"It's against company policy": words you must never say to a guest!

Have you ever been a guest at a hotel and had a problem that was "out of the ordinary"? Of
course you have, it has happened to many of us. It may be that your room was not exactly to
your liking or there was a mistake on one of the F&B checks. Either way, something about the
product or service you paid for did not live up to your expectations, or to the advertised sales
literature.

So like a good client you mention this to the hotel front desk or restaurant manager,
expecting a quick resolution to your seemingly reasonable request.

Their response... "It's against company policy" for me to do that...

Well I don't care if it's against your company policy. I just want my issue fixed. The policy of a
hotel in particular should never be recited to a guest. Your guests do not care about your
policies; they only care about their questions or concerns being answered and addressed in a
timely manner.

If they ask something of you that you are not allowed to do, explain that you are not allowed
to so and that you will do your best to solve the problem right away. Don't explain why
and how it's written in your employee handbook.

It is perfectly acceptable to inform a guest that; "Sorry but I will not be able to offer you 'X',
but I CAN do this". Maybe you can't give a credit back on their purchase but you should be
able to offer a future credit to your guest. Or offer a discount coupon towards their next
purchase. Just as when we never want to tell a guest NO, there usually is another way to
offset the needs of the guest.

In the above example, a better response would be "I'm sorry that this happened to you but
I can offer you a discount coupon good toward your next consumption here, I trust that will be
a good way to show that we value your business and hope you continue to be our guest in the
future."

If a guest is unhappy with their room, maybe it doesn't have a good view or the room has a
stale odor, the best way to help the guest is to change their room and in the worst case
maybe even upgrade them to a larger suite, if possible.

So, when "company policy" states that if the room has a stale odor, you are to have someone
from Housekeeping come and spray a deodorizer in the room, which certainly is not the best
way to address the problem. The guest knows you took the easy way out. Better to change
their room and send up a complimentary amenity as well.

This is how you "WOW" your guest.

Being in the hospitality business is a challenging one to say the least. There are countless
opportunities to make a guest happy, but this also comes with the occasional upset guest with
a situation that needs to be addressed.

Avoid to recite company policy, point to the policy listed on the poster behind the cash
register (better yet, tear down that poster) and let your guest walk away unhappy.

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SWISS INTERNATIONAL HOTELS & RESORTS|OPS-141203
There is always another way to address a problem. Put yourself in "the shoes of the guest".
"How would YOU feel if you had this same problem and you couldn't get it fixed?" Does this
make you want to do stay in this hotel again? Do you feel like you have been taken
advantage of?Do you think they really care about your satisfaction?

If you would not like to be treated in this manner then most likely your guest will not either!

Treat your guests the way that you want to be treated!

Teams that "think like the guest" are better prepared to offer solutions that make the guest
feel appreciated and want to return.

That is the essence of guest service.

Not policy, but solutions.

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SWISS INTERNATIONAL HOTELS & RESORTS|OPS-141203