Welcome to INNsider Tips.

In today’s INNsider Tip, I will talk about Tips For When Guests are Complaining.

Here are tips for employees to use when customers complain.

The first one is a skill or a trait every good employee should have; the ability to listen without speaking. Let the guest explain their complaint.

Maintain eye contact, demonstrating concern but remaining quiet. If you’re taking the complaint on the phone, don’t respond until the complaint is finished, but it is OK to interject the occasional “alright”, “I see”, and “okay”.

When the guest is finished telling their story, show compassion and give an apology.

The apology does not mean you’re wrong or is an admission of guilt, it just means you understand your guest’s displeasure.

You could say, “I understand how you must feel; I can imagine I might feel the same way given the circumstance”. The words “feel” and “imagine” are powerful in these cases.

Re-state their complaint in a condensed version to show you understand the situation and provide validation for the guest.

You might be surprised to hear that more often than not, guest service employees never offer an apology or worse, an insincere apology.

When guests complain, they want results.

In a perfect world, you could give them what they want, but we are in the real hospitality property world, and that is not always possible. A great way to handle the guest’s complaint is to offer them two options.

By being offered two options, they are given the opportunity to make a choice, which will feel empowering.

Trained staff who are proactive, can find unhappy guests, uncover a problem, and help properly resolve it can reduce the odds of further complaints and online rants.

By being understanding and helpful, you can turn a disgruntled guest into a loyal patron who might be happy to share the news about your great service.

That is it for today’s INNsider Tip.

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If you would like to see all the bonuses you would have access to as a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, have a look at the short video in this episode’s post-show notes.