Guests want to feel welcome and cared for… but honestly, how many times have you truly felt this way while being a customer? Or did you feel that way, but it stopped after the sale was done?
A few months ago, I had a conversation about the hospitality industry and how this industry is organized around their guests. My interlocutor was impressed by how this industry knows how to do this. In my view the hotel, the room, the restaurant and other facilities are just facilitators. In itself you might even see these tangible things as an empty shell. You could easily choose another hotel for just a room, a restaurant, particular facilities… It is the quality that probably steers your first decision. But very simply stated: in itself it does not differentiate that much. Think of yourself going back to your favourite restaurant, hotel, or any other hospitality business. Chances would have been limited that you go back if you had a bad experience, right? And this is no different in other industries as research did already show.
What is the hospitality industry doing differently than many other businesses?
I will try to illustrate this by use of your imagination. Imagine entering a hotel in the middle of a busy city. Although it was crowdy and full of traffic outside you knew where to go since the hotel was located at a strategic recognizable spot. Arriving here, you quickly saw where to go specifically due to the clear logo on the wall and sign board. Believe it or not… this is already thought through.
Photo credits to Andrea Piacquadio @ Pexels
While entering the hotel it is the first thing you see: the reception desk with a genuine smiling receptionist. As a guest you directly know where to go and that smile is very inviting to interact with.
Receptionist: “Hello Mr./Ms. [your name], welcome to the hotel. I have the room ready for you. As we know from you previous stay at the hotel in the Netherlands we made sure to have a room with a nice view. Would you like to have your breakfast at 7.30AM just as last time, since you were here for business?”
You: “Thank you, I would appreciate that.”
Receptionist: “All right, I will personally take care for it. Please let us bring your luggage to room 722, it is on the 7th floor. From the elevator it is down the hall on your left. This is your pass to unluck the door. Everything is taking care of upfront of your stay. Please let me know if you have any questions.”
You: “No thank you, it sounds all is good.”
Receptionist: “Good to hear. Tomorrow we have prepared the conference room at the 5th floor for you. Would you like to check it today for a comforting start of your event tomorrow?”
You: I would appreciate that.”
Receptionist: Very well, please let us know when you are ready after you made yourself comfortable in your room. When you are at the reception desk I will then contact one of my colleagues to show you the conference room. I wish you a pleasant stay and please let me know if I can be of any assistance if needed. You will find the elevator upfront of this reception desk. Or if you want to re-energize after your trip first, please feel invited to our lounge to have your favourite coffee.”
You: “Great thank you.”
You decide to go for a coffee in the lounge before going up to the room. This creates time for the staff to bring your luggage to the room and you are able to take a breath. In the meanwhile you look over your shoulder. The receptionist is on the phone. You are walking up to the lounge. There you see the waiter having a chat on the phone too. You enter the lounge. The waiter welcomes you.
Waiter: “Hello Mr./Ms. [your name], welcome to the lounge. I will bring you your favourite coffee in a minute while you take a seat. Cappuccino with a bit more foam of milk with slight sprinkles of chocolate if I am correct?* Or would you prefer something else?”
You might think: ‘yeah right, like this is ever going to happen!’.
I will answer: “yes, and this is already happening.” Fair enough, this is an example the service of a luxury hotel wherein staff are highly trained to recognize their guests and act on their needs. However, the question is what is all behind this exceptional service?
“Hire for attitude, train for skills” - Herb Kelleher
The above imaginary example is in its essence something people can learn by means of good training and coaching. But there is more to it. The receptionist is supported by the right tooling (e.g. CRM with relevant customer data) – knowing the favourite coffee and knowing about the event. There is still a lot you can do while taking the GDPR into account. Being trained and supported by the right tooling it makes it “a piece of cake” to personalize services as mentioned above.
The task of management: Learn people how to use the information available in its benefit. And learn them how to interact with customers by means of this information and customer-experience-guidelines. Preferably also shown by the management themselves; lead by example.
That smile though, and that attitude… that’s what you will need to hire. This is also where HR comes in. I feel HR should be highly included while transforming your organization to become (more) customer centric, and onboarding is an important aspect. Think of the characteristics you are looking for in a person and try to find out in the job interview if the person fits these characteristics. Note that this is an important part in building up your customer centric culture as well. Therefore I feel HR should be highly included while transforming your organization to become (more) customer centric.
