Guest relations are essential for the success of any hotel business. They can influence customer satisfaction, loyalty, word-of-mouth, and reputation. But how can you communicate the importance of guest relations to your hotel employees? Here are some tips to help you create a service-oriented culture and motivate your staff to deliver exceptional guest experiences.
The first step is to define your vision and values for your hotel and communicate them clearly to your employees. Your vision should describe what you want to achieve and how you want to be perceived by your guests. Your values should reflect the principles and behaviors that guide your actions and decisions. For example, your vision could be to provide a personalized and memorable stay for every guest, and your values could include respect, empathy, professionalism, and innovation.
We need to emphasis the importance of Guest relations to employees by telling them that Guest is the most important person in our business and Guest is the whole point of our business. Need to conduct training of employees on guest relations in which we need to conduct role plays for different scenarios of how to develop guest relationship. Need to give different examples of how to develop guest relationship and what benefits it will have on our business.
For communicating the importance of guest relations to hotel employees the following awareness has to be given to staff through training: 1. Keep communication with your guests regularly 2. Maintain a consistent level of guest service 3. Body language towards your guests is equally important 4. Keep lines of communication with your guests open, firm & brief 5. Be accessible to all guests Keep communication with them that are required & should be non political The above will help in business development & service improvement. Negative remarks should be accepted graciously.
Training: Regular and comprehensive training sessions can help employees understand the significance of guest relations. Feedback: Encourage employees to learn from guest feedback. Communication Skills: Emphasize the importance of listening and effective communication. Guest Experience: Explain how positive guest relations can lead to repeat bookings and increased guest loyalty. Employee Experience: Encourage employees to reflect on their own experiences as hotel guests. Benefits of Good Guest Relations: Highlight the benefits of good guest relations, such as increased guest satisfaction, improved hotel reputation, and ultimately, higher revenue. Continuous Learning: Promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
Know what your brand stands for its mission, values, and culture. This understanding forms the basis of your brand communication. This has to be supported by conducting daily, weekly and monthly trainings to reinforce the importance of maintaining the standards to ensure "above and beyond" guest expectations. This can be further augmented by using guest review platforms that specializes in conducting hotel audits. Their work is based on the belief that objective information is a valuable resource for hotel businesses especially in a highly competitive environment with increasing customer demands. They aim to revolutionize the guest experience in the most personal way. This helps team members improve management under their responsibility.
The hotel industry thrives on guest. When the pandemic had struck the hotel industry went haywire. Employees lost job and what not. To thrive in such fierce industry the only thing that would stand out is the service that you provide. So make sure you tailor them with the best service possible. It would your 100th guest. But, for the guest it would be their 1st experience. So give them your best.
The second step is to train and empower your employees to deliver on your vision and values. Training should cover both the technical and interpersonal skills that are required for your hotel operations and guest interactions. You should also provide regular feedback, recognition, and rewards to your employees for their performance and achievements. Empowering your employees means giving them the authority and responsibility to make decisions, solve problems, and handle guest complaints without always relying on supervision or approval.
When training and empowering your employees, consider sharing real stories that showcase their positive impact on guest relations. Highlight those precious moments when they went above and beyond to exceed your guest's expectations. These stories will not just will increase your employee's morale, but also, create guest loyalty and lead to outstanding reviews.
Never look down on a person who approach the reception counter nor show disapproval of their race Always welcome the client with a smile a greeting depend on the time of the clients arrival Training is important but personal feelings towards a client varies if the personnel is not accustom to lower one’s esteem when serving at the counter Always place the client’s need with first priorities and answer the questions politely and always give your best expression when the client is swearing and cursing when they approach the counter
One way of employee retention is via Training and eventually empowering them to make quick and sound decision. It gives them ownership of something they are trained about and for the to enable knowledge sharing.
The third step is to lead by example and demonstrate the importance of guest relations through your own actions and attitudes. You should be visible and accessible to your guests and employees, and show them that you care about their needs and expectations. You should also be consistent and fair in applying your policies and standards, and avoid any favoritism or discrimination. By leading by example, you can inspire trust, respect, and loyalty among your guests and employees, and create a positive and supportive work environment.
Just like children emulate the actions & behaviors of their parents so also team members follow their leader. I remember an instance when I was head of Sales & Marketing for a 5* hotel and on my evening rounds across the F&B outlets. I saw a couple & a kid walk upto the hostess for a table. The lady was expecting, probably in her third trimester. I signalled to the F&B Supervisor to offer a table with extra space to maneuver the table, offer a pair of extra soft cushions to the lady and also get a kids high chair. It took him just a couple of minutes to put these together and guide them to the right table. The family was thrilled and wrote a special appreciation note in the feedback form and the team got a live lesson in guest relations!
