PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE What Every Hospitality Service Provider Needs to Know by William B. Martin 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. NJ

PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE

What Every Hospitality Service Provider Needs to Know

byWilliam B. Martin

2003 Pearson Education, Inc. NJ

PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICEWhat Every Hospitality Provider Needs To KnowWilliam B. Martin (2003) Person Education, Inc. NJ

2

Customer Service Fundamentals—Providing Hospitality at Its

Best – Ch. 1-4


3

QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE

IS

WINNING WITH THE CUSTOMER


4

Winning with the Customer

• The Customer Wins

• The Service Provider Wins


5

Quality Customer Service is NOT

The Customer Wins

while

The Service Provider Loses


6


The Service Provider Wins

while

The Customer Loses


7


The Customer Loses

and

The Service Provider Loses


8

Customers come in two varieties.

• External

• Internal


9

Quality Customer Service

Is the ability to consistently meet external and internal customer needs,

wants, and expectations involving procedural and personal encounters.


10

Quality Customer Service

• Is consistent

• Meets external customer needs

• Meets internal customer needs

• Includes procedural customer expectations

• Includes personal customer expectations


11

THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY SERVICE

PR

OC

ED

UR

AL

PERSONAL

THE ARENA OF

QUALITY SERVICE

Room for Improvem

ent


12

Personal

Pro

ced

ura

l

THE FREEZER

We don’t care


13

THE FACTORY

Personal

Pro

ced

ura

l

Customer is a

number


14

THE FRIENDLY ZOO

Personal

Pro

ced

ura

lWe try hard, but don’t know what we are doing


15

QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE

Personal

Pro

ced

ura

lWe care

and

we deliver


16

Adopting a Customer Service Perspective

• “The customer is king.”

• “The customer is the reason we exist.”

• “Our customers pay our salaries.”

• “Without our customers we have nothing.”

• “We are not providing quality service unless our customers believe that we are.”


17

Customers

Service Providers

Managers

CEO


18

Tangiblesvs.

Intangibles


19

Chapters 5 - 10The System Side of Service—

Providing that Procedural Touch


20

Timeliness vs. Promptness


21

Timeliness is Relative

• The service concept

• The sequence of service steps

• The meal period


22

Four Timing Moments of Truth

• When the guest arrives

• The length of wait before service

• The time of providing service

• Post-service time

4


23

How is guest time OCCUPIED while waiting?


24

Maintaining an Incremental Flow of Service

• Flow affects timeliness

• Flow and system interdependency

• Breaking service into increments

• Service provider control of the flow


25

Managing the Flow• Pre-bookings/reservations

• Seating/room assignment patterns

• Express check-in/check-out

• Adjustments for large groups

• Waiting procedures/areas

• Queue formations

• Multiple service stations/steps

• Staffing


26

The Art of Anticipation

• Knowing WHAT customers want and WHEN it is wanted

• Thinking one-step ahead of the customer

• Being prepared with back-ups

• Staffing


27

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

• Miscommunication = Misunderstanding

• Misunderstanding = Service Failures

• Miscommunication is too easy

• Effective communication is the hard part


28

Message

Sender

Receiver

Feedback


29

Customer Feedback -- The Four Questions

• How?

• Who?

• Where?

• When?


30

Obtaining Feedback from Guests

• Two minutes/two bites

• Being specific

• Comment cards

• The Internet

• Shopper services


31

Listening to the Guest

• Stop talking

• Avoid distractions

• Concentrate on what the guest is saying

• Look for the “real” meaning

• Provide feedback to the guest


32

Accommodation

• Flexible systems that favor the customer

• Ability and desire to grant special guest requests

• It is easy to say “no”; hard to say “yes”

• Sometimes you have to say “no”

• “The answer is ‘yes,’ now what’s the question?”

Yes


33

The Human Side of Service—Providing That Personal Touch


34

The Four Basic Customer Service Needs

• The Need to Be Understood

• The Need to Feel Welcome

• The Need for Comfort

• The Need to Feel Important

4


35

Your Attitude Shows


36

Body Language

• Eyes

• Mouth

• Posture

• Gestures

• Grooming


37

Tone of Voice

• Friendly/unfriendly

• High energy/low energy

• Warm/cold

• Concerned/indifferent


38

Attitudes are “caught” -- not taught


39

Attitude Metamorphosis

• Emotional Labor

• Contact-Overload Syndrome


40

Tact

• Is saying the RIGHT thing

• Is using polite language and phrases

• Is avoiding the five forbidden phrases

• Is making sure that what you say meets your customers’ needs


41

The Five Forbidden Phrases

Phrases to Avoid• I don’t know• We can’t do that• You’ll have to…• Hang on a second.

I’ll be right back• No, (at the beginning of

a sentence)

Positive Helpful Options• I will find out• What I can do is…• May I help you…• May I call you back in

a few minutes• Yes


42

What You Say Should Help Your Customer --

• Feel Understood

• Feel Welcome

• Feel Comfortable

• Feel Important


43

Naming Names

• Systems help

• Using the system

• “The sweetest sound in any language is the sound of your own name.”


44

Attentiveness

• Is making guests feel special by doing special things!


45

“WOWing” the Guest


46

Reading the Guest


47

Empathizing with the Guest


48

Helping the Guest

• Providing helpful information

• Being knowledgeable about --– products– procedures– internal resources– external resources


49

Selling that Sells

• Assuming you can sell

• Upgrading choices

• Cross selling

• Being specific

• Describing items

• Using props


50

Getting the Sale• Expand your customer’s awareness of

what’s available

• Explain the features of what you are offering

• Describe the benefits of what you are offering

• Ask for the order

• Compliment the customer’s choice


51

Gracious Problem Solving

• Service provider remains calm and cool

• Customers are “right” even when they aren’t

• Service provider focuses on the problem, not the person

• The four basic service needs are maintained


52

Responding to a Customer Complaint

• Listening

• Repeating

• Apologizing

• Full disclosure

• Acknowledging feelings

• Explaining positive actions

• Thanking the customer


53

The Challenge of the Difficult Guest

• Don’t take it personally.

• Remain calm. Listen carefully.

• Focus on the problem, not the person.

• Reward yourself for turning a difficult customer into a happy one.

• When all else fails, ask for help.


54

Handling Complaints and Difficult Guest No-No’s

• Give excuses

• Argue with the customer

• Criticize the customer

• Challenge the customer

• Ignore the customer

• Blow the problem out of proportion

Documents

PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICE What Every Hospitality Service Provider Needs to Know by William B. Martin 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. NJ