Customer service equals customer loyalty

The importance of customer service lies in the fact that it can outweigh even the mightiest advertising, sales and marketing campaigns. In the same way that editorial features carry far greater value than paid advertising, word of mouth gives your potential customers an honest point of view. Social media has made the world so diversely connected that people can simply check out online review sites, follow Facebook and Twitter comments, see real footage on YouTube and share photos on Flickr. This means that you are now no longer in competition just with brands on the same playing field as yours, but every business, regardless of size. In short, customer service and its post effects have never been so valuable.

 

Deepen the training experience

To educate your team to think about your customers in the same way that you do, knowledge is critical.  We spend a huge percentage of our time at work and so your business story is your teams’ story, too, and they should be made to feel a part of it.  For instance, Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa recently transformed its staff corridors into a walled presentation display.  The series of frames showcases the roots and development of Anantara’s umbrella company Minor International, as well as its founder and chairman, William Heinecke. It also highlights Anantara’s Thai origins, employment promises, philosophy, brand promise to guests, brand values and how these should be expressed, as well as the importance of being an Anantara ambassador. 

The whole concept of the walled corridors is to immerse everyone who walks past it into the overall brand and to ensure that there is a strong sense of team spirit and a sense of belonging within the company. 

 

Let your team be a customer 

We invite friends and family to share our experiences so that they can get to know us better and feel integrated into our lives, and this needs to extend to your business family, too. In response, many hotels group offer an annual allowance of complimentary hotel nights to all team members, as well as food and beverage and spa discounts. These extra benefits reward hard work and commitment, at the same time it encourages and enables team members to discover the ins and outs of their product for themselves.

 

Shape personable customer relationships

While satisfaction surveys, comment cards and suggestion boxes can help you gain sweeping customer insight, communicating directly and personably will divulge a far greater wealth of information. Your team has the greatest ground roots interaction and this role can be capitalised upon by teaching them to listen and discover what your customers really think and want. 

To enable Anantara Hotels and Resorts associates to instigate a guest dialogue, a collection of stories has been created for each property. These written accounts describe local myths and legends, area attractions and the cultural history behind key design and decoration features. As such they provide staff with an opening discussion point, and beyond this to feel more at ease with talking to guests, create opportunities to hear likes and dislikes, respond with helpful advice and therefore forge a more personal relationship. 

 

Reward returning customers

Returning customers now assume that they will be treated differently, and this provides your business with a prime opportunity to outshine their expectations and reinforce your core brand values. Tokens of appreciation in the form of complimentary vouchers, surprise gifts and a more hands-on management approach will certainly create a feeling of special treatment. But it’s possible to do far more by being imaginative and insightful about what will really impress and create a longer lasting memory. 

Many hotels now have a database of information saved from their guests’ previous visits, allowing staff to offer customised attention, from knowing their favourite drink, to what pillow they sleep most comfortably on and the kind of activities that they prefer. Knowing that it is the experiences that make a holiday memorable, new incentives are being put in place. For example, the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), comprises of 12 prominent hotel brands with over 250 hotels in 48 countries, all working together to deliver great value and memorable experiences around the world. To take the alliance’s offering to a new level, the GHA Discovery programme was launched, offering unique local experiences in addition to the basics of extended check-outs and room upgrades all of which becomes an integral part of enhancing guest experiences and creating a loyal customer. 

 

Dillip Rajakarier is chief executive of Minor Hotel Group.