How often do you hear your guests say WOW about your hospitality property? If not, here are 8 ways that can change.
Welcome to another edition of hospitality property school.
I’m your host Gerry MacPherson and today we are going to talk about wowing your guests.
How often do you hear your guests say WOW about your property?
Do you take the time to find ways to WOW Your Guests?
If you hear guests say Wow every day about your property and the service they receive, then you are one the right track and there is no need to listen to this podcast.
If this is not the case then I have a couple of ways you can start to WOW Your Guests so they will want to return.
The essence of being a great host is showing your guests you care and that they are your number one concern.
To begin with Smile … and I don’t just mean in person, smile when talking on the phone. You might have heard you can hear a smile, well, you can also hear a frown.
- Have the Appropriate Check-in Software System in Place
A good check-in system will help you make sure your guests 2nd, 3rd or 100th visit is as good as their first.
A quality check-in system should enable you to build a profile for your quests that you can use for every visit. The upfront cost for such a system may be high but if used properly you will recoup your investment with return guests in no time.
- Hire the Right Staff
As I had mentioned in past podcast “Emotional skill cannot be taught, you can’t give staff the wish to bend over backwards for customers”.
Find staff that can be empathetic with you guests. Have the right systems and tools in place in order for them to deliver first class service.
Empower them with confidence and authority to deal with complaints promptly.
- Know your Guests
Learn your returning guest’s names and use them. Also, teach your staff so that they can recognise and remember your loyal guests. This will form an immediate sense of hospitality that they’ll certainly find flattering.
- After the Check-in
Once you have given decent time for your guests to settle in their room, an employee could check with the guests to make sure everything is in order and acceptable. During this check can ask if there are any other requests that may have been forgotten during check-in. A great opportunity for an upsell.
- Be Available
Be on hand in your hotel, and have personal contact with your guests to build rapport and confidence. Get to know and listen to your guests. They’re far more likely to tell you what they want if they know you and what would encourage them to come back.
- Be flexible!
Don’t be so constrained by your own rules that you can’t extend breakfast for a guest who may wish to sleep in or to extend a check out if someone has a late flight. Most of the time this would not be a big a problem and if it means your guest enjoyed their stay and they tell others, it is worth the effort?
- Leave Them With a Lasting Impression.
Make certain they realise that you appreciate their business. An earnest “thank you” from you can go a long way.
Give them a little memento from your property or region to take home with them as a lasting reminder.
- Walk them outside
When your guests have checked out, and if possible, you or an employee should walk them out the door, like you would do with close friends when they are leaving your home. A warm smile and a handshake can go a long way to encourage guests to return.
Conclusion
In this podcast, I looked at 8 easy ways to WOW your guests.
That is our time for today.
To find out more about ways to WOW your guests, check out our training tutorials at
keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com
I would like to hear about ways you WOW your guests. If you would like to share or have any questions or feedback you can leave them in the comments section of the show notes at:
keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/KHDC018
That’s it for this session of hospitality property school. We appreciate your comments and if you have topic ideas, feel free to reach out to us on
Facebook at facebook.com/keystonehdc
Twitter at twitter.com/keystonehdc
Or email at
info@keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com
So, as always, let’s work together to put heads in your beds.
Until next time, have a fun day.
For listeners of the Hospitality Property School Podcast
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Music Credit:
Sun Spark
http://www.danosongs.com/
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