HGE401 Discussion Forum

1) There are lots of factors that affect to increase the service experiences, it is extremely important to create a first impression of hotels in consumers eyes such as making a booking as delightful manner, deliver the information what consumer seeking for, welcoming the consumer in warm manner and treat like your priority because it helpful for hotels to understand the consumer and help to enhance the service experience . However, hotels have informatic technologic which provide information regards consumer-like their name, place, preferences, purpose of traveling which helpful for hotel staff to provide personalized service on starting a journey of customer when they check-in and with the help of it we enhance the service experience.     

2) There are different perspective to understand the customers because different guests have different types of mentality and nature but as hoteliers we need to classify which guest is happy or sad because in hospitality it is extremely easy to make happy guest happier but for that guest who has some issue  can create little bit problem to make them satisfy from service. However, there are some ways such as: -
•   Collect Web Data
•   Learn Preferences and Satisfaction
•   Manage Customer Relationship
•   Let’s Get to know each other
•   Taking Feedback.
 These are some way and tools which assets to understand the guests. (Kiera Abbamonte, July 19, 2017)

3) As mentioned, that know preference and satisfaction help to create a memorable experience for example Blackish moment, to finding preferences from social media and create a memorable experience for them. However,  information’s are playing a major role in hotel sector it gives a warm idea regards our customer and on the basis of it, we do delightful services to create a memorable experience such as know their favorite pillow, beverages, hobbies which helps to make guest feel that they are not far away from home. Similarly, some information which helps to give personalized experience are : -
•   Searching information about previous experience in the hotel and their feedback.
•   Understand who your customer is.
•   With the help of information try to create an emotional connection with your customer.
•   Get customer feedback from time to time about services.
•   Discuss the guest's behavior with your team and other operational departments.
•   And getting feedback from customers from your team and give them personalized service.  (SuperOffice,2015)

1.   As consumers, what are the factors that affect the way we perceive and evaluate service experiences?

Consumers perceive and evaluate service experiences from different touchpoints in the guest journey map. These touchpoints are areas of opportunites for hoteliers to provide excellent guest service.

In the hospitality industry, the consumer's journey starts when they search for a hotel. The hotel's information available online must be complete and comprehensive for the guest to get a picture of what to expect. This is followed by the booking stage where guests expect seamless service either through online, phone, or email booking. Guests then go through the hotel experience from arrival, check-in, food & beverage options, or spa and leisure experiences. The guest's journey does not end during check-out as hoteliers also need to conduct post-stay feedback to ensure that any guest reviews are noted and acted upon.

2.   As hoteliers, what are some of the ways and tools we can use to understand our customers?

With today's advancements in technology, hoteliers have an abundance of tools available for them to understand and get to know their guests.

Opera PMS is one tool where guests' preferences and specific details can be noted by hoteliers. Through this, they can anticipate guests' needs and expectactions from the information on the system.

Another significant tool that can be used is social media and the internet. Hoteliers can get additional guest details from various online sources that can be helpful in tailoring the guest experience.

Of course, it is still important that hoteliers create a human connection with the guests. They can personally call or email the guests who have made a booking, and ask them for their preferences and needs during their stay.

3.   How can we use this information to personalise our customer service and create memorable experiences?

Nowadays, hoteliers can gather guest information in many ways—from hotel tools, social media, various online sources, personal correspondence, etc. They can use these information to personalize the experiences of their guests.

When hoteliers take time to get to know their guests and their expectations, guest satisfaction is expected to increase. For example, if they can see through the PMS system that the guest is celebrating his/her birthday, they can organize a little surprise amenity; or if a guest has a certain food allergy, they can anticipate and note this in advance.

Another way hoteliers can make a positive guest impact is through their willingness to serve and can-do attitude. This boils down to the hotel's service culture and staff management.

Delightfull service occurs when a guest is wow with the services of a hotel. It is the intangible stage of a mind as delightfulness lies inside the guest, it is an experience which is then described by the guest  with the help of communication or acknowledgment.

For instance, when I was doing my industrial placement at Hilton, there was a long-staying guest his first preference would be Chinese food when the first day he came to dine in a restaurant it was a normal setup of cutlery as per the guidelines of a hotel on the right-hand side he picked those chopsticks to transfer it to another hand. But he uses his left hand to hold chopsticks. He always use to sit at the corner table if it is available. It was the same procedure for the next day as well. But it is being observed by the Manager. Next time when he came to dine everything was being set & allocated chopstick on the left side along with reservation tag with a name . This is being followed throughout his stay with Hilton.

He was extremely delighted with the food and Beverage move and expressed his delightedness to the front office at the time of check out followed by appreciation mail to the headquarters. Bang

Regards
Arvinder Singh Sandhu

For me, a delightful service means delivering an exceptional and memorable experience to your audience. An example would be going the extra mile for your guests. This doesn't need to be something grand or tedious; it could be a small, personalized, and well-thought of gesture that would make them feel special and welcome.

For F&B, this could mean remembering a returning guest's food preferences, or preparing their favorite dish, or simply offering a note and complimentary sweets for guests who are celebrating something. For Rooms and Front Office, you may draw up a handwritten welcome note, or present a towel art for families with kids, or just address them by their name everytime you see them in the hotel. Simple gestures like this mean a lot to guests as this will create a positive and lovely hotel experience.

A service can be called delighted when unexpected experiences happen. For example, when a service provider serves its customer his favorite coffee even before he has asked for that, he will automatically be overwhelmed from his service. As in this fast-moving era, no one has time to remember anyone else's likings, and when a service provider actually cares for his customers' demands and likings it will definitely create an impression in the minds of the customers that there is someone who cares for their likings and disliking.