Everything technology-related for Monscierge.
Today, I want to take a look at what was the make-or-break moment of my recent family trip: Check-in. I said in my post after booking that the check-in process would be the time for this hotel to shine. It was an opportunity to go beyond expectations and create loyal guests. That did not happen. After traveling for six hours, with 12 children between our two families, we arrived ready for any distraction from being cooped up in the car. I checked in first, and while the front desk agent wasn’t as pleasant as possible, the process went smoothly and quickly. When our companions checked in, something was wrong with their reservation, and the situation devolved very quickly. They told us the problem. Nothing else. They didn’t say how to fix it, what they could do about it, or what we could do about it. They argued with us when we suggested solutions, yet never came up with a solution of their own. After waiting in the lobby for half an hour, with kids and grandparents still waiting in the car, I had enough. I asked what they were doing to fix the problem, and they answered that one agent …
Last week we talked about the Planning and Booking phases of the guest journey. Before we get into the guest experience on-site, let’s talk about the next phase: Packing and Travel. I will be traveling with a pack of kids, and our method of transportation is road trip. No matter what form of travel your guests are using, there are certain to be frustrations. As a hotelier, the happiness of your guest is not truly your responsibility until they arrive on your property, but this is yet another opportunity to surprise and delight your guests, which in turn gets them talking up your brand to their friends. Consider these ideas: If mode of travel is one of the questions your staff asks during the booking process, can you use that to delight your guest? Consider choosing 5 guests per week, and sending them a travel kit in the mail. These can be customized for people who are flying or driving, and traveling alone or with a group. Attach a card that explains that they were chosen to receive it; it will make them feel special, and other guests won’t think they missed out on something. Packing can be a huge …
Winter is over and the spring brings with it plans of summer vacations with the entire family in tow. I recently booked a hotel stay for a short family trip, and can honestly say that the guest experience begins long before arrival. When I travel with my kids, my focus is narrowed. There are fewer things that matter, but they matter very much: Safety, Cleanliness, and Fun. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about service, because let’s face it, I always care about service. It’s a passion of mine. But I am not so worried about luxury, style, design. We are there to have fun and not break anything. I will not share the name of our chosen destination, but following is an honest review of the first part of our journey: Planning and Booking. Planning: This part was easy for us, we are traveling with friends and the destination was already chosen. However, looking through the hotel’s website, I did consider calling it off. There were no real property photos. They did feature lots of pictures of smiling kids, presumably on hotel grounds at the time they were smiling. But I wanted to really see what we should expect. …
I have often been struck by a disconnect between the customer service policy of some companies and the customer service agents who fail to follow through with it. Why does this happen? What does it take to have the end result line up with brand service standards? My opinion is that customer service stars are born, not made. Even so, service needs reinforcement every step of the way to truly succeed. These are my ideas of the growth of a service star, please feel free to add your own: Birth: Some of the defining characteristics of great service are innate. A happy demeanor and friendly personality are the foundation of customer service. Hiring managers should look for these qualities above all others for guest-facing personnel. Childhood: Behaviors learned during childhood shape us for the rest of our lives. Kindness, compassion, and common courtesy are key components of outstanding service. Look for people who are active listeners, and respond with compassion. Good etiquette is essential as well; eye contact, manner of address, and the “magic words” please and thank you, are simple but effective when interacting with guests. Teens: This is when kids are deciding who they want to be, and …
In my first post in this series, I mentioned my narrowed focus when traveling with my children: Safety, Cleanliness, and Fun. I’d like to look, step by step, at how our arrival experience panned out in these three areas. Safety: Upon arrival at the hotel, we found the lobby to be quite beautiful while still maintaining a kid-friendly atmosphere. Our motto was: We’re here to have fun and not break anything, and the lobby decor was perfect for a family with small children in tow. There was nothing the kids would shatter, swallow, or climb. I appreciate that. We had some issues at the front desk that I will discuss in detail next week, but one stood out in the area of safety for me. While handing me my keys and accompanying paperwork, the agent announced our room numbers quite loudly to a lobby full of waiting guests. As most of the other guests were wrangling children, nobody was paying a lot of attention, but still not the best practice when it comes to safety. Otherwise, we felt quite secure during our stay, with well-lit parking and hallways, old-fashioned heavy locks on our doors, and the only incidence of note …