Another Way to Amaze Your Customers: Pay Attention
Shep Hyken | July 15, 2020
5 Steps to 5-Star Service Excellence, Inspired by the Ritz-Carlton
Hospitality Insights | February 28, 2020
Guest Experience
7 Signs You Need Help With Your Business Guest Experience
Pierre Verbeke | May 4, 2020
By Pierre Verbeke When you’re in the hospitality business, you can’t afford to allow even one guest to have a poor guest experience. As savvy business owners know, one bad review can cascade into a waterfall of negative online commentary about your business. Once the word gets out that your staff doesn’t know how to treat guests, business guests will begin to dwindle until you find yourself struggling to rebuild a solid reputation as hospitality experts. Don’t let this happen to your hospitality business. Whether you’re running a hotel, convention center or any other kind of guest services company, it pays to recognize the sign...
There’s Magic in Managing the Details
Shep Hyken | April 23, 2020
By Shep Hyken “Detail is no detail.” I’m not sure where I heard this first. I even did a Google search and couldn’t find it. Maybe I made it up. If I did, this is what I meant by it: details are important. They must be purposeful. Some of the “little things” that seemingly don’t matter can actually be very important. An example of this comes right out of my recently released book, the updated and revised version of The Cult of the Customer. On page 163, I wrote, “Our perceptions of the organizations with which we choose to work are inevitably shaped by a sequence of seemingly little experiences that can go either...
The Boss Can Kill the Customer Service Buzz
Shep Hyken | April 2, 2020
By Shep Hyken Back in my high school and college days I worked at a gas station. We were a self-service station, so our role was that of cashier more than anything else. One very cold morning I noticed an elderly woman drive into the station. She was probably 80 years old. When I say it was a cold morning, I mean it was record-breaking cold. I walked out to her car and asked if I could fill her tank with gas for her so she could stay in her warm car. She was happy to stay warm and I was happy to help her. Once her tank was full, she paid me, I thanked her, and she drove off. I hustled back into the warm building where my manager a...
The Problem Didn’t Start When Your Customer Told You About It
Shep Hyken | March 18, 2020
By Shep Hyken The phone rings. A customer service representative answers the phone and hears about a problem a customer is having. It may be the first time the company hears about this particular problem, but it isn’t when the problem occurred. It occurred before the customer called. The big question is… how long before the customer called did the problem occur? Maybe it happened two minutes ago—or maybe it was two days ago. Regardless, the customer called at that moment and the customer service rep has no idea, unless they ask, when the problem occurred. This gap in time is out of the company’s control—it is the customer’s ...
ReviewPro, a Shiji Group Brand, Launches Innovative Guest Experience Automation™
Guest Experience Automation™ | March 10, 2020
The launch campaign will enable widespread adoption of AI and automation by offering free service in 2020 for the first 500 qualifying hotels, up to a value of 1.2 million euros. Barcelona, 10 March, 2020: ReviewPro, a Shiji Group brand, has driven the guest experience management landscape for over a decade and is now making a decisive move into AI-powered automation with its new product Guest Experience Automation™. The product launches with an offer of free service in 2020 to the first 500 qualifying* hotels up to a value of 1.2 million euros, to empower them to act now because “Guests Won’t Wait.” Find out more at guestwontwait....
Coronavirus: Train Your Front Desk & Reservations Team to Respond to Guest Comments & Questions
Doug Kennedy | March 9, 2020
By Doug Kennedy Much has already been written about the impact of the Coronavirus on the travel and lodging industry, and I’ll leave it up to the experts in each field to talk about how this impacts revenue, distribution and cleaning procedures. Right now, I’m in the middle of two straight weeks of delivering workshops on hospitality and sales training throughout Hawaii, and so I’m going to address a question my participants are asking. “What should we say when guests mention coronavirus?” This question comes in various contexts, but it’s the most challenging when guests are calling about booking, or when they are calling t...
Guest Experience Is the New Loyalty: How Hoteliers Can Take Advantage of Technology to Elevate Guest Experience
Binu Mathews | March 3, 2020
By Binu Mathews For hoteliers, guest loyalty has become an increasingly elusive concept. A decade ago, brands would have focused on instilling loyalty through things like rewards programs or points. Now, it is more about creating an inspiring, fun, and authentic experience across the entire guest journey. Jeff Bezos once said, “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little better.” As it turns out, the recipe for loyalty in this modern, digital landscape is equal parts simple and complex for hoteliers. The basic premi...
5 Steps to 5-Star Service Excellence, Inspired by the Ritz-Carlton
Hospitality Insights | February 28, 2020
Service excellence is the foundation of luxury hotels and the Ritz-Carlton has received many awards for it. Here are 5 steps it takes to remain best in class. When you opt for a five-star hotel, you expect luxury. Marble, not granite. Silverware, not stainless steel. Crystal rather than glass. A high thread count. You expect the receptionist who welcomes you on arrival to speak your language. You anticipate valet parking or someone to show you to your room, relieving you of the burden of your heavy suitcases. You presume the hotel restaurant, or indeed restaurants, will serve exquisite cuisine at your beck and call. You want access to addi...
