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General Education General Education OfficeOffice

ILA2401ILA2401English for the English for the Hotel BusinessHotel Business

Unit 7: Customer Unit 7: Customer CareCare

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“it does not matter who is right when a service failure occurs”

Professor Alex SusskindCornell Hospitality Quarterly

November, 2010

http://youtu.be/tcliR8kAbzc

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ObjectivesObjectivesThe objectives of this unit are….

1. Language Focus: Dealing with Complaints

2. Vocabulary Focus: Guest Feedback and Utilization

The purpose of this unit is to practice dialog and gain understanding of what makes guests unhappy and how to improve quality.

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ObjectivesObjectivesIn today’s lesson you will learn how to:

• Use strategies to deal with customer complaints (e.g., LAST)

• Describe different types of guest complaints

• Use the Present Perfect Passive to describe service failures

• Use the term ‘should have’ for solutions to problems

• Use intensifying adverbs to assist emphasis in apologies

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Dealing with ComplaintsDealing with Complaints1. Take ownership of the problem or issue and _____________.

2. ___________ the amount of time it takes for a guest to complain and properly

resolve complaints from the operators view.

3. _________ on trying to _____________ the issue from the guest perspective

4. Offer the guest a _____________of what happened but never give excuses

5. Offer an ___________ to the guest; and

6. ____________ with the guest to make sure that the remedy and recovery process

met or exceeded the guest’s expectations

Professor Alex SusskindCornell Hospitality Quarterly

November, 2010sincerely apologize

recognize

understand

focus

relevant explanation agreeable remedy

follow up

focus

sincerely apologize

recognize

understand

relevant explanation

agreeable remedy

follow up

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Yum! Brands and Ritz Carlton give discretion to employees and allow $1000 to resolve

complaints or service failures

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Good Customer Relationships are built to

Listen Apologise Solve Thank

Dealing with ComplaintsDealing with Complaints

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Dealing with ComplaintsDealing with Complaints

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Dealing with ComplaintsDealing with Complaints

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Top Traveler ComplaintsTop Traveler ComplaintsUse the word bank to identify the different types of complaints.

bed bugs dirty hotel lost reservation unhelpful staff next to lift hidden charges bad room service overcharged bill

bad quality restaurant inaccurate star rating

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ListeningListening1) Listen to the conversation between a guest and a receptionist.a)Make a list of the things the guest is complaining about.b)What does she want to do?c)What is the outcome?

2)Now listen to the second conversation. What is the outcome this time?

3)Listen to both conversations again. In what ways does the receptionist behave differently in the second conversation?

What does she offer to do?

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The scriptThe scriptRECEPTIONIST: Good evening. Can I help you?

GUEST: Well, I hope you can. I'm in room 607 and frankly, it's disgusting. I'm extremely annoyed.

RECEPTIONIST: OK. Mrs Jenkins, isn't it?

GUEST: Yes.

RECEPTIONIST: Now, what exactly is wrong?

GUEST: Well, for a start, the room is very small - I requested a large room.

RECEPTIONIST: Actually, room 607 is one of our larger rooms.

GUEST: Is it? Well, I'm bitterly disappointed, I'm afraid. Also, it's very dirty: the bath hasn't been cleaned and

the sheets haven't been changed.

RECEPTIONIST: Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mrs Jenkins. It must be most upsetting for you. I'm quite sure there's

been some mistake. I'll send someone up immediately to look at it.

GUEST: Well, really I'd like to move room now.

RECEPTIONIST: I understand. We are very busy, but I'll see what I can do. Why don't

you wait in the lounge bar while I sort this out. I'll arrange for a complimentary drink for you.

GUEST: Well, OK, then.

RECEPTIONIST: I really am most sorry, Mrs Jenkins, for the inconvenience you've suffered.

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The scriptThe scriptRECEPTIONIST: Good evening. Can I help you?

GUEST: Well, I hope you can. I'm in room 607 and frankly, it's disgusting. I'm extremely annoyed.

RECEPTIONIST: OK. Mrs Jenkins, isn't it?

GUEST: Yes.

RECEPTIONIST: Now, what exactly is wrong?

GUEST: Well, for a start, the room is very small - I requested a large room.

RECEPTIONIST: Actually, room 607 is one of our larger rooms.

GUEST: Is it? Well, I'm bitterly disappointed, I'm afraid. Also, it's very dirty: the bath hasn't been

cleaned and the sheets haven't been changed.

RECEPTIONIST: Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mrs Jenkins. It must be most upsetting for you. I'm quite

sure there's been some mistake. I'll send someone up immediately to look at it.

GUEST: Well, really I'd like to move room now.

RECEPTIONIST: I understand. We are very busy, but I'll see what I can do. Why don't

you wait in the lounge bar while I sort this out. I'll arrange for a complimentary drink for you.

GUEST: Well, OK, then.

