Customer Service Flaws

Today I attended a number of meetings within a popular Nanjing five star Hotel. I started my day by meeting with some clients and I purchased coffee and tea for all attendees. Next, I met with the Training Manager to discuss the hotel’s training strategy for 2009. Finally, I met with the General Manager to discuss training seminars and also to conduct some research into the chain’s hotel booking system. After these meeting I purchased a takeaway coffee and proceeded to the taxi queue.

During my meeting with the GM I had mentioned this blog and the subject of empowerment. The debate was both lively and interesting and left me with a list of blog topics as long as my arm; I couldn’t wait to get back to my office and start writing… Until I reached the taxi queue and the subject matters flew from memory in favour of yet another customer service problem due to poor employee empowerment.

My Chinese language skills are not great and from time to time I have problems communicating with taxi drivers, especially those from outside of the province. Therefore, I explained where I wished to go to concierge and requested that he communicated with the taxi driver on my behalf.

I was confronted with a blank look and asked whether I was a hotel guest. I explained that I wasn’t in fact a guest but had met with the GM and had purchased goods from inside the hotel. I assumed that this would solve the problem, but no. Concierge explained to me that they had been instructed to only provide assistance and taxi services for hotel guests and were adamant that they had no intention of bending this rule for me.

It wasn’t the rule of denying assistance to non-guests that bothered me but the conversation that followed. In fact, ensuring that guests receive priority attention at all times is something that sits well with me, but it’s the lack of flexibility due to deficient empowerment that sends chills down my spine.

I do at least have an excellent topic (with perfect example) for my next management seminar within this hotel; I just hope that this service ‘innovation’ doesn’t create too many issues for prospective customers in the following months.

For another great blog related to customer service and management visit Paul Bacon’s blog: Notes From The Trenches -

http://sinohr.blogspot.com/

I’d love to hear your comments on customer service within the hospitality industry and also recommendations for alternatives to my favourite hotel booking software – http://www.hotelsystems.co.uk/. Thanks!

Supplier Relationship Management

As the acting Supplier Relationship Manager for my clients, I must take responsibility for managing problem resolutions. I create the relationships, train the individuals involved, and ensure that smaller issues are not masking larger problems before handing over the reigns to the hotel employees.

This process involves a great deal of discussion, scheduling, documenting problems and solutions, status update meetings (usually con calls at present) and resolution follow-ups.

New hotel and motel owners are often too tempted to bypass these fundamental yet vital steps to ensure effective communication between staff and their suppliers.

I have spent a long week making phone call after phone call to suppliers… Or should I say, I have spent a long week talking to answering machines belonging to suppliers. What has the world of customer service come to? I don’t expect an answer around the clock but during office hours… Surely that’s not too much to ask?

Which is where I harp back to my previous phone call to www.hotelsystems.co.uk

My conversation with Tristan was unlike discussions with other hotel booking software suppliers. Despite my lack of respect for time differences, the telephone was answered immediately (unlike the answering machines I speak to when contacting other hospitality suppliers) with a cheerful and accommodating tone.

I was listened to, and the improvement initiatives I offered were gratefully taken on board, whilst Tristan worked away at fully customizing the hotel booking software for my client. This is a company that understands the concept of improving efficiency and profitability without the need to jump from crisis to crisis in order for these improvements to be made.

A rather rare find in my opinion.