Global Operations 4th April 2013

Empowering Your Team…

Worried that your team may over compensate?

An introduction…
A true story sums it all up…
“On route to Disney a little boy got so excited about the day ahead he had a little mishap and injured
his head. When he arrived at Disney his first stop was the first aid room. From there he was sent to
hospital for stitches and consequently missed half his day at Disney. Back at Disney a member of the
team who knew what happened and understood the situation decided to give the family fast track
tickets for the rest of the day to help them get the most out of the time they had left”

You see, Disney thought about what their guest had lost and found a way of replacing it at no cost
to them. The funny thing is, the mishap had nothing to do with Disney in the first place but yet they
made it right and the story lives on.
Great empowerment starts with trusting colleagues to choose solutions that satisfy our guests, but
also make good business sense. Unfortunately when a conflict arises it is often the easiest answer to
apologise and offer a full refund to the guest, this doesn’t always make great business sense… if
ever.

When we review the situations with our teams you will often find that there may have been a better
way to solve an issue by offering an alternative incentive or by enhancing the guest experience.

In order to do this we need to start thinking outside the box and train our teams to find the most
appropriate solutions for our guests and our business. In this article we will address complaint
handling and compensation by answering the following questions:

Is compensation always the right answer?

How do you make sure the team always find the right decision?
How do you personalise compensation?
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Is compensation always the right answer?

The key is to win the guest over and entice them to visit the hotel again. This does not always
require any form of compensation and in fact 38% of all of our Guest Relation cases are handled by
offering a simple apology.

The resolution to a guest problem is only part of the process but what is more important is how you
handle a guest complaint. The manner of how you deal with the guest problem will leave a greater
impact on the guest experience and their likelihood to return or recommend than the actual
resolution itself.

So when you deal with a complaint, ensure you listen to the guest, apologize and empathise.
Understand what has happened and what impact this has had on your guest. Just because you have
had 10 other people complain about the temporary internet outage does not mean you should treat
the 11th person that complaints any differently than you did the first.

Help your team become confident in handling complaints. And remember, it is never easy to deal
with conflict situation and the more practice your team gets the better they will be able to handle
the situation and find the right solutions. Being prepared for guests’ complaints is always your best
plan of action!

Here are some tips for good face-to-face complaint handling:

1. Attitude & Environment
Consider your communication techniques! The ability to communicate well with a guest is of
paramount importance and can make a big difference in how the guest feels the complaint
was handled. Consider:
Verbal communication: do you speak pleasantly to transmit a positive attitude,
consider the tone and pitch of your voice, smile, establish eye contact and have a
good posture?
Nonverbal communication: your body language, how you look, how you act (facial
expression, head movements, gestures) what you say and how you say it (voice tone).

Do not take the guest’s criticism personally! Sometimes a guest may be slightly out of control
and may exaggerate. Often a guest finds talking about the problem stressful and therefore,
displays defensive behaviour.

Remain professional and courteous.

Never joke about the complaint.
Do not get sarcastic or offhand.
Do not get too familiar.

Create the right space! Remove physical barriers and take the guest aside. A guest should not
have to speak over a counter or desk to resolve a problem. Try to keep a complaining guest
out of sight and earshot of others if necessary.

Remember: it is far more difficult to complain when you are sat down with a cup of tea.

2. Identify
Determine the exact nature of the problem! Allow the guest to tell their story without
interruption. Bear in mind that the real problem is often masked by minor complaints.

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Restate what you have heard, and clarify what the guest is saying. This will help you get the
facts straight, and allow the guest a chance to cool down. Ask questions, they are perfect tools
to assist you in finding out just what it is that the guest wants and needs.

Useful phrase: “I just want to be sure that I have understood you correctly.”

3. Listen
Give the customer your full attention! Listen carefully and with interest. Use body language.
Signals of listening such as smiling, nodding your head, leaning forward, orientating your
body towards the guest and establishing eye contact all send the message, "I care" to the
guest.
Observe the nonverbal behaviour that accompanies the words you are hearing and identify
what the guest really wants: an apology, a refund or an explanation. If the guest seems
unclear, be perceptive and help them decide what they want.

4. Empathise
See the problem through the guest’s eyes. Treat every guest complaint with the same care
and attention you would want to be treated when you have a problem. Put yourself in the
shoes of the guest and understand how they are feeling. Using the guest’s name frequently
will help you show your concern.

Useful phrases: “I understand how you feel, Mr/Mrs/Ms….”

“I appreciate what you are saying, Mr/Mrs/Ms…”

5. Apologise.
Apologise and take responsibility, even if you or your hotel did not cause the problem!
Once you know what caused the problem, explain the situation to the guest in clear and
factual terms. Do not go into lengthy explanations and beware of making an unintentional
admission. Apologise, this shows you take responsibility for what has happened. Apologies
are not an admission of guilt or weakness. Even if you do not agree with the guest in fact,
you can agree in principle or can agree that the guest is entitled to feel the way they do.

