Hospitality impressions start long before the customer actually walks through your doors. In the rise of the digital age customers experience our brand way before they actually make physical contact with our product or service offering. Take a look at the IHST  Accredited Hospitality and Culinary Skills Programmes  on offer, we have also put together a list of customer service tips to ensure customer satisfaction and win repeat business.

First Impressions matter

Put yourself in the eyes of a customer, pretend to view your establishment as if you are entering it for the very first time. A customer’s perception is inevitably their reality. That very first impression tends to linger in their memory.

Impressions before the first impression

How your business portrays itself online is vital to the success of your establishment. Therefore a lot of work needs to go into having a consistent brand image across all brand contact points, that is from your website across into all your social channels as well.

Last Impressions matter

The “Goodbye” is a very important stage of interaction and must be given the attention it needs. You coul not possibly rush this stage of the process, it is here that customers tend to walk away wanting to come back or not.

Timeliness

Your customer’s time is invaluable, so always keep that in mind. There is no use having a perfect product or service but delivering it late to your customer.

Get rid of the fine print.

To a customer, fine print is where a company hides something that will protect them from a dissatisfied customer. Better to fix it than hide it.

“Free service- consulting”

The feedback you receive be it positive or negative from your customers  must always be taken into account and actioned on. This is an extremely useful tool in any business, if matters are addressed customers will feel as if their views actually do matter and that the business genuinely does care.

Reward and recognize

Always give credit where credit is due. This makes employees feel like their work is valued and appreciated and they are more likely to put even better work in, aiding your business in the long run. By giving rewards and recogniton to staff, other staff also become motivated by a little friendly competition.

Commit to continous improvement

Ask yourself everyday at the end of each day how am I going to make tomorrow better? This will allow you and your business to be continually striving for success.

Standards matter

Keep everything consistent, from your service delivery to the products you offer guests so that inevitably nothing out of the ordinary can go wrong.

Track analyze and report on customer service

By creating a dialogue with customers, hotel management can see strong points and weak spots in customer service. Customer feedback can be gathered online in review section of websites combined with review cards in room and front desk logs. These tools, used correctly, can be extremely helpful in staff meetings and training sessions, and at the management level for implementing policy.

The perfect customer service training programme

As an exclusive training partner of The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute  in South Africa, International Hotel School’s Training arm offers a prestigious internationally recognised Guest Service Gold® programme. The programme is a firm favourite with leading hotels the world over and aims to create guest service-oriented frontline employees who know how to engage with their guests to provide memorable service. The course content includes: Keeping it real; reading the guests needs; becoming a guest hero; following through and making an effort. This programme offers a Professional Certification from The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, which is beneficial for those seeking career advancement and skills development.

What is Professional Certification?

Professional Certification demonstrates proficiency in a skill that you are already using as part of your daily job. It is a concrete indication of your skill and shows employers and guests that you are committed to your profession and are well-trained with proven abilities.

Why get certified?

Benefits of certification include career improvement; a competitive edge in the industry; employment opportunities, higher wages; job retention and eligibility for promotion.

Who is this course aimed at?

Guest Service Gold® can be implemented by any service-oriented business, such as restaurants, transportation companies, attractions, and retail outlets, not just lodging properties.

“At IHS, we believe that genuine engagement with guests is key to being competitive and relevant in the local hospitality industry. The CGSP® programme equips employees to go above and beyond their call of duty through modules that develop authenticity, intuition and empathy,” explains Stuart Blackburn, Managing Director for Training at International Hotel School.

Make service count in your business

IHST  offers students a comboniation of  relevant short certification and training that equip individuals with the skills and knowledge they require to be successful hospitality professionals. IHST is now one of the largest hospitality and training companies in South Africa.

“Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.” ~ Tony Allesandra.

Don’t allow poor or mediocre service let your business down. Empower your employees or colleagues by taking service to the next level, and join International Hotel School’s Guest Service Gold® programme for excellent results. If you would like to know more, email info@dev.brokenpony.club or give us a call on 0861 44 33 00 and chat to one of our consultants about your guest service vision, and how we can help you make that connection.

Source: roryvaden.com, hospitalityrisksolutions, www.adeccousa.com/, mannersforbusiness.com,