As manager I truly believe in leading by example. Respect, trust, team care and all the aspects that bring a concrete contribution to create a successful team and a healthy environment it s something that I always try to put in to be everyday. On the long distance people recognize the truth and the honesty in speech and actions and that is what permits to create a strong successful team and department
As an executive and resort general manager, I created the guest services program and actually led the session. This allowed me to set the expectations for providing guest services and model the way. If the boss is teaching the class, then it must be incredibly important.
As a leader, always remember that your actions carry more weight than words. Show the importance of guest relations through your interactions with both guests and employees. Remember to share your personal experiences about those moments where you've engaged with guests and effectively resolved issues. They will not only sets a powerful example, but also, reinforce the importance of service excellence and customer experience within your team.
That is why it is important for anyone in leadership to also know what it is like to work at operational level. We all know it is not a necessity, but it will help you a great deal as a leader. Knowing what an employee is thinking or experiencing when having to liase with guests in a manner that promotes the company and creates a bond with the guest. This will ensure that you as a leader can understand, when an employee did not provide service as required and you, as a leader, can then make informed decisions based on experience. There will also be times when you as a leader can learn from your employees which shows that you are a progressive leader with the willingness and humility to learn.
The fourth step is to solicit and act on feedback from your guests and employees, and use it to improve your guest relations and service quality. You can collect feedback through various channels, such as surveys, reviews, social media, or direct communication. You should also acknowledge and respond to feedback promptly and courteously, and thank your guests and employees for their input. You should also analyze the feedback and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your guest relations, and implement changes or improvements accordingly.
Feedback is imperative to any business, and for Hotels it is the key to your success. Guest relationships don’t happen overnight and have to be built, but starting of on the best foot forward is always important. Understanding feedback is just not key, it is how you deconstruct the feedback and communicate it to your team with an aim to improve is the real master stroke.
Listening more and acting accordingly creates a channel of communication to render quality service. It aligns our service based on feedback as such enables us to create a more fundamentally course of action.
The fifth step is to celebrate and share success stories that showcase the importance of guest relations and the positive impact they have on your hotel business. You can share success stories through internal newsletters, meetings, or awards, or through external platforms, such as websites, blogs, or testimonials. Success stories can include examples of how your employees went above and beyond to delight your guests, how your guests expressed their appreciation and loyalty, or how your hotel received recognition or referrals from your guests.
My recommendation is to share success stories that led to repeat business or which received outstanding reviews. Be sure to highlight how exceptional service can serve as a stepping stone to career growth within the hospitality industry. And always strive to inspire your employees to give their best.
Advertise whether internally that will create inspiration within. Good practice within organically enables other to create positive ideas. It empowers them thru ownership of ideas they share that opens more collective course of action. In the end, we celebrate success with minimal amount.
The sixth step is to foster a culture of continuous improvement and encourage your employees to always look for ways to enhance your guest relations and service delivery. You can do this by setting clear and realistic goals and objectives, monitoring and measuring your progress and results, and providing constructive feedback and coaching. You can also involve your employees in brainstorming, planning, and implementing new ideas or initiatives, and reward them for their creativity and innovation.
All 6 values are applicable but the most important thing is to make your employees to empathize with their guests. Ask your employees how they would like to get a service, or how they would like to be treated and what are their service expectations. Set your values, define your ideas, goals and give some training, information, examples, feedbacks and celebrate your success with your team.
Spend more time in your Town Halls talking about matters relating to guests than other things. A frontline team member needs to know about other going’s on in the hotel but for example doesn’t need a 15 slide presentation on Financials!!! It’s about setting the culture. Make sure a healthy element of “guest delight” is included in everyone’s KRA’s. Even heart of the house teams. Everyone must know that the guest is the reason the business runs. My HR always hated me for it, but I always did, and still believe that it should be Guest first and us second.
Guest relations is human relations! Empathy and anticipation puts a smile to the guest! Every employee needs to have an innate understanding of people, their context, and their motivations. This will help them build rapport. Anticipation also helps employees to personalise a guest’s stay. Through understanding their needs and preferences, your staff can cross-sell complementary services easily. In this way the experience is enhanced. Empathy is equally important, as understanding a guest can help in providing a great guest experience. This is heavily dependent on linguistic mastering using the right vocabulary as emotions drive the communication. When guests are understood and there is a genuine response they feel valued.
While implementing a comprehensive training program that emphasizes on the significance of excellent guest relations, employees need to be intrinsically motivated as well and this can be achieved through transformational leadership. The Leader needs to inspire them by creating a vision of positive guest relations and its link to the success of the hotel. Leader should become an idealized influence, motivate and more importantly challenges them intellectually and passionately to demonstrate the required behaviour, thus employees are intrinsically motivated to demonstrate excellent guest relations.
Hire for Cultural Fit To foster a people-focused culture, prioritize hiring employees who align with your company's values. Highlight opportunities such as competitive salary, benefits, and career development in job adverts to attract potential teammates. During the recruitment process, ask questions that reveal candidates' motivations, approach to challenges, and understanding of great teamwork. By building a team that shares your values, you can deliver exceptional service with a unified force.