. You will not be paid with money, you will be paid with a certificate (if you can prove you have learned how to be a good hospitality employee…)

36. Why? Money

37. Why? Money

38. Why? Your Turn • Look on Tripadvisor.ca to read some reviews of the hotel where you are doing your co-op. • Continue working on your Housekeeping List on the htjobs.pbworks.com • If there are not enough computers, share them by working on your Business Venture project

39. Who? is Part of Successful HospitalityCustomer Service ?

40. Who?

41. Who? • Who is involved in Customer Service? • whole organization has to be geared to customer service, even the employees who never meet the customer. Everyone should be given the tools and support and power to provide excellent customer service.

42. Who? Internal & External • What is the difference between an Internal Customer & External Customer? • External Customer = a customer who brings money into the company (e.g. a hotel guest) • Internal Customer = a customer who is paid by the same company that you are paid by (e.g. front desk, housekeeper, laundry, custodian, houseman…)

43. Who? Disabilities • Disability– Difficulty performing an activity • Accessibility barrier – Any obstacle that make it difficult — sometimes impossible — for people with disabilities to do the things most people take for granted (examples) • Handicap– When an accessibility barrier puts someone with a disability at a disadvantage.

44. Who? Disabilities The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) became law in 2005 Accessibility standards in 5 areas will gradually become law between 2005 and 2025. The first area to become law was Customer Service in Jan 1st 2012. • *Customer Service 2012 • Employment • Information and Communication • Transportation • Design of public spaces

45. Who? Disabilities Customer Service Laws for AODA • Step 1 – Create and put policies in place for serving customers with disabilities • Step 2 – Provide training to staff on how to provide accessible service to customers with disabilities • Step 3 – Put policies, practices, and procedures in writing (if more than 20 employees) • Step 4 – Report progress online (for more than 20 employees)

46. Who? Disabilities • Talk to Me Video (Intro & Hospitality) • Online Training Course

47. Who? Disabilities Review the Resource material for each of the 8 Disability Scenarios: • Deaf, deafened, oral deaf, and hard of hearing • Intellectual or developmental • Learning • Mental health • Speech or language • Physical or mobility • Vision loss • Deafblind Helen Keller video & Complete Awareness Quiz with a Partner

48. Who? Your Turn • Practice the scenarios with your partner for each type of disability: • Deaf, deafened, oral deaf, and hard of hearing • Intellectual or developmental • Learning • Mental health • Speech or language • Physical or mobility • Vision loss • Deafblind

49. Who? Your Turn • Create and Practice scenarios with your partner for each type of disability in Customer Service • Share concerns and lessons learned

50. Who? Your Turn & Reflection 2 • Final AODA Quiz & Certificate • For your chosen company, answer question #6: • What are the accommodations for disabilities and what would you recommend they have. • In your Teams, describe what accommodations you will include in your business venture for disabilities