How to Transform the Customer Experience
Shep Hyken | February 26, 2020
By Shep Hyken Want to engage and connect with your customers more effectively? Then listen to what Matt Gillin, the co-founder and CEO of Relay Network, has to say. I had a chance to interview Matt for my Be Amazing or Go Home TV show, and he shared specific insights on how to improve the customer experience. In Matt’s words, “The world is now on-demand and highly personalized. The secret of the game is to make it easy and frictionless.” Personalization is a hot topic, and “on-demand” is about giving the customer what they want when they want it. If you’ve been following my work, then you know I’m a huge fan of the fric...
The Cult of Amazement
Shep Hyken | February 19, 2020
By Shep Hyken In the updated and revised edition of The Cult of the Customer, I cover the concept of amazement. This may be old news to my followers, but it is worth repeating. Amazement does not come from a WOW or over-the-top experience. Those happen on occasion, especially when problems are handled well. But on a day to day basis, amazement happens when you deliver experiences that are consistently and predictably above average. They could even be just a tiny little bit above average. What makes that amazing is that it is always predictable. The customer owns it because they know it’s going to happen. What happens when there’s...
Is Service Excellence the New Marketing?
Hospitality Insights | February 14, 2020
With service excellence being an abstract concept and a soft target, you may be reluctant to invest in it, but it pays for itself in many ways. The drama of television advertising… A captivating opening image followed by a series of emotive visuals. Strategically emphatic sound delivering rhetorically suave messages, with intonation so on point, it makes the hair on your arms stand up. Immersive, hooking viewers to a notion. Awakening a dormant desire or conjuring up a new one. Consumers subconsciously reaching for their wallets as they absolutely must have this essential device. How could they possibly have lived without it? And how doe...
The Worst Thing That Happens Is Your Customer Loves You
Shep Hyken | February 14, 2020
What if the worst thing a customer ever said about you was, “I love you!”? Even on a bad day, you’re still so good that they love you! Are you that good? Do customers love you even when there’s a problem or complaint? Here are six ways to make customers love you no matter what! Become customer-focused. This means that in addition to creating an amazing customer experience, every decision keeps the customer in mind. It doesn’t mean every decision will make the customer happy, but the customer is always kept in mind when any type of change is made, from price to changes in features to new and even discontinued products. Be ...
The Last Customer on Earth
Shep Hyken | February 6, 2020
By Shep Hyken What if you only had one customer left to do business with? Maybe this was the last customer on earth? Norman Beck—my friend and faithful reader of The Shepard Letter—and I were talking about this idea and he shared another way of looking at it. In his words, “It’s like the last gas station you’ll see for miles as you enter the desert. Maybe you stop and make sure you have a full tank of gas.” Of course, you don’t want to run out of gas in the middle of the desert! In business terms, maybe you’ll focus on making sure this customer is happy, filling the metaphorical gas tank with an excellent customer experi...
Make 2020 the Year Disruption Works for Your Hotel
Larry Mogelonsky | January 29, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) We no longer work in the hotel industry but rather the more broadly encompassing ‘accommodations industry’. Such is the real impact of the sharing economy and alternate lodging providers, as led by Airbnb, that they have so completely changed how the average traveler views their options when booking a place to stay. While we plebs in the traditional hotel sector have had a pretty good past couple of years from RevPAR and occupancy growth standpoints, rest assured that these numbers have been buoyed by a healthy economy and that we may suffer if another downturn is forthcoming, p...
Once Upon a Time in Businessland
Shep Hyken | January 29, 2020
By Shep Hyken Today I share with you a fable. Once upon a time a great genie paid a short visit to the town of Businessland, where he happened upon three entrepreneurs, each of whom wanted to open an ice cream shop. The great genie offered to grant each of them a wish, but only if that wish would absolutely guarantee the success of their venture. The first entrepreneur said, “I wish for the best tasting ice cream in all of Businessland.” The genie frowned and said, “I will not grant your wish. The best ice cream on earth won’t guarantee your success.” The second entrepreneur said, “I wish for the best location in Businesslan...
Batteries Included
Shep Hyken | January 22, 2020
By Shep Hyken “There are two kinds of people: Batteries Included and Batteries Not Included.” That quote comes from Dan Sullivan, founder and president of the Strategic Coach program. If you’ve been following my work, you’ll probably recognize his name. I’ve learned a lot over the years by attending his workshops and coaching sessions. He recently released a book that included many of his quotable words of wisdom. This one—about Batteries Included or Batteries Not Included—resonated with me. If it doesn’t already resonate with you, I bet it will in just a moment. I have what appears to be an endless amount of energy. ...