Do not try to justify the hotel’s action by making excuses as to why the problem occurred.
Do not participate in fault- finding and do not agree with a negative observation. Be positive
about your hotel. Blaming another part of the company for the problem may take the
pressure off you, but it makes the company as a whole look bad.

Useful phrases: “I’m very concerned you are so upset”

“I apologise…”
"I am sorry about the frustration this has caused you and I would like
to fix this problem for you."

6. Resolve & take action

Resolve the problem to the guest’s satisfaction and offer an effective solution. To do so
think about the following:

Act Quickly: When issues are resolved swiftly, customer satisfaction is increased. Empower
your staff to resolve problems that arise as well as the ability to compensate when

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necessary. Establish monetary guidelines so your team is clear on the boundaries of

compensation and when to escalate.
When delivering a solution consider three simple steps:
Can I repair the problem?
Can I find an alternative?
Do I need to compensate for the inconvenience or because I cannot fix or provide an
alternative?

Useful phrases: "Here's what I can do..."

"I am truly concerned about your situation. What can I do to change
your perception?"

If you don’t know the answer to their problem, do not lie. Adopt the old teaching maxim and
admit you don’t know but make a commitment that you will find out and get back to them
within a specific time. If necessary, offer refreshment while the guest is waiting. If you
need input from other colleagues and other departments, coordinate their efforts.

Useful phrase: "I'll find out!"

Let the Guest Decide: Consider their thoughts and make the customer part of the solution -
not part of the problem. Determine whether the solution is acceptable to the guest. Make
sure the guest is entirely satisfied. Work within the boundaries of your authority. Assure
the guest that you are available should there be a further problem.

Useful phrases: "Will this problem be resolved if I...?"

"It seems you are disappointed with this resolution. What can we do
within reason to retain your business?”

Follow up: Close with an appropriate phrase or gesture, and remember to maintain eye
contact. Follow up with a telephone call, email or letter to the guest.

How do you make sure the team are always finding the right solution?
Inevitably your team will at some point make a decision, with the very best of intentions, that
doesn’t make the best business sense. You will have to accept this and support the decision that
they make, but this doesn’t mean you can’t harness such a situation for wider learning.

As they say, hindsight is a wonderful thing... so why not use it to train your team and make sure that
the same thing doesn’t happen again. You will doubtless have some great examples from your own
operation to highlight what good solutions look like, but here are some real examples we have found
that may help for starters.

1. Think about the cost versus the result

What Happened? A guest found one of his bags was not in the back of the car when he arrived at
the airport. The concierge received a call from the worried guest. Immediately, the concierge said
we would courier the bag to his home and the guest was pleased. The hotel paid.

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How About? While the end result was very satisfactory for the guest, the hotel incurred expense for
sending a heavy bag with a hefty fee to do so. Instead, the colleague could have asked the guest how
much time he had before departure. If there was sufficient time, an alternative would have been
sending the bag in a private taxi, resulting in a lesser fee but a very happy guest. As a training tool,
we can ask our team what other options they see as being satisfactory for the guest— inspiring great
conversation.

2. Remember, most guests are honest and have a valid reason to complain

What Happened? A guest was dining in the hotel restaurant. After she tasted her starter she called
the waiter back over to report that the soup was over salted. The waiter apologised and took the
soup back to the kitchen. Shortly after, he brought the guest a new bowl of soup. The guest tried it
and again it was too salty. She called the waiter over again and this time after voicing her concern
was told that the Chef had said this is how the soup should taste. The waiter offered to replace the
starter with a different option or to refund it and bring out the main. The guest chose to have the
main course only and upon leaving the waiter overheard her say that she will never come back to
this restaurant.

How About? While the guest did not have to pay for the soup she was made to feel like a liar, an
uneducated person who would not know when a soup is too salty. The Chef took offense and
believed the guest was only complaining to get something for free. As a result, he chose to ignore
her and not give her opinion credit. What he forgot to realise is that most guests are honest and if
you treat all guests like the 1% that might take advantage you will lose many valued guests and
create a bad reputation. Every complaint we receive should be treated as valid. The colleagues
should not try to rationalise their response based on a very, very small number of dishonest guests.
Train them to make it right in the guests’ mind and move on. All it would have taken in this case was
a sincere apology, an acknowledgement that the soup was too salty for this guests tastes and to
replace it with a soup to her liking – not the Chef’s.

