Customer service has always been of critical importance for the tourism and hospitality sector, but now more than ever, customers are looking to increase value for money and are less forgiving of mediocre service. However, despite its importance, quality customer service is the exception rather than the norm in many parts of the world.
eHotelier interviewed two experts, Dr. Simon Hudson and Louise Hudson who have authored the book Customer Service in Tourism and Hospitality, a text that explains not only the theory behind the importance of customer service, but it also acts as a guidebook for those wishing to put this theory into practice. (The 306-page book is available through the eHotelier in both digital and hardcopy).
What prompted to you write this book?
A few reasons. A while back we were asked to develop and run a customer service training course for all the staff at a major international airport. We realized how little material there was out there to guide someone who wants to implement such a course. We have also always been amazed at why all companies don’t treat customer service excellence as a priority. Unfortunately, many just don’t understand the significance of customer service, despite the exhaustive literature that has made the connection between service excellence, satisfaction and loyalty – and therefore profits. They just don’t know how to deliver consistent, high quality customer service on an on-going basis. So there was a real need for a guide-book such as this.
Good customer service is key to the success of any business in the service industries – what are your top 3 tips to successful customer service?
1. Don’t just assume that you are providing high levels of customer service – ask your customers. Many companies think they are providing good customer service, when, in actual fact, their customers are saying otherwise. One study found 80% of companies believe they deliver superior service to their customers, but only 8% of their customers actually agreed!
2. Related to number one, stay close to your customers. The cornerstone of marketing theory is the satisfaction of the consumer. Most tourism and hospitality organizations have an imperfect picture of their customer, and many of them do not monitor patterns of consumer behavior at a level of detail necessary to remain competitive.
3. Employ your staff based on attitudes not qualifications – then train them.
For those looking to implement training in this area – what are the pitfalls to consider?
1. Your organization may need to establish a service culture and this has to come from the top – so you need buy-in from organizational leaders. Training needs to be ongoing in order to avoid apathy on the part of employees – a one-off workshop once a year won’t cut it.
2. One often neglected area of customer service training is how to serve an ethnically and social diverse customer base. Different cultures have different concepts of appropriate dress, hygiene, family, punctuality, and how to address members of the same and opposite sex, so training is necessary to ensure that standards of service are delivered in a uniformed but cultural sensitive manner.
3. There is nothing wrong with looking externally for customer service training, but make sure you go for quality – employ someone who understands your business.
If you had one piece of advice for all managers, what would it be?
Treat customer service as an investment, and not a cost – provide service excellence and the profits will follow.
Book author bios
Dr. Simon Hudson is an Endowed Chair in Tourism at the University of South Carolina. He has held previous academic positions at universities in Canada and England, and has worked as a visiting professor in Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Fiji, New Zealand, the United States and Australia. Prior to working in academia, Dr. Hudson spent several years working in the travel industry in Europe. Dr. Hudson has written over 60 journal articles and published seven books: Snow Business; Sports and Adventure; Marketing for Tourism and Hospitality: A Canadian Perspective; Tourism and Hospitality Marketing: A Global Perspective; Golf Tourism; Customer Service for Hospitality & Tourism; and Winter Sport Tourism: Working in Winter Wonderlands. The marketing of tourism is the focus of his research, and he frequently invited to international conferences as a keynote speaker. http://scstatetourism.blogspot.com; @Toursim4SC
Louise Hudson is a freelance journalist living in South Carolina. She co-wrote Winter Sport Tourism, Golf Tourism and Customer Service for Hospitality & Tourism. Originally trained in journalism in England, she writes about skiing for many publications including Ski Canada Magazine, LA Times, The Dallas Morning News Travel, Houston Chronicle, Boston Globe, Canada’s Globe and Mail, Dreamscapes Magazine, Calgary Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Sun, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Canada’s MORE magazine, Eat Drink Travel, Opulence, Alberta Parent, Calgary’s Child, Travel Alberta, Fresh Tracks, Alberta Hospitality magazine and several U.K. publications. Louise is also a prolific ski blogger on http://www.onetwoski.blogspot.com and a ski tweeter @skiblogger.
Click here to buy Customer Service in Tourism and Hospitality, a book covering important chapters such as the financial and behavioural consequences of customer service, consumer trends influencing service, developing and maintaining a service culture, managing service encounters, the importance of market research, building and maintaining customer relationships, providing customer service through the servicescape, the impact of technology on customer service, the importance of service recovery, and promoting customer service internally and externally.
Key features include:
- An ‘At Your Service’ Spotlight at the beginning of each chapter focuses on the achievements of successful individuals related to the art of customer service.
- Each chapter contains a ‘Service Snapshot’ – short, real-life cases to illustrate a particular concept or theoretical principle presented in the chapter.
- Detailed international ‘Case Studies’, which cover a variety of sectors, organizations and regions designed to foster critical thinking, the cases illustrate actual business scenarios that stress several concepts found in the chapter. They analyze customer service in the U.S., South America, South Africa, Europe, Russia, Australia, China, Canada, Korea and Dubai.
