PRESPECTIVE
The secret formula to great customer service :
STOP THINKING OF GUESTS IN THE PLURAL
Contributed by MICAH SOLOMON , MICAH SOLOMON & ASSOCIATES
I
work with companies — inside and outside the hospitality industry — to improve their relationships with guests . This work , which I call customer service transformation consulting , often involves moving an organization from strength to greater strength .
Other times , it ’ s about fixing something that is broke within the customer service loop . I often find clues suggesting that the care taken with customers in a property ’ s early or golden days was superior to what ’ s going on now in a variety of predictable ways : the level of personalization in customer interactions , the number of customer follow-ups and the care invested in each one , the thought that went into hiring and other similar key markers .
Unfortunately , the focus and attentiveness that are necessary for true hospitality tend to slide over time . Employees lapse into inappropriate language that guests find off-putting ; managers busy themselves with paperwork , hidden out of sight in their offices rather than in the open greeting guests or smoothing over customer conflicts . At the same time , what in the past might have been
60 hotelsmag . com Jul / Aug 2023