The Importance of Ensuring Great Hospitality

Hospitality is a defining factor in the success of millions of businesses because it characterises the relationship between that business and its customers.

One thing that separates successful hospitality businesses from their less-successful counterparts is that they go the extra mile for their customers – they exceed their expectations. It’s often the little details that customers remember and make a business stand out from its competitors.

Of course, sometimes things go wrong, and being able to manage this effectively can help turn a potentially negative customer event into a positive one.

Those who work in hospitality are often considered the ‘face’ of the company. Whether that is in a restaurant, bar, café, resort, theme park or agency, ensuring these individuals are well equipped to handle the many aspects of hospitality is the only way to ensure excellent service for your customers or patrons.

We’ve broken down the three key benefits of offering great hospitality, and three reasons to ensure your employees are well trained in dealing with customers.

Customer Retention

The customer experience is crucial to success for any business that relies on regular customer patronage. An interesting way to think about it is that if a customer receives great service, they may tell a couple of people, but if they have a bad experience, they’ll tell 100.

When people pay money for goods or services, they usually have a certain expectation for what they are receiving in return. If they don’t receive that, the business may generate significant negative word-of-mouth, which harms the reputation and future of the business.

Conversely, exceptional service brings people back. We can all think of a service industry business that we are loyal to, perhaps it is a chain of coffee shops that we prefer over others or a local restaurant which we rave about. Ensuring customers experience great service and a pleasant atmosphere every time helps you build up loyalty and encourages customers to always come back. 

Helps Growth 

On that note, where negative experiences may generate a poor reputation, great experiences can generate a good one. It is arguably harder to build positive word-of-mouth, as people are much more willing to share negative experiences than positive ones. Constant, great service encourages a natural, steady growth in reputation and referrals. Word-of-mouth advertising is free, and one of the most cost-effective ways to grow.

Standing out in your industry 

Hospitality will always be competitive. Whether it is restaurants, cafes, or hotels, as customers we all want to find the best service and the best value for money. There are hundreds of clean hotels with comfy beds, or restaurants that offer great-tasting food, which is why service and hospitality become crucial.

The service that your customers receive can be the difference between them returning to you or a competitor, or the difference in your business generating great reviews. A hospitality team that is polite, knowledgeable, and proactive is crucial. They must be able to deal with any situation that may arise without faltering on this great service, even when stressed.

Ultimately, the core of great hospitality is understanding customer needs and expectations and being able to adapt and evolve with them. Training your hospitality team to understand and meet these needs as they represent your business is crucial to growth, loyalty, and success.

For restaurant staff, we offer an extensive Restaurant Hospitality E-Learning Course, which equips learners with the tools to handle both the technical aspects of the role and the customer experience side. Helping them to understand the importance of great hospitality and teaching them how to do it.

Though aimed at restaurant staff, the course is equally suitable for reception staff, hotel managers, hosts and other hospitality staff. Modules can also be removed and altered on request to meet the specific requirements of your business. We also offer training in Customer Excellence. In this course, your participants will learn about the importance of customer service and discover a range of smart techniques for improving their ability to manage customers. Making them a valuable asset to any company.

Trainer Bubble offers an extensive range of training resources in a variety of formats which can be explored here. Or, for more information, and to discuss the learning needs of your business, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

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