The Sound of Hospitality-Can Your Guests Hear It?

It’s more than the words. It’s more than the voice tone. Yes, the Sound of Hospitality is heard loud and clear when a culture of professional hospitality exists. The importance of the Sound of Hospitality is vital when it comes to telephone etiquette. Reservation agents, operators, room service order-takers, restaurant hostesses, guest services, sales and catering and accounting associates… Yes regardless of the position one holds, regardless of how few or many calls they answer, your hospitality is on display. At this moment, your establishment’s degree of hospitality is being conveyed in a matter of seconds.

The greeting offered and the manner in which it is offered – words chosen and voice tone – personify the degree of professional hospitality you offer. As obvious as this is, we’ve all experienced at one time or another 10 rings before our call is answered and then we hear: “thank you for calling…please hold” followed by the: “CLICK!” Liberties are taken on the telephone that would never be taken in person. A front desk agent would never speak so abruptly to a guest in front of them and yet might do so over the telephone, feeling that the circumstances force them to compromise the element of professional hospitality. In reality, the exact opposite is true. It’s times such as these that matter most. Anyone can be hospitable, professional and friendly when there exists no challenge or trying circumstances. It’s the true hospitality professional that maintains and delivers regardless of the circumstances.

Service training vs. creating a culture of professional hospitality:

How can you insure that every single one of your associates personifies professional hospitality at all times? Have you ever wondered why it is, despite your service training programs, the impact you expected is unrealized? Very simply, the success of your efforts to ‘train’ your people has less to do with training and everything to do with culture. When a solid culture of professional hospitality is lacking, customer service training has limited success. Why? What’s the difference between having customer service training and having a culture of professional hospitality? Customer service programs provide knowledge. Whereas, the culture of professional hospitality exists where people don’t just know standards, they believe in and feel compelled to do them.

This difference influences every aspect of customer service, including telephone etiquette. People can easily be taught to use proper scripting. It’s simple to know what words one should use. It’s an entirely different matter to use them under all circumstances. The disconnect between what one knows they should do or say and the actual doing and saying of these things does not come from “head” knowledge. Rather, it comes from appreciating their importance and possessing a deep desire to be number one in guest satisfaction.

When the culture of professional hospitality exists, team members have the mindset that they are selling your property much like an effective radio commercial. They are motivated to insure the Sound of Hospitality is heard by each and every guest, regardless of the circumstances or presence of a manager.

Economic advantage:

In today’s economic environment properties cannot afford to lose even one loyal customer. If your team lacks the culture that facilitates consistent professional hospitality, business can be lost in one poor telephone experience. Don’t let this happen to you! Take this month’s hospitality challenge and contact Stark Service Solutions for additional information.

This month’s challenge:

Concentrate everyone’s efforts on consistent adherence to proper Telephone Etiquette. Practice these standards internally and prevent inconsistencies in the associate experience which directly effects guest experiences. Property wide, work together as one unified team, all focused on a common purpose: Every guest hears the Sound of your Hospitality! By doing so, any barriers that cause an attitude of independent departments with tunnel vision can be broken down and replaced with genuine team work. Make this month your best month yet for guest satisfaction ratings and overall profitability by letting all hear loud and clear your Sound of Hospitality!