Being Hospitable to the Unhappy Guest
Part 1
The coronavirus pandemic has shortened everyone’s patience. We have all been cooped up in our homes, unable to see friends or interact with others. And to be quite honest, many people have lost their ability to communicate effectively without losing their temper. However, in the hospitality industry, we cannot afford to be anything but patient, kind, and hospitable- even when we may be more frustrated than our customers.
It is easy to advise employees to “just be patient” and “sympathize with the customer.” These are all essential tips in dealing with angry customers, and I cover some of them in this blog, but these tips are more surface level if not discussed. I hope to offer a more in-depth insight into dealing with customers in a hospitable and kind way.
- Be calm – This may be the essential tip of customer service. If we do not have patience with a customer, it is easy to lose the customer. As human beings pick up on the energy of those around us, so as easy as it is for us to feel the frustration of interacting with an unhappy customer, it is just as easy for them to feel our calming presence. It may take a minute for them to respond to our calm manner, or they may never reciprocate our energy, but it will be much easier to de-escalate the situation if we can remain calm.
- Keep in mind your goal – It is crucial to remember your purpose. We work in the hospitality industry, so our goal revolves around making the customer’s experience better in every situation we encounter. Our goal needs to include serving the customer to the best of our ability. Keeping in mind our goal when facing an angry customer will make it easier to keep ourselves calm and our frustration at bay.
- Sympathize and empathize – We have all been in the frustrated customer’s shoes at one point or another. It’s important to empathize with the negative experiences a customer might have had that day. Whether that be a lack of food or water, flights delayed, unexpected cancellations, running late, we have all had the stress and anxiety that your customer is feeling. So, it is crucial to put yourselves in their shoes and remember when you were in their shoes. While you may not react the same way as your customer, it is essential to remember that they may be experiencing all types of stresses that have put them to their wit’s end. Once we understand that there may be outside stressors, we can tackle their problem with a greater sense of sympathy and empathy. And, worst-case scenario, if you can not relate to what they are complaining about, imagine that their dog just died, and they are taking it out on you. Maybe, then, we can at least have patience for them.
- Get on the same level with the customer – My family and I have traveled to Bermuda several times in the past 8 or 9 years, and we are always so pleased with the hospitality and kindness we experience. We have experienced the entire small island, all 20 square miles of it, and we always love to go back solely because of the hospitality. A few trips ago, we arrived in Bermuda after a long day of traveling, and we ate at one of the restaurants in our hotel. I think we had waited over an hour for our food- or something of the sort- but we were frustrated because we had never experienced this before, and we were all exhausted and hungry. We complained to the waiter who then brought out the manager- and when the manager came out to listen to us complain, he did not stand over us. He pulled up a chair, and he sat next to my family and I, sitting at the same level as us. It was as though he was joining my family and myself for dinner, which completely disarmed us of any anger we previously had. He listened to everything we had to say, made sure to take care of us, and brought out our food right away. We felt heard by his kindness and eagerness to listen, but we also felt like we were appreciated. Every other manager I have had to take care of a complaint stood over me while I sat- creating an unusual dynamic and power imbalance between us. But this manager sitting and speaking to us made our relationship with him feel like friends or family rather than a customer and client. This is what we need to strive for in the hospitality industry. Breaking down the boundary between customer and client- to hopefully become more like friends and family.
