Name ______Date ______

Notes…Ch. 2 Service the Heart of Hospitality

“Hospitality Services” by Johnny Sue Reynolds

INTRODUCTION

Service is an activity that is done for another person. Hospitality is the business of satisfying people’s needs. Customer service in a hospitality business is the total customer experience with that business. The total customer experience includes the performance of the staff, the courtesy of the staff, the cleanliness of the property, and the way customers are treated during their visit.

CUSTOMERS

A customer is someone who purchased products or services from a business, such as a department store or a hotel. Hospitality customers are often referred to as guests. A guest is a customer who purchases products or services from a hospitality business.

The customer is the main reason for the hospitality industry. If there were no customers, there would be no business. The success of any hospitality business depends on return customers. Poor service is the number one reason that customers do not return to a business.

Customers come in all shapes and sizes, abilities and personalities, ethnic backgrounds and religions. With the increase in world travel, people from all over the world are traveling everywhere.

The best way to understand people is to develop empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and know how that person feels. Empathy helps you figure out what customers need.

CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS

Customers also look for a place where they feel welcome. We often return to the same restaurant just because we feel welcome.

Hospitality business satisfy both the physical and psychological needs of customers. Abraham Maslow developed a method to describe how human needs are met. This ranking is called hierarchy.

The hierarchy of needs is shown as a pyramid.

The most basic needs are at the bottom of the pyramid:

PHYSICAL NEEDS

Physical Needs & Safety Needs

  1. These needs must be at least partially filled before a person the energy to pursue the higher needs.

PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS

Acceptance & Esteem & Self Actualization

  1. A need to feel accepted
  1. Ex.: eating with friends at a restaurant
  2. Ex.: how businesses treat customers.
  1. A need for self esteem
  1. Ex.: staying in a luxury hotel
  2. Ex.: remembering guest/customer name
  1. Desire for self-actualization
  1. Expressing your true self, through reaching personal goals and helping others.
  2. Ex.: travel to foreign country or take education classes.

Most hospitality businesses fill customers’ basic physical and safety needs. Restaurants provide food, Hotels provide overnight lodging. Hotel provide electronic key systems for security.

SATISFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS

Customer satisfaction is the positive feeling customers have about a business that meets their needs. Hospitality companies meet the needs of their customers through quality service. Quality service is achieved by thoroughly training employees in the art of customer service.

All customers expect to be treated with dignity and respect. All customers expect their requests to be handled accurately and efficiently. All customers expect honesty in menu descriptions and answers to questions. All customers expect money transactions to be handled honestly and accurately.

Frequent Compliments by Customers

  1. Cleanliness and attractive appearance of facilities and grounds.
  2. Employee who respond quickly to request.
  3. Employees who anticipate customers needs

CONSISTENT SERVICE

Consistent quality service is providing the same good service and products to customers each and every time they come to your business. Quality service basically depends on the interactions that take place between customers and staff. An interaction between a customer and a staff members is called a service encounter. Service encounters occur before, during, and even after the customer’s visit. Hospitality employees must be at their best at all times to ensure good service encounters.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE QUALITY

People often choose restaurants and hotels based on recommendations from friends and coworkers. Word-of-mouth-publicity is the informal conversation people have about their experiences with a business.

  1. Good Publicity
  2. Bad Publicity

For example.: 90% or more of unhappy customers do not return to the business. Even worse, he claims that each of those unhappy customers will describe their bad experience to at least nine other people.

100 people eat at a restaurant

90 people have bad service & tell 9 people

= more than 810 people will hear about the poor service

HOSPITALITY EMPLOYEES

The front of the house is the area in a hospitality business that guests usually see. These employees normally interact with customers.

In a restaurant, it includes the entrance and dining room.

In a hotel, it includes entrance and lobby.

The back of the house is the area in a hospitality business that guests usually do not see. Also called the heart of the house. These workers normally do not interact with the customers.

In a restaurant, it includes kitchen and the receiving and storage areas.

In a hotel, it includes laundry, boiler room, receiving and storage areas, and offices.

CUSTOMER-FOCUSED EMPLOYEES

Make immediate eye contact.Have good posture.

Smile warmly.Respond quickly to requests.

Use the customer’s name.Are clean and well groomed.

ELEVEN CRITICAL MOMENTS

_ First phone call to the business

_ First view of the building entrance

_ Interaction with the greeter

_ Wait for a table or room

_ First moments at the table or in the hotel room

_ First encounter with bussers and servers

_ Encounter with the manager

_ Arrival of food

_ Visit to the restroom

_ Presentation of the check or bill

_ Last interaction with server or front office staff

TELEPHONE TIPS

Smile when you answer the phone. Smiling automaticallymakes your voice sound more pleasant, no matter what moodyou are in.

Know answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Common questions concern hours the business is open, specialpromotions that are being advertised, parking, special events,the type of menu items that are served in the restaurant, andcheck-in and check-out times.

Know directions to the business from other parts of town.

Determine the top five areas from which most of yourcustomers will ask directions. These areas might includeairports, hotels, convention centers, major highways, or localneighborhoods. Post the directions next to your telephone.

If a caller must be put on hold, check back within 30 seconds.

If you do not check back quickly, the customer might becomefrustrated and hang up. If you say, “It’s really busy here rightnow. Can you call back?” you might also lose your customer.In either case, customers are very likely to call another

business that has the time for them.

HANDLING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

_ Listen with empathy.

_ Allow the customer to vent.

_ Be supportive.

_ Do not blame someone else.

_ Have a positive attitude.

_ Offer solutions.

_ Follow through on the solution.

1