I remember using the STAR-method to find the right person for the job during my time at Hilton. If hired, new team members were welcomed with an onboarding training at the first day, followed by a mini-traineeship of 1 day at each department to step into each other’s shoes to stimulate collaboration and cross-departmental team spirit.
Back to your imagination: You finished your coffee and walk up to the elevator. 7th floor… Okay. There we go. After entering the elevator, you push the button of the 7th floor. The door is closing and before you know it you are at the floor you need to be. While leaving the elevator you start to question if it was left or right you need to go…
Left! As mentioned on the signs on the wall right upfront of the elevator. If there is no person to guide you, the signs will to make it easy for guests to find their room.
Walking down the hallway you pass a ‘member of the cleaning staff’. “Hello he says while looking at you with a genuine smile”. You enter your room. It is tidy, clean, and has everything you need for your stay. Everything feels in control, since the hotel seems to be so too. You can start preparing yourself for the workshop you are facilitating tomorrow.
All team members are part of the game
In this article of McKinsey we are made aware that having a great property is only the start. Look and feel is just the beginning, and having everything under control is something a guest/customer should be able to expect. But also here, there is something to take into account…
Coming back to your imagination: note that the mentioned cleaning person in the imaginary example is actually a member of the back office of the hotel. You will barely see them when you are checked in – if everything is under control. However, when back office gets in touch (in)directly with the guest/customer, you want the customer to have a comparable experience as with the front office.
The cleaning staff use the same system to know what rooms to clean first and to take ‘requests/needs’ into account. They are just as much part of your experience as the people you interacting with directly. To quote the article:
“The most powerful differentiator in the service sector is a culture of excellence – powered by staff that can anticipate customers’ needs.”
This means that all staff, including the back office and management, should be taken into account to deliver the desired customer experience.
Anticipating on customer needs can be supported by technology. If designed well it truly supports the desired customer experience for employees to bring the desired experience to live. In that matter: never underestimate the power of IT, they should be included just as much as any other department to deliver the desired customer experience. They should be aware of their role in this.
Back to your imagination: On your table you find some information about services and surroundings. But also, a card referring to the staff. This card gives you the opportunity to compliment the staff and to put them in the spotlights. Would you right one if applicable?
Value people to create value for customers
I remember receiving ‘Pluto Cards’ while working for Disney at the reception desk. Guests / customers complimenting you gives so much joy and motivation! And I remember that these cards were also used at Hilton (of course with a different name). There not only guests were able to wright them -the staff could also make a compliment to each other with the same cards. This system of compliments is uplifting! Which helps to keep up the good spirit in itself. Next to that, when a team (member) is rewarded by means of these cards… you have a great system to keep up the good work for guests / customers, also stimulating other teams/departments while building a customer centric culture.
Photo credits to Belle Co @ Pexels
Especially at the moment leaders will spotlight the teams on regular occasions. At both hospitality examples these cards where part of the daily stand-up with the management team. In this manner they had a way to see who stood out from the crowd, but also monitor guest experiences. This was part of the routine, together with discussing specific situations regarding guests and events to take into account, and results (e.g. yield). These stand ups were meant to hand over work between shifts and to keep updated regarding guests and daily business. Stand ups were one of the activities to keep aligned and embed consistency and authenticity next to keeping an eye on SOP.
SOP are standard operating procedures, which still had space for autonomy and take cross roads by exception. To quote the article again: “In the luxury space especially, you’re better off with guidelines than policies,” said one hotel GM. “You want to give the staff guidance without locking them into a straitjacket.” If you want to manage on customer experiences, this is one of the main rules if you ask me.
The stand ups are also a great way to stay focused on your shared values and how to keep track on them, since these shared values come alive in day-to-day activities while creating value to customers. Managers were truly Chief Culture Officers since they were visible and a helping hand if needed.
Focus on building customer relationships and boosting revenue
Imagine the next day during your stay at the hotel. The conference room was checked with the staff a day before the event and you are currently hosting the event. The room was set up in the way you preferred. Food and beverages were perfectly arranged. All attendants were satisfied so far. Then… there is a knock on the door. Since you are disrupted in your story you are a little irritated.
