Creating Service Excellence.

The other day I was conducting a training session on Service excellence for the hotel staff. A short session of about 2 hours. I saw that they were carrying their diaries and all ready to take down everything that would be discussed and covered in the session. I was thinking to myself, service excellence is no rocket science and it doesn’t require you to do anything extra apart from what you are ought to do as a service personnel and use your heart. As it is rightly said that; one must use his heart when dealing with people and his mind while dealing with things. Very simple logic isn’t it? It works for all human beings and customers are humans too, just like you and me! 

 Customer service is not a department,....it's an attitude!

Service is what every customer expects from a business. Such as paying attention to them, being courteous,  in an atmosphere of hospitality. Employees knowing their products well and providing assistance to the customers by anticipating their needs. Customers love it when they don’t need to ask for help but it comes to them through observant service providers. Employees taking interest in their customer’s opinions.  Using customer feedback constructively to enhance their own products and services. Also complaints handled well and according to their customer’s satisfaction.

Service excellence has to do a lot with Moment of truth. Moment of truth can be summarized in the words of Jan Carlzon,  

“A Moment of Truth is an episode in which a customer comes into contact with any aspect of the Company, however remote and thereby has an opportunity to form an impression.” 

So, who makes all the difference? It’s the employee who provides that service to the customer. The employee who has the winning smile, is a professional, equipped with good knowledge, positive attitude, willingness to help and takes pride in his job. Wears patience as a tiara! Customers can be demanding but they only need the basics to be handled well. They like to be understood and being informed well about the products or services.

A simple guide of 5 steps for creating service excellence

• Welcome every customer with a warm smile.
• Use customer’s name if possible and at every opportunity.  Every person likes to be recognized and valued, being address by one’s own name is one way of doing that.
• Take care / anticipate customer needs. Remember the golden rule that the customer is the king!
• Thank the customers for giving an opportunity to serve and invite back them.

 What does it take to create ‘memories’?

Anticipation and observation are the key to creating memories for customers.

Listening for clues for e.g.: their likes and dislikes, interests or needs

Being aware of customer's profile, preferences, history, important dates

Empathy, hearing the unspoken (body language, tone of voice)

Being attentive / Being alert to ‘Opportunities’ e.g. offering assistance and walking that extra step.

You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied.

~Jerry Fritz

   By delivering extraordinary service, We become a part of the success story!

P.S Pictures are taken from Google for representational purposes