Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Customer Service Management: Know What Your Customer Thinks of Your Business
Customer Service Management: Know What Your Customer Thinks of Your Business
Requirements of accreditation define standards and require policies for staff to follow and ask for you and your staff to
think through the elements of good service, and to continuously improve the presentation, responsiveness, and
professionalism of your business. The outcome should be a high return patronage, and new customers and business
referred to your park through valuable word of mouth advertising.
Involve your staff in planning for good service. Gaining employee “buy in” creates a sense of ownership and they will
feel more confident when facing your customer. The first point of contact with the customer is vital - your telephone
answering, booking and reception procedures must be organised, consistent and welcoming. Your cancellation policy
(terms and conditions) must be both provided and documented.
If an issue arises with a customer, you should have procedures in place for recording customer complaints and feedback
whilst incidents are managed within your Risk and Safety Management Plan. Research indicates that a well-handled
complaint can lead to return business and improved customer relationships. Remember, feedback can be left through
different modes of communication channel such as social media (i.e. Facebook, Tripadvisor, blogs etc.) so your plan
needs to incorporate these channels and how you can monitor them.
You can use surveys, comments compendium, suggestions box, informal discussions, structured “focus groups”, or
feedback from the local/ regional tourism organisation or visitor information centre.
Assess the gaps in your current level of service, such as: high turnover of staff resulting in inconsistent service
(e.g. at reception or on the telephone)
some staff more trained or capable than others
staff not really listening to customers
office or kiosk not open when needed
The key outcome of this element of the program is a set of written procedures which are implemented in the park. Hold
a staff meeting, obtain that all important employee buy in or get-together with other accredited operators and develop
procedures for your park. It is important to trial them and make sure they work for you and your staff and make
changes as you see appropriate.
Good customer management will help you achieve your business’s Vision and the Strategies set out in your business
plan. For each strategy, ask yourself questions concerning the way in which you can improve your response to customer
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
needs, improve service, increase return patronage and cater for new market segments that may make quite different
demands on your staff.
Make your procedures as clear to the customer as they are to your staff. Your customer will be reassured by the
prominent display of your ‘Code of Conduct’ and noticing that your park service is well organised and not haphazard or
reliant on “who’s on duty that day”.
Policy Documentation
To help you with the process of documenting a Customer Service Management policy/procedure CRVA has provided a
template which can be adopted and/or amended to fit the circumstances of your park. The template is a guide and is to
help you should your park have no policy currently in place. As it is a guide only, the contents must reflect the Customer
Service Management needs of your business.
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
The Customer Service Procedure Guide below is produced to ensure all our staffs are providing an exceptional level of customer service each and every time we have contact with our
customers. All staff are trained and observed using the procedures and skill sets required to ensure any customer contact we have is aligned to our customer service philosophy.
Customer Contact Procedures and Skill Sets Required Initials of staff deemed
Element (Procedures and skill sets should reflect your business needs and align with your customer service philosophy) competent
(Use the elements (This is a simple way to
below or add what is record the observation of
pertinent to your staff who have competently
business) performed the duties
outlined)
Competent Further
Training
Required
Telephone All staff must be conversant with the phone operations such as: (below are some suggestions, you may wish to add your
own or utilise some of these)
Hold and transfer
Intercom operation
Retrieving messages
Auto redial
Speed dial
Any staff member answering the phone must use this standard greeting: (below is a suggestion, you may wish to add
your own or utilise this one)
o “Welcome to (you park’s name), this is (your name) how may I help?”
A courteous and pleasant disposition must be portrayed on the phone at all times to all customers, speaking clearly and
evenly.
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
When dealing with complaints or difficult customers staff will display appropriate empathetic behaviour, actively
listening to the customer, providing a solution and asking the customer if the solution is satisfactory. If a satisfactory
Paraphrasing of important aspects of the phone conversation to ensure the customer is satisfied they have been heard
and details recorded correctly, such as: (below are some suggestions, you may wish to add your own or utilise some of
these)
Confirming back to customer the arrival and departure dates required
Type of accommodation booked
Any special requirements the customer has asked for and we have agreed to provide
Before ending the call be sure to ask the customer if you can be of any further assistance
End the call thanking the customer for their custom and advise them that you are looking forward to seeing them on…
(mention the arrival date once more)
solution cannot be met the complaint must escalate up to the park manager
Face to Face All staff who converse with customers face to face must be groomed in appropriate attire, specifically: (below are some
suggestions, you may wish to add your own or utilise some of these)
Park uniform (if this is available)
Smart casual or business attire for office personnel
Hair and facial jewellery/ piercings tidy and non-conspicuous
Name tags are attached to clothing and visible to customers (if applicable)
A courteous and pleasant disposition (smile) must be portrayed at all times to all customers, ensuring you speak clearly
and evenly.
