customer service training
The Title and Role of Revenue Manager Should Be Transitioned to “Revenue Generation Manager”
Doug Kennedy | May 18, 2022
By Doug Kennedy If you asked most hoteliers to write up a job description for the position of Revenue Manager (RM), chances are the responsibilities listed would focus on controlling and “managing” revenue, as opposed to generating it. For example, the first tasks that most will think of would likely be setting rates and restrictions for transient segments, determining channel mix, calculating revenue-per-guest opportunities by segment, managing OTA’s and other electronic distribution channels, and providing sales staff with quotes for groups and functions. It is time for the lodging industry to reimagine both the title and role...
Would You Rather Clean a Toilet Than Call Customer Support?
Shep Hyken | May 11, 2022
By Shep Hyken That’s exactly what we asked more than 1,000 consumers for our 2022 annual customer service research report. The answer: 42% of customers would rather clean a toilet! Is calling customer support so bad that cleaning a toilet is more desirable? It is if you’ve experienced wasting your time on hold, listening to terrible music, talking to people who don’t seem to care about you, having difficulty hearing or understanding the customer support agent, being transferred again and again, telling the same story over and over … I could keep going, but you get the idea. It’s important to note that not all custo...
Everyone Deserves A Compliment
Shep Hyken | May 4, 2022
By Shep Hyken I was on a flight to a city I can’t remember, but what I do remember was the wonderful flight attendant, Bailee from American Airlines, who enthusiastically greeted me with a smile and said, “I like that hat!” I was wearing a baseball cap with the St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup Championship logo. Of course, I thanked her and I found my seat, just a few rows from the front of the plane. I point that out because I was able to observe the way she greeted every passenger. As each passenger boarded the plane, Bailee welcomed them with the same enthusiasm and had something nice to say to everyone. Let me emphasize that sh...
The “Always” Concept: What We Must Always Do for Our Customers
Shep Hyken | July 29, 2021
By Shep Hyken One of the big concepts we teach in our customer service training programs is the concept of Always. This is the backbone of creating customer amazement. When the customer uses the word always followed by something positive, you are creating a predictable experience, and even more important, you are operating in the zone of amazement. For example, your customers might say: “They are always so helpful.” “They are always so knowledgeable.” “They always get back to me quickly.” “They are always so friendly.” “Even when there is a problem, I know I can always count on them to ...
Hotel Sales Habitudes for the Long Ride to a Slow Recovery
Doug Kennedy | October 15, 2020
By Doug Kennedy Now that we are beyond six months into this pandemic era, most hotel salespeople and their leaders have come to accept that it is going to be a long, slow ride to a full recovery. For those of us who have experienced loss, the emotions may have felt similar to moving through what grief counselors call the “Five Stages of Grief.” Although losing a loved one or going through a divorce is of course much worse than suffering a career disruption, the salespeople I speak with about this analogy seem to agree that their emotions have followed similar patterns. First, denial and waiting for something miraculous to happen to ...
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...
Customer Service Training Is Not What You Think It Is
Shep Hyken | March 26, 2020
By Shep Hyken Many companies have a great focus on providing an excellent or, as I like to call it, amazing customer service experience. They do customer service training during the onboarding process. Once every year or so, they have some type of refresher. Good for them, but there’s more to it than just that and it’s easier than you think. Communication is a big part of keeping the “magic” going, and to do that you must consider ongoing training. By ongoing training—and this is important—I’m not referring to pulling everyone away from their normal responsibilities for a half-day or full-day (or more) once a month or o...
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