When working on a resume project for a client recently, I found that he had worked on a project to improve customer service that resulted in the hotel/resort achieving Four Diamond status. This is a huge achievement for the hotel/resort, but also a “show-stopper” for a resume, since it shows the impact of the individual on his staff, the customers and AAA.
The hotel/resort gets the rating and the prestige, which is due to a combination of the physical buildings, grounds and other things. However, in a large part, the rating is a result of the efforts of exceptional service. It would be interesting to see how customer service providers would measure up to a similar set of standards to see how many stars or diamonds they would have behind their names if the same rating was available to individuals. Here is my own set of standards for service in order to move from three stars to four.
1. Make eye contact when a guest is approaching, and continue to do so until they have passed you by or you are face-to-face. Making eye contact and then looking down gives the impression you don’t want to talk to someone or give them your time. It’s like a non-verbal “go away, you are interrupting me.”
2. Smile. Facial expressions are governed by the mood and the mind. If you are in a bad mood and not in control of your thoughts, your face will reflect that mood. Bad mood + unpleasant thoughts = sour face. Bad mood + pleasant thoughts focused on pleasing the customer = happy face. In this case, taking control of your thoughts will trump your mood and present a pleasant welcome to a guest.
3. Know your job. Whether you are working the front desk, cleaning rooms, managing the restaurant, or working the breakfast shift in the restaurant, you should be the expert of your domain. Learn as much as possible so that you exceed the standards for your job, give accurate, complete information, resolve problems or direct a guest to the right person who can.
4. Focus on the guest or the task at hand. Reserve checking your Facebook account, cell phone or your co-worker’s activities of the night before for the breakroom, well out of sight of the guests. For the guest, it’s “all about me.” They don’t need to wait until you log off or finish a text message. Turn it off, put it away, and pay attention.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is The AHA!ogist, a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Customerservicejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
The hotel/resort gets the rating and the prestige, which is due to a combination of the physical buildings, grounds and other things. However, in a large part, the rating is a result of the efforts of exceptional service. It would be interesting to see how customer service providers would measure up to a similar set of standards to see how many stars or diamonds they would have behind their names if the same rating was available to individuals. Here is my own set of standards for service in order to move from three stars to four.
1. Make eye contact when a guest is approaching, and continue to do so until they have passed you by or you are face-to-face. Making eye contact and then looking down gives the impression you don’t want to talk to someone or give them your time. It’s like a non-verbal “go away, you are interrupting me.”
2. Smile. Facial expressions are governed by the mood and the mind. If you are in a bad mood and not in control of your thoughts, your face will reflect that mood. Bad mood + unpleasant thoughts = sour face. Bad mood + pleasant thoughts focused on pleasing the customer = happy face. In this case, taking control of your thoughts will trump your mood and present a pleasant welcome to a guest.
3. Know your job. Whether you are working the front desk, cleaning rooms, managing the restaurant, or working the breakfast shift in the restaurant, you should be the expert of your domain. Learn as much as possible so that you exceed the standards for your job, give accurate, complete information, resolve problems or direct a guest to the right person who can.
4. Focus on the guest or the task at hand. Reserve checking your Facebook account, cell phone or your co-worker’s activities of the night before for the breakroom, well out of sight of the guests. For the guest, it’s “all about me.” They don’t need to wait until you log off or finish a text message. Turn it off, put it away, and pay attention.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is The AHA!ogist, a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Customerservicejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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