3. Minimize the cost by understanding what your guests really wants

What Happened? A guest staying on the second floor wanted to get ice. In the hotel he stayed in ice
machines were only located on odd floors so the guest set off to the first floor to find the machine
out of order. He then went to the third floor to discover that this ice machine, too, was out of order.
Back in his room the guest called the front desk to order ice. The front desk had someone bring up
ice. When the ice was delivered, the colleague asked the guest: “Is there anything else I can get
you?” The guest replied “No” and the colleague thought the issue was resolved. Later the hotel
received a WebGuru case.

How About? While the colleague delivered what the guest wanted he failed to understand that the
experience of running between floors had brought a big inconvenience to the guest and he felt
ignored and unimportant. As customers we typically don’t ask for exactly what we want. When
asked if there is anything else the hotel could do in the case of the ice, it is easier and more
comfortable for the guest to say, “No”. Before the ice was brought to the guest room, the front desk
could have said, “I’m going to have some ice brought up to your room immediately and to apologize
for the inconvenience I’m going to send up a couple of soda’s. Would you prefer Coke or Pepsi?”.
This would have made the guest happy, he would have become an advocate of the hotel

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How can you personalise compensation?

In the same way we can find different solutions, compensation can take many shapes and sizes and
it most certainly does not have to cost you much. In fact, in most cases finding the right
compensation will cost you less than ignoring the issue or compensating without considering what
the guest really wants.

Statistics show that on average nearly half of all guests see a recommendation from a friend, relative
or a colleague as the most trustworthy source of information and all together about two thirds of
guests make their purchase decisions based on other guest’s guidance (e.g. recommendations,
product test reviews, consumer opinions posted online etc.) So making sure your guests leave
feeling satisfied makes perfect business sense and any short term cost will be more than outstripped
by the long term gains.

To start down the right track you can brainstorm with your team around situations and possible
alternatives to “refunding the room!” Start to think about how you can compensate on a like for like
basis. Remember the Disney example, the little boy and his family lost half the day so they Disney
team gave them back time.

What might work well for business travellers

Have a fruit basket, bottle of champagne or flowers delivered to the room
Arrange for an upgrade of the room type to an executive level or suite
Allow the guests to have their meal via room service instead of having to go to the
restaurant
Arrange a late check out for the guest

What might work well for families

Deliver free pizza and drinks

Deliver hot cocoa and cookies to the room
Send up snacks and offer a movie with no charge
Offer event or movie tickets, which can be arranged by the concierge
Send up board/video games or activities you might have available

Using compensation appropriate to the situation

Scenario 1: You are very busy at check in and a guest had to wait a long time for his check in and
doesn’t feel appreciated.
Solution: Arrange a late check out for the guest the following day allowing him more time in the
hotel and making up for the lost time now. If that is not an option offer to buy the guest a drink
or dinner to make up for the inconvenience and help him settle in faster.

Scenario 2: A guest called and was very upset because he was given incorrect directions to the hotel.
He states that he has been driving all day with 3 children and wasted 45 minutes trying to find the
hotel.
Solution: First help the guest find the hotel and then prepare everything for their check in so they
can get to their room as soon as possible. Next think of how you can help the guest settle in and
distress. The best solution will be to make the kids happy (happy kids = happy parents). Consider
placing some soft drinks and board games for the kids in the room and if the guest has no

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immediate plans offer a free movie. This will show the guest that you understand that it has been
challenging and stressful to find the hotel and that he most likely would like a bit of peace and
quiet.

An exercise to run with your team

This exercise is designed to get your team thinking outside the box on what compensation could
look like in your hotel…

DO NOT TELL THEM THAT YOU ARE LINKING THIS EXERCISE TO PROBLEM RESOLUTION YET
What do I need?
Flipchart / white board
Pens
People

Setting the scene

You have a VVIP coming to stay at the hotel for 3 days, could be anyone, they are coming for a
typical stay, and definitely have some downtime whilst they are with you. Some time to recharge the
batteries as it has been a tough couple of months.

What do you need to do

You need to work out a plan to WOW this VIP at every turn… what’s the plan?
[This is Brainstorm time… come up with a plan for every part of everyday]

Work out how you could ensure a lasting impression after they have left (sending flowers to their
home?)

What’s next
Well there is no VIP, but you probably have a list of some great things you could do to make a guest
happy!

The challenge to you…

No matter how you resolve a problem, the important thing is how you handle it, acknowledging the
guest’s problem and showing willingness to address it are the most important steps. Conflict
resolution is a great opportunity to make amends and to ensure guests leave with a good
experience. Statistically, when the team recovers and an issue is resolved above expectations,
there’s a much better chance the guest will return and give you another chance.

Empowerment is a big part of this and can be challenging. Your team will make mistakes so start
accepting them and help your team learn from them.

Challenge yourself to become a good coach and ensure you never criticise but help your team find
the right solutions.

Participate in the conversation and share your success and failures. Help others with your stories on
how you handled a guest complaint well and found the right compensation but also share your
mistakes - remember – hindsight is a wonderful thing.