Strategies for Turning Angry Guests In to Loyal, Lifetime Guests

Can you retain Guests who complain?coaching-for-peak-cstomer-experiences.pdf

Absolutely! Most lifetime relationships are won or lost on the basis of how you

respond to complaints.

Most Hoteliers mistakenly believe that the critical point in developing a relationship with

a Guest is the early stage—when all the wining and dining and getting to know each other occurs.

Actually, the critical steps that determine the life span of the relationship are all the unexpected events that occur later. Guests watch how you handle their
complaints, how you deal with them when they are upset. By using the following
strategies, you can turn your most irate Guests into loyal, lifetime Guests.

Generously Listen to Guests’ Concerns

Llisten to Guests. Don’t interrupt. Let Guests talk. Hear them out completely. Let them vent. Don’t let Guests go overboard, but let them express all their feelings. Until
they get their anger and frustration out, they will be hard to deal with.

Listen specifically to a Guest’s tone of voice; that usually tells you how angry your Guest is. Your goal is to relax the Guest. As your Guest is speaking he or she should
be calming down, not getting angrier. The Guest’s tone of voice should be a
good barometer of how you are doing.

While Guests are upset, recognize and remember that they are not upset with you; they

are upset with the situation—with not getting complete satisfaction. Plus, a Guest might just be having a bad day. Whatever the reason, you will be more effective
dealing with a challenging Guest when you do not take a complaint personally.
Keep your angriest

Guests focused on the facts and on your desire to help them. After Guests have told you why they are upset, thank them for sharing their concerns with you. A thank-you
acknowledges that you’ve heard what Guests have said.

Apologize and Empathize

How would you handle the one angry Guest out of 26 who took the time to write you? Some people in workshops suggest informing the boss or writing a response
letter. If you took the time to write a letter, how do you want to be responded
to? The best response is a simple telephone call. After all, if you wrote the
letter, wouldn’t you want a personal and immediate response?

After you have completely listened to and thanked the Guest for bringing this issue to your

attention, genuinely apologize for whatever went wrong. Even when the problem is not your fault, give the Guest the benefit of the doubt and apologize. If the fault lies
elsewhere in your company, assume responsibility anyway. The last thing an upset
Guest wants to hear is about internal company issues. A genuine apology goes a
long way toward soothing a disgruntled Guest, and soothing a disgruntled Guest
will lead to your keeping that Guest for life. After you have listened and
apologized to your Guest, empathize with him or her. Let your Guest know that
you appreciate how he or she feels, that you understand. This should not be
shallow or disingenuous. It must be sincere.

Fix the Problem or Offer Restitution

If you resolve a problem on the spot, 95 percent of Guests will stay.

If complaints are handled to a Guest’s satisfaction, 90 percent of upset Guests will stay.

Fix the problem—and the sooner the better. If you truly want lifetime Guests, apologies are

not enough. You have to fix the problem that is the source of the complaint or, if you can’t fix it, make up for the Guest’s trouble in some other way.

Offer another, more expensive product if the product you’ve delivered is faulty and can’t be

replaced. Offer some free service in the future if slow or faulty service caused problems for the Guest that can’t be fixed. Better yet, if Guests don’t like your
proposed game plan, ask them, “What can we do to make this better?” In my
experience, unhappy Guests will invariably ask for less than you are willing to
give them.

In Closing

Thank Guests for taking time to call you and make you aware of how you can serve them better. Take control of the situation, and ask if your Guests need anything
else. Let your Guests know that you are always available to them. Restate your
name at the end of a telephone call and encourage your Guest to call you
personally the next time he or she needs anything.The Way to Learn

Tags: Guest, Service, Training, Workshop

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Comment by Nancy on August 4, 2011 at 17:58: Thank you Ms. Banishikha for your valueable perspective. Yes, sometimes, despite all of our effort, the guest still not satisfy, insisting to talk to the GM. At that time, if you are the Manager on duty, may I suggest to you, Mr. Promit, inform the guest that you are the current responsible the manager, and that you will inform the GM about the guest concern and will have the GM contacting the guest via his, or her provided contact info. It will be your responsibility then to make sure the GM aware, understand and do the response call to the guest concern. You might also offer to provide the GM name and contact info fo the guest should he or she requested the info. Hospitality industry has many challenges like any other industries, but we are ready for it. Have a wonderful day ahead :)

Comment by Virendra D Gadhavi on January 20, 2011 at 3:07: its a great knowledge to have . Thanks very much for the information

Comment by Sharma R P on January 11, 2011 at 11:10: Dear Promit,

Guest insisting to speak only to GM in middle of night goes to reflect a multiple failure of several levels. This situation should never be allowed to occur and yet if such a situation has reached despite all possible means the GM must be connected without wasting any time. After all GM is responsible for such a situation to have arisen in first place.

Comment by Benedict on January 10, 2011 at 16:59: gREETINGS tHANKS!!!!!!

God Bless you!

Comment by ismael gibrel on January 10, 2011 at 14:22: Nice way , thank,s

Comment by rajju prasad on January 10, 2011 at 14:20: Dear hotelier friends we have to understand clearly that we all working in hospitality means guest are very important to all coz mony come from them so we have to listen them and solve their problen in right way as proffetional . hope every one can handle probs of guest if follow sugetion of BARNISHIKHA

Dear Barnishikha thank to you give like this way to hotelier .

Comment by Promit nag on January 10, 2011 at 13:27: Nice Comments . Just would like to know one thing . If the guest does not want to hear to us and specially after all the above procedures are done and he wants to speak to the General manager Directly even in the middle of the night or at anytime ,how to handle the complain by yourself without escalating the matter to general manager .

Comment by Wilson Anthony on January 10, 2011 at 13:11: time factor is the main thing in handling guests complaints guests nees immediate solution dont leave them unattendant until the complain is solved

Comment by Sharma R P on January 10, 2011 at 10:51: Well put by all,

Would like to just add a few words:

1. The speed of correction and the readiness reflected is very important in conveying genuineness of concern.

2. A follow up call during the stay, followed by a contact on appropriate occasion as well helps to win back and for lasting association.

Comment by Mark Scott on January 10, 2011 at 9:35: I have used this always from the first time I was shown it, and 5 out of 10 times if you do it well enough, the customer will refuse restitution, they just want someone to acknowledge there complaint. After we are all only as good as our last satisfied customer. Compliments are hard to get, but bad comments all so easy, and remember not all people are happy to complain, they wait until the leave and then complain, and we have know chance to repair any damage done.