Let The Travel Begin….
Many parts of the world have opened back up to travel and tourism. Guests are starting to pour back into hotels in their tens, hundred’s and even thousand’s. Now is the perfect time to review and improve the customer experience your hotel is offering.
Let’s look at three simple measures you can put in place to elevate the guest experience.
Staff Training
From the catering team to front of house, your people are your most valuable asset. Guests are looking for hotels that offer friendly and outstanding service. They want a hotel where all staff go the extra mile to make their stay memorable and special.
Hotel staff play a major role in your customer’s experiences as they have the most interactions with guests. To ensure every interaction is of a high standard, all customer facing staff should go through a thorough training program.
Training topics should include the following:
- Top class customer service skills
- Professional communication
- Time management
- Complaint handling
- Guest relations
- Technical training specific to their role
Staff should be trained when they start a new role and then at least every six months. This will increase staff retention and boost the confidence and competence of your teams.
Quality Control
Quality control is all about maintaining high standards in every area of your hotel. This can be broken down into three sections:
- People – This includes managing the standard of work staff are producing and looking after HR responsibilities like absence.
- Process – This involves ensuring all hotel processes are completed to a high standard with minimal error.
- Guest Experience – This is all about taking an overview of the whole guest experience from the moment they book their room to the moment they check out.
To consistently produce high standards in all three areas, you must have quality control formulas and processes. Most hotels have Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s). However, it’s important to also add measures to ensure high standards are reached every day.
Here are some examples of quality control measures:
- Room checking: Checking each room is ready for guests by three different people to ensure the room has no spot or blemish.
- Restaurant: Asking each guest who dines in your restaurant if they have any allergies.
- Walk through: Completing a “walk through” in the communal areas of your hotel once every hour to ensure each space is clean, tidy and looking fresh.
Personal Touches
To set yourself apart from the fierce competition, focus on giving each guest a unique experience. A simple way to do this is to provide individual personal touches.
Here are some ideas of how you can WOW your guests with something special:
- Flowers – Fresh flowers in a room instantly add a touch of elegance and beauty. Go the extra mile and find out your guest’s favourite colour and surprise them with a free bouquet.
- Occasions – Ask guests if they are celebrating any special occasions like anniversaries. Use this as an opportunity to provide a free gift such as 20% off dinner at the hotel restaurant.
- Favourites – For returning guests, ask them to complete a short form about their favourite things to eat and do. Reward their loyalty by arranging an experience or gift related to one of their favourites.
- VIP Touches – For VIP guests who have stayed on several occasions, offer a free nights stay or a free dinner where possible.
The Excellent Concierge Masterclass
We have launched our signature course for hotel frontline staff called The Excellent Concierge Masterclass. Staff who attend the course will come away feeling confident and empowered with practical skills to produce amazing customer experiences.
For full details of the course check out our course page here.