RECEPTIONIST: I really am most sorry, Mrs Jenkins, for the inconvenience you've suffered.

Personalizing shows attention/care

Use of ‘terribly’ intensifying adverb

Use of ‘actually’ implies ‘reality’ – knowledge / authority

‘Upsetting for you ‘ shows empathy, – consider guest perspective

‘quite sure’ – confidence/authority

‘some mistake’ – possible explanation – accept responsibility

‘I understand’ – empathy / guest perspective

‘gesture / offer’ – partial agreeable remedy

‘most sorry’ – superlative apology ‘recognize guest perspective’ – strong emotional verb

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Understanding Understanding ComplaintsComplaintsLook at this picture and answer the questions.

1.What type of guest complaint is happening here?

2. Why do you think the employee is acting this way?

3. What should the manager do?

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Understanding Understanding ComplaintsComplaintsWhy do employees provide bad service to customers?

Ignoring your problems is key to providing good customer service.

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Language StudyLanguage StudyPresent Perfect PassiveLook at these examples from the conversation , where something needed to be done but wasn’t:•The bath hasn’t been cleaned. ( no agent )•The sheets haven’t been changed.

Match up the nouns and verbs and make similar sentences1 bed 4 bin a dust d vacuum2 carpet 5 shelves b make e empty3 floor 6 wash-basin c clean f sweep

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Language StudyLanguage StudyLook at the picture of a hotel at the start of the summer season. It is inVery bad condition. Discuss what hasn’t been done. Look at the garden, the walls, the paintwork, etc.

These verb mayhelp:cutmendrepairfixre-plasterweedpainttile

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Language StudyLanguage StudyShould have (done)Look at the examples from the conversation.•They should have cleaned it. (agent as pronoun)•You should have complained earlier.

Use the same examples that were used in the Present Perfect Passive language study to make similar sentences:

Example:They should have made the bed.

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Language StudyLanguage StudyShould have (done)Develop each of these statements with a should have statement.Example:This room is filthy.You should have cleaned it.

b) Why didn’t you tell us?c) Why did that old lady carry her heavy suitcase herself?d) You’re going to be late for work.e) I didn’t know it was going to rain.f) The hotel turned out to be worse than the one we stayed in last year.g) I missed the last bus and had to walk home.h) We’ve been robbed!

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Responding to Responding to ComplaintsComplaintsLook at some sample situations guests might complain about,

and the typical responses needed to resolve the issue.

I’ll change it immediately.

I’ll send some up.

I’ll see what I can do.I’ll send someone up to fix it.

I’ll get them changed.I’ll bring you some immediately.

I’ll get someone to have a look at it.

Order new soup from the kitchen.Tell housekeeping to send towels.Ask to keep the noise down.Tell maintenance to fix the heating.Tell housekeeping to change the sheets.

Order tea from the kitchen.Tell maintenance to fix the shower.

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Word StudyWord Study•When a speaker wants to emphasize an adjective or make it stronger (especially during an emotional exchange such as complaining and apologizing), it is common to use anintensifying adverb, e.g., “I’m extremely sorry.”

However not all combinations of adverb and adjective are possible.

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Word StudyWord Study1) Which adjectives can be used with which adverbs? Tick the appropriate boxes. Some of the combinations were

used in the conversations you heard earlier.

sorry sure disappointed annoyed unacceptable filthy

extremely

absolutely

very

terribly

quite

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Word StudyWord Study2) Complete the following sentences with an appropriate

adverb/adjective combination from the ones previous.a) I’m _________ _________ that I didn’t make any international phone calls

from my room.b) We were ________ ________ with the hotel, considering that so many

people had recommended it to us.c) The standard of the food was terrible. It was _________ ________ .d) The swimming-pool obviously hadn’t been cleaned for ages. It was

____________ _________ .e) I’m ________ _________ that it’s so noisy. Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable

because we’re having essential repairs done.f) The chef is obviously a perfectionist. He gets ________ ________ if the

slightest thing goes wrong.

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ListeningListeningYou are going to listen to a woman talking about a disastrous time she had when she stayed in a hotel.a)What things went wrong during her stay?b)Listen again. Are the following statements True or False?

a The woman had seen an advertisement for the hotel in a shop window.b The couple went to the hotel to celebrate a birthday.c The man at the front desk had probably been arguing.d They were given the key to room 106.e The woman complained about the size of the bathroom.f They didn’t complain in the restaurant.g They didn’t sleep very well because they heard a screaming noise.h They quite enjoyed their breakfast.i They went to another hotel after checking out.j The murder took place in room 107.

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SummarySummaryToday you have learned how to:•Use strategies to deal with customer complaints (LAST)•Describe different types of guest complaints•Use the Present Perfect Passive to describe service failures•Use the term ‘should have’ for solutions to problems•Use intensifying adverbs to assist emphasis in apologies