Hotel staff member: “I am really sorry to disturb the event. However, I need to inform you that there is a large leakage affecting some of the rooms of you and your attendants. We want to make sure all guests will be relocated to another room in the hotel to not further disturb the event.”
You: “Ow, that sounds serious.”
Hotel staff member: “Indeed. Since we know which guests are attending your event, I would like to call the room numbers that are affected. May I ask those attendants to pick their luggage, so we are able to relocated their room?”
You: “Is that needed as we speak or is it ok to round off this part in 10minutes?”
Hotel staff member: “I think that would be OK, but please be aware we are already taking care of the rooms since the leakage is really troubleling. The conference room is on the right wing, which means the event does not have to be affected.
You: “Ok, please mention the rooms affected and all will collect their luggage. We will pause the event for an hour.”
Hotel staff member: “Thank you, after the luggage is collected, we will take care of the rest to be to proceed the event. We want you to have the least possible trouble by this leakage, we are so sorry this is happening.”
Sometimes real challenges need to be faced. I remember a large leakage of the roof in one of the wings of the hotel. It was all hands-on deck! Customers needed to be relocated in- or outside the hotel (yes, it was very serious) since their rooms were soaking wet. The general manager arranged everything together with facilities, reservations, and the reception desk, while making sure all staff took their positions to serve and guide guests no matter if you were front- or back office. Guests needed to be taken care of. No matter what, guests first!
But what surprised me was that he also took a water vacuum cleaner himself to start cleaning up together with other colleagues. He was standing there with his tidy shoes on a wet floor, just like everyone else. For me this showed dedication and that he was just as much part of the team effort to make sure everything will be OK for the guests in the shortest possible time. This general manager showed he was equal to all others. I think this is powerful leadership that also stimulates a motivated workforce.
Renovations needed to take place afterwards. If I remember correctly these where already planned. I expect it did involve extra costs to speed up the project… Obviously, this whole situation was also about revenue and being back in business as soon as you can. The rooms designed were so much better, so maybe the universe helped a bit to speed up the quality improvement 😉 However, although it was about revenue and costs as well, no doubt the guests were the first priority while taking action.
As in the imaginary example: the staff made sure the event was affected as little as possible, and they made sure guests do not have to worry about staying in the hotel or not. They only thing they needed help with was the luggage, so they were able to take care of everything to keep building the customer relationship. As the McKinsey article mentions: “It’s always crucial to see the bigger picture. The focus should be on boosting revenue and building customer relationships, not just on costs.”
Support is crucial
Reading between the sentences you might have read not only about culture, attitude, and mindset of all the staff, including management/leadership. It is also about processes and information supporting the desired experience – supported by tools (e.g. IT-systems). This is all part of the design, next to what a guest/customer is actually going through. That design did start with the experience as a guiding principle to create cohesion.
Guests are the purpose, the why, for the hospitality industry. Serving guests and create the customer experience they deserve is a priority to all. As one general manager (GM) of a luxury hotel said in the article “Our facility is our stage, and guests are paying for a performance.” I would like to rephrase this quote into: “The organization is the stage, and customers are paying for a performance.”
Photo credits to my dad while experiencing the Skotel lunch at Hotelschool The Hague 😉
As I mentioned during the introduction of this article: guests want to feel welcome and cared for. Maybe even more after the sale took place. Customers are no different. Customers are the reason a business can exist, so why are organizations not organized around customers as the hospitality industry is?
To be honest, I do not have the answer. However, I can imagine the origin lays somewhere in the industrial age and in the difference in the length of time “using” products and services. Note, this is just a thought. But while being “raised” in my profession by Hotelschool The Hague, Hilton, and Disney (in my early days) it feels so logical to me to start with the customer experience and translate it back to the design of the organization.
A customer is a guest of your organization. Do you feel like a guest as well when you are a customer? If the imaginate experience in this article was happening to you… what kind of impression would that have made to you? I am really curious about your thoughts and insights, please feel free to share in the comments or contact me via gerda@interacxion.nl.
*Now you know my favourite coffee 😉
End notes:
- The concept of this article is a try-out (triggering your imagination). Please let me know your feedback by a DM.
- While writing this article a lot of memories came back to me, I decided to select just a few of them. Maybe a cliff hanger for blogs in the future?