If a customer is checking in staff must ensure they welcome them to the park and to use the customer’s name at least
once during the conversation
Clearly communicate the park features and benefits to the customer when they are checking in, such as: (below are
some suggestions, you may wish to add your own or utilise some of these)
Facilities and their locations
Parking services provided by staff
Tour booking services provided by the park staff
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
When dealing with complaints or difficult customers staff will display appropriate empathetic behaviour, actively
listening to the customer, providing a solution and asking the customer if the solution is satisfactory. If a satisfactory
solution cannot be met the complaint must escalate up to the park manager
Customers can visually access the following information in the reception area or a suitable
prominent place and staff have the appropriate knowledge to answer any questions the customer may have: (add to list
additional information that may be relevant to your park)
Code of Conduct (after gaining accreditation)
Business registration certificate
Occupational Health and Safety Policy
Reception or office hours of operation
After hours contact system (if applicable)
Emergency procedures
Temporary Hazards advice
Park rules and any relevant statutory requirements
E-mail E-mail communication with customers should mirror the same professional and courteous procedure as displayed when
conversing over the phone or face to face
All communications to customers should begin with: (below are some suggestions, you may wish to add your own or
utilise some of these)
Dear (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr or other appropriate salutation) if the communication is of a formal nature such as
confirming a booking
Hello (using the customer’s first name) if the communication is of less formal nature
The body of the e-mail communication should be clear in its message and portray a professional and courteous tone
ensuring grammar and spelling is correct
All e-mails are to end with the approved signature block (you can insert the format and wording of the signature block
here)
Bookings, Refunds Bookings (the following are suggestions and ideas, please add the booking procedures relevant to your park)
and Cancellations
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
All bookings are to be made using the “caravan park booking request” form (this may be an online booking program for
some parks)
When credit card details are taken from the customer (if booking over the phone) repeat the number, expiry date and
CCV number back to customer to confirm all is correct
It is essential for staff taking a booking to ask the customer how they heard about (insert your park’s name here):
Magazine
Website
Word of mouth
(add whatever is applicable for your park)
Cancellations (the following are suggestions and ideas, please add the cancellation procedures relevant to your park)
The cancellation policy, terms and conditions are prominently displayed in reception area
All staff are knowledgeable in the cancellation procedure and at the time of booking inform the customer of the
cancellation policy (or direct them to the website for further information)
Information relating to cancellations is sent to the customer on request and with any confirmation of bookings (either by
mail or via e-mail)
Refunds (the following are suggestions and ideas, please add the refund procedures relevant to your park)
All staff are knowledgeable in the refund procedure and at the time of booking inform the customer of the refund policy
(or direct them to the website for further information)
Information relating to refunds is sent to the customer on request and with any confirmation of bookings (either by mail
or via e-mail or alternatively direct the customer to the website for refund policy)
Customer Security Customers are informed of the security features of the park to help them feel secure and relaxed during their stay (this
could be given verbally and/or as a handout listing the park security and/or tips for customers to secure their property
when they are away from the park)
Bring to the customer’s attention the emergency evacuation plan and where the evacuation meeting point is should the
CRVA - Customer Service Management Procedure Guide template – Version CSMPGT01 March 7, 2013
unlikely situation of an evacuation arise (evacuation plan can be displayed prominently at reception and should also be
displayed in all of the cabins)
Customer Feedback Customer feedback forms are prominently displayed in the reception area and all cabins
Feedback forms are collated for entering into the Customer Feedback Register
Staff encourage customers to provide their feedback on all aspects of their experiences from their stay in the park
Any feedback, whether recorded on the customer feedback form or provided verbally should be registered in the
Customer Complaints and Feedback file as close to verbatim as possible