Like any good read, a strong hospitality training manual will tell a story, weaving a tale that takes your staff from the beginning of their careers with you to joyful endings for your guests.
Your manual is not only a housekeeping training tool to prepare employees for the tactical parts of their jobs, it’s a way to instill your unique approach to customer service.
To best way to accomplish both of those important goals is to make customer service the star of your hospitality training manual.
Hire with Customer Service in Mind
The first step toward building a team that will create exceptional guest experiences is to hire with customer service in mind.
Remember that employees are the ambassadors of your property’s brand and identity. If you want the face of your property to be friendly, hard-working and efficient, be thoughtful about hiring with those qualities in mind. And, of course, include those goals in your hospitality training, not just once but throughout.
A Partner for Employee Orientation, Not a Replacement
Your hospitality training manual is a crucial partner for your new employee orientation, and you shouldn’t have one without the other. The orientation is a chance to welcome employees in person, to introduce management and colleagues and to begin the conversation about how important customer service is to your property.
New employees should leave your orientation feeling excited to be part of a dynamic, customer-focused team that values its employees and their contributions. If you skip having an orientation, you miss out on an opportunity to spark those feelings.
Once Upon a Time…
The training manual should mirror the welcome and introductions you’ve made during orientation, and every section should drive home the importance of guest satisfaction and customer service.
Your hotel housekeeping checklist, for instance, shouldn’t just list the tasks to make up a room, it should give a sense of why each task is important to your guests and your property. During your training in housekeeping, make clear the value you place on having guests experience crisp, well-turned rooms during every stay and why that’s a part of your brand identity.
Soft Sheets, Satisfied Guests
By now, the “Hotel Bed” has become so iconic, even non-hospitality brands have gotten in on the act with Hotel Collections of sheets, towels and robes, and hotels have launched online and in-person stores where their linens can be purchased.
To meet guests’ high expectations about the quality if your luxury hotel bedding, it’s important that you choose your hotel linen supply wisely and thoroughly train employees on how to care for it.
Whether you’re discussing the correct chemicals for your on property laundry or the pickup procedures for your hotel linen laundry service, draw a direct line between careful handling of your linens and guest satisfaction.
Get Real with Customer Reviews
Customer service is the star of your training manual, and to bring customers to life for your employees, incorporate real reviews of your property.
You can gather quotes from reviews – good, bad and everything in between – with information you already have available, namely:
- Guest surveys
- Reviews on popular travel sites
- Letters or emails sent directly to your property
- Social media mentions, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Make Customer Service Shine & Save Time
Having a manual with clearly articulated customer service goals and direction will not only help build a winning team, it will save time for management. Managers can spend less time addressing how to handle different situations and more time working directly with guests or honing the guest experience.
Making customer service the star of your training manual will help everyone shine, from managers to staff to guests.
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