Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2 Work with colleagues and customers Modified by Sue Cameron

2. Agenda for session 6 • Complete Session 5 on personal presentation • Revision Q&A • Provide service to colleagues and customers/guests • Showing sensitivity to cultural and social differences

3. Revision Q&A • What are interpersonal skills? • Continue with questions on page 86 under ‘check please’ • Questions 27 - 35

4. Providing service to colleagues and guests • Customer/client - a person who pays for goods or services • Passenger (pax) – travels with us by air, sea or land (rail or bus) • Visitor – domestic or international tourist to area • Guest – person who visits for purpose of using facilities or services. Also can be customer or person accompanying customer

5. Providing service to colleagues and guests • Excellence in customer service is achieved when customers’ and colleagues perceptions of service consistently meet or exceed their expectations • The responsibility for this lies with us!

6. Identifying customer needs • We need to read the signals that every customer gives, indicating what they want • Also being flexible enough to respond appropriately in a timely manner • If in doubt, seek assistance from colleagues or a supervisor

7. Identifying customer needs • Market segmentation helps us identify some of those needs • Do you all know what market segmentation means?

8. Identifying customer needs • Our customers’ expectations are influences by cultural factors, socioeconomic factors (how much they want to spend, or can afford), their age, their personality or frame of mind and their areas of interest • Their expectations of our organisation will differ from their expectations of us

9. Satisfying customer/guest needs • In order to satisfy guest needs we have to first determine what they are • Possible customer expectations of the organisation may include: • professionalism, pleasant atmosphere, cleanliness, safety, good value for money, entertainment, ability to meet needs, familiarity with surroundings and product quality

10. Satisfying customer/guest needs • Possible customer expectations of us may include: • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, confidence, motivation, initiative enthusiasm, good personal presentation, product knowledge, recognition of dissatisfaction and action to rectify it, service consistency, individual attention

11. Satisfying customer/guest needs • Guests may return to an establishment because the individual could meet their expectations, even if the organisation could not • One of the most important things you can do for a guest is use their name

12. Satisfying customer/guest needs • Customers with special needs include: (page 88) • People with disability, including wheelchair users, deaf and/or mute customers, and visually impaired customers

13. Special needs • Children • Customers with special dietary requirements • Women

14. Satisfying customer/guests needs • Single travellers • Visitors from other cultures • Elderly • Smokers

15. What is culture? • Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behaviour; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behaviour through social learning • Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people

16. Cultural and Social differences • Show sensitivity to cultural and social differences • This may include: • Modes of greeting • Fare-welling • Conversation • Body language including gestures • Formality of language

17. Modes of greetings • Greetings and farewells are necessary in every language, because the “going-on-well” of a relationship, depends directly on the first contact • Two main types, verbal and non- verbal • Bowing, handshakes, embracing, folding hands, nose rubbing

18. Modes of greetings • While greeting customs are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status and relationship, they exist in all known human cultures • Reference: Wikipedia website (March 2013) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeting

19. Modes of greetings • To the Vietnamese age is ranged the most important factor, followed by social status • While to the English native speakers, length of time and communicative environment are also taken into consideration beside the age factor • Reference: Cross cultural study (March 2013) data.ulis.vnu.edu.vn/jspui/bitstream/123456789/490/1/A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY ON GESTURES FOR GREETINGS.doc

20. Modes of greetings (Indonesia) • When greeting or introducing oneself, smiling, handshake (salam) and slightly nod is a good gesture, gently touch your counterpart’s extended hands, before finally bringing one’s hands back to the chest to demonstrate that you welcome from the heart • The greeted party will then reciprocate this gesture

21. Fare- welling • Depending on the situation and the people involved it can be as casual as ‘See you’ to ‘Lovely to have met you’ • In other cultures it may be bowing, shaking hands or ‘Namaste’

22. Videos • Multicultural Manners video (March 2013) http://www.videojug.com/interview/basics-of-multicultural-manners-2?sourcelink=verticalrecommendation

23. Next session No 7 • Revision on Providing service to colleagues and customers • Work in a team • Revision for exam on Thursday • See you tomorrow evening