Return to Basics – Time to Rethink Your Guest’s Experience
John Hendrie | January 20, 2020
By John Hendrie Wow, just look at that magnificent sunset! My, that was a super ride on Flicka! Zowie, I cannot take any more of the chef’s creation! All memorable experiences one would say. However, how about these comments. Ugh – there is hair in the tub! Egad, there is lipstick on this glass! Does anyone want this condom I found in the bureau? Which series of comments would prevail in your memory? Hospitality starts with a blank tableau and we, as practitioners, apply the shapes and colors. If we do not provide for the basic expectations, we devalue the experience for our guest. Beyond the aspects of service and facility presenta...
Your Emergency Response Plan — Be Prepared
Shep Hyken | January 16, 2020
One of our Shepard Letter subscribers, Tom Korff, wrote in with an important question: how should customer support agents handle callers who are threatening to harm themselves and/or others? This is a serious topic. I will share my thoughts, but it’s important to note that the brevity of my answer does not diminish the importance of the question. If someone threatens to do harm to themselves or others, it cannot be taken lightly. If you find yourself in this situation, the first step is to inform the customer that such statements are taken seriously and that you will be informing the proper authorities. It’s important to make this s...
How To Help Your Front Desk Colleagues Overcome “Compassion Fatigue”
Doug Kennedy | January 15, 2020
By Doug Kennedy As part of the prework I do before conducting on-site training workshops for front desk teams, I always look at the existing, in-house training standards and content. Nearly all programs cover the concepts of showing empathy, and especially at Forbes rated hotels, to establish authentic, emotional connections. Yet when I look at how colleagues are trained on how to deliver on these standards, I find that most managers are simply going over scripted welcome messages and reviewing interpersonal communications techniques at their meetings. It seems to me that most front office leaders underestimate just how challenging i...
Smile and the World Smiles With You—Unless It’s Fake
Shep Hyken | January 9, 2020
By Shep Hyken One of our faithful Shepard Letter subscribers emailed me a story. He was at a store, and the employee was friendly and engaging. But when he saw her later—when she was off duty—she acted indifferent toward him, almost rude. She wouldn’t even smile, which made him wonder, “Shouldn’t people greet you as warmly outside of their work environment as they do while on the job?” When you hire someone for a job, you should understand their personality. Do they come to the job with the positive attitude you want your customers to experience? Or do they have to “fake it”? The old cliché of “hire for attitude and t...
Volara Named ‘Best Voice Activated Tech Product’ of 2020 by HotelTechReport
Volara | January 9, 2020
Hoteliers give Volara’s powerful, secure conversation-management tools positive reviews for enhancing the guest experience and enabling staff to be more efficient New York — January 9, 2020 — “The Grammy’s of Hotel Tech” – also known as The HotelTechAwards – were announced this week by HotelTechReport, a technology-driven media platform that helps entrepreneurial hoteliers find the best technology tools to solve problems and grow their business. Volara – the voice hub for the hotel industry – was named “Best Voice Activated Tech Product of 2020” in the Guest Experience Software category by a global community of ver...
Tourism Satisfaction: Importance, Measurability & Impacts
Hospitality Insights | January 8, 2020
How should we measure tourism satisfaction for businesses and destinations? And what key factors should we consider when consuming tourism indices? These questions and more were covered at EHL’s 3rd Annual Hospitality Finance & Economics Research Conference, with keynote speaker Dr. Gang Li. As a hospitality business leader, or destination management professional, what do you need to know about tourism? Does it help you to know where tourists go most and how much money that adds to the economy? Maybe so, but the most important factors for your business are what pleases tourists the most and what makes them grow your business as sa...
End on a Positive Note
Roger Wolkoff | January 2, 2020
By Roger Wolkoff Do you have a natural gift to start a conversation? Many of us in the hospitality and customer service world are quite adept at it. Think about this for a moment. How good are you at ending conversations? I'll wager you have a signature opening greeting, but do you have a signature closing? In customer service and hospitality, we devote time to make an excellent first impression. We make eye contact, smile, or lean in if we're next to the person. Then, we move on to the heart of the conversation. Our guest or customer may request service, or they need help to resolve an issue. Perhaps they want a recommendation from us. Fi...
How to Achieve 50% Direct Sales for Your Hotel (or More …)
| December 23, 2019
By Nicolas Lajambe A recent study by Walker predicts that the customer experience (CX) will overtake price and value as the most important unique selling proposition (USP) for customers by 2020. For hotels, it is therefore essential to focus on providing an exceptional guest experience. Read on to discover how you can improve your guest experience and increase direct sales by 50% to your hotel as a result. Becoming a guest experience-centric hotel The guest experience includes all customer touchpoints with your hotel. They include the following areas. 1. Online interaction Touchpoints during this period are driven by online search en...
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