Welcome to INNsider Tips.

In today’s INNsider Tip, I will talk about Training Employees To Ask For Complaints.

I have seen many cases, where an employee might sense there’s a problem but will purposely avoid asking for any feedback to avert a confrontation.

An employee with the right training and attitude will avoid any kind of confrontation by asking the right questions.

Questions you should stay away from are the ones where one-word answers can be given, like “How was your stay?” or “Did you have a good night?”

Instead, you want to ask questions that require more thought and response. For example, “We’re very interested in what you thought of our property?” or “Is there anything we could have done to make your visit more enjoyable?”

Train your employees to look into your guest’s eyes with sincerity and genuine interest in their responses.

W.hen asking questions like these, employees are encouraging your guest to give honest feedback and to maybe tell you about any issues.

By being proactive, and embracing complaints instead of ignoring them, hospitality properties have an opportunity to solve a complaint and turn an unhappy guest into a pleased guest, especially if they are happy with the way the complaint is resolved.

You may be thinking, “This might be a little easier said than done”.

You are right, training your employees to invite negativity might seem like an uphill battle, so let’s look at a couple of ways to applaud guest complaints.

Have a bell or buzzer ring in the back office when a complaint is received.

Train everyone to feel that when the buzzer rings, there is an opportunity to turn a concern around.

Track the complaints and measure monthly. Have the employees document the name of the guest, their room number, the complaint, the action taken and whether the guest was happy with the outcome.

As time goes on, and issues are rectified, the number of complaints should decrease.

These forms can be used as training tools and ways to handle better similar complaints in the future.

That is it for today’s INNsider Tip.

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