Providing quality service to customers is at the very core of hospitality business under the most normal circumstances, requiring an understanding of the former’s needs and an ability to pre-empt them. In these difficult times, and with the social restrictions and health requirements, it has become even more crucial.
Whichever way you look at it, hotel guests are likely to have an increasingly diverse set of requirements in the foreseeable future: requirements that are becoming ever more flexible, fluid and less obvious. While hoteliers will need to ensure they provide comfortable, safe spaces for people in a world that has been turned completely upside down, consumers for their part are also going to need to adapt. A combination of flexibility on the part of travellers and innovation on the part of the hospitality industry is therefore what is going to win the day for all concerned, but for hotels guest service is critical.
Remembering our reason for being
Covid has made it a great deal harder to anticipate new and totally different needs. With things changing very quickly, requirements and expectations are more unpredictable. Despite the best will in the world, this is making it increasingly tough for hospitality businesses to deliver exceptional service and to adjust to fast-changing circumstances; and even more so, given the limitations of what they are free to do, severely restricted staff quotas, and contrasts in different clients’ comfort levels with various scenarios. However, always remember that the hospitality sector is a service industry with a culture which means building relationships and ensuring that guests enjoy a special moment.
The principles of ‘listening’ to guests
The definition of excellent guest service can be summed up as the kind of attention to detail that goes that extra mile. This presupposes being acutely attuned to customers’ needs, while being sure to read any non-verbal messages. While customers are able to communicate a great deal through behaviour and reactions to specific situations, expert hospitality providers will be able to pick up on those messages and adjust to them accordingly. In other words, if the client looks like he or she is exhausted and still has another five meetings lined up, it is better not to tell them to enjoy their day. The ability to listen is paramount. Guests need to feel they are the centre of everything.
Virtual and in-person opportunities
In order to adapt to customers’ changing lifestyles, hotels across the board have done a sterling job in remaining in touch with their customers and building relationships through many different online initiatives, ranging from cocktail classes and bedmaking workshops to yoga classes given by their staff. Now that travel is beginning to open up and people are freer to move around the world, hotels are also looking at other adventurous options such as providing long-term stays with a range of solutions. Certain countries, such as the UAE, have got the message loud and clear and are offering special visas for expats wishing to work remotely from hotels. Other hotel chains are offering deals for long-term stays, with one brand even offering tutorials for kids who are in school remotely.
A seamless hospitality experience
A sense of perfection is non-negotiable. Aside from working out how to increase safety measures without guests feeling like they are in a hospital, elements such as fast internet connectivity, rooms suited to having conversations or Zoom meetings in complete privacy, special recording equipment, green screens, microphones, and technical support to ensure continued efficiency are a must. So too is the ‘softer’ side of things such as enhanced spa treatments or other services that can be delivered in rooms and suites to avoid the need for the inhabitants to expose themselves to external risk factors. Not to mention services for children, if you are a quarantining family for example.
The appetite for luxury
In a time when so many services outside hotels are not available, guests are happy to upgrade and spend more money inside hotels, whether they be fine dining, spa experiences or a range of other optional extras. Many people are tired, stressed and need a little bit of pampering. This reality is also fostering the significant “staycation” trend, with people remaining in their home countries (and even cities), while enjoying a romantic weekend at a hotel. Some are even staying in hotels simply to be able to use the spa or restaurant, services otherwise unavailable amid the current restrictions. This is proving quite a game changer for hotels that did not previously cater to a local clientele.
In addition to innovation and investing in sustainable practices, much of the successful management of the so-called “new normal”, in terms of what constitutes guest service, can be attributed to a keen focus on training initiatives designed to assist institutions to prepare for the future. Against this background, and with the sure and certain knowledge that our world can be turned on its head in just a matter of days, hospitality schools, along with other educational institutions, are also likely to have to amend their curricula to include greater focus on teaching students to prepare for the unexpected.
Dr Barbara Czyzewska is Interim Academic Dean and Head of Luxury Brand Strategy Specialisation at Glion Institute of Higher Education
