How to Get Guests to Tell You Their Complaints | INNsider Tips-057

Welcome to INNsider Tips.

In today’s INNsider Tip, I will talk about How to Get Guests to Tell You Their Complaints.

I have an example, not from the hospitality property but a restaurant, a very well-known restaurant, on the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Over the years, I had recommended this restaurant to many people and one day, while eating there, the owner came over to me and said: “Gerry, you send many people our way, do you ever get negative feedback?”

I said, “No, I don’t, why do you ask?”

He said “I know our restaurant has a great reputation, but I also know we cannot do everything right all the time and if I don’t know there’s a problem, it’s very difficult to fix. If you ever get any complaints, please let me know”.

This is a restaurant, but the same applies to hotels, resorts, inns and bed & breakfasts.

Most people are not comfortable with the idea of being confrontational and would much prefer leaving a property, not saying anything, but never returning.

So, how can you get a customer, a guest, who was not happy with something to tell you?

There are a couple of ways I have seen work.

Have a specific e-mail address on the bill, on the evaluation form and in the room’s information packet for complaints.

For example, complaints@myproperty.com

I’ve also seen the same idea with a specific telephone number – a complaint hotline.

The best way is to have employees who can read a guest. This is done with proper training.

If the guest is in front of you, with training and practice you can tell if a guest is as unhappy by listening to their voice, watching their facial expressions or body language.

If the guests are on the phone, listen to the tone of voice.

Here you have an opportunity to be proactive and by asking the right questions a guest might tell you their concerns.

That is it for today’s INNsider Tip.

If you haven’t done so yet, make sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss any future tips and make sure to join one of our groups that best serve your needs.

You can subscribe at

https://keystonehpd.com/how-to-get-guests-to-tell-you-their-complaints-innsider-tips-057