FRONT OFFICE

OPERATION

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6
 HMPE 6 –
Front Office Operation

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 Chapter 2

PROVIDE EFFECTIVE
CUSTOMER SERVICE

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

Chapter 2
PROVIDE EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Introduction

This module deals with the knowledge, skills and attitude hotel required in providing
effective customer service. It includes greeting customer, identifying customer’s needs,
delivering service to customer, handling queries through use of common business tools and
technology and handling complaints, evaluation and recommendation.

Specific Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. greet customer/guests
2. identify customer/guests
3. deliver service to customer/guests
4. handle queries through use of common business tools and technology
5. handle complaints/conflict situations, evaluation and recommendations

Methodology
 Lecture
 Demonstration
 Role Play
 Simulation

Assessment Approach
 Demonstration
 Interviews/Questioning
 Observation

Duration

Chapter 2: Provide Effective Customer Service [3 Hours]

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

2.1 GREET CUSTOMERS/GUESTS

Customer/guest service is the provision of service to customers before during and

after a purchase According to Turban et al. (2002), "Customer service is a series of activities
designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that IS. the feeling that a product or
service has met the customer expectation Customer service can also refer to the culture of the
organization- the priority organization assigns to customer service relative to other
components, such as product Innovation or low price. In this sense, an organization that
values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than average
organization, or proactively interview customers for feedback.

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From the point of view of an overall sales process engineering effort customer service
plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue. From that
perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall approach to systematic
improvement. A customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has
of the organization
In a hospitality setting, customer service is similar to those being mentioned.
However, it is not just meeting and providing customer needs. Rather, it is going above and
beyond a customer's level of satisfaction. It is exceeding what the customer expects to
receive. It is going beyond the usual and the normal. That is what great customer service is all
about. And that is what every hospitality practitioner is expected to deliver.
The importance of customer service may vary by product or service, industry and
customer. The perception of success of such interactions will be dependent on employees
"who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest," according to Micah Solomon.
And because it is relevantly important to be exceptional customer service personnel, let us
examine the ways to address and become one.
There are certain customer service skills that every employee must master if they are
forward-facing with customers. Without them, you run the risk of finding your business in an
embarrassing customer service train-wreck, or simply losing customers as your service
continue to let people down.
With that said, let's get into some SPECIFIC skills that every support employee can
master to "WOW" the customers that they interact with on a daily basis.

1. Patience. Not only is patience important to customers, who often reach out to support
when they are confused and frustrated, but it's also important to the business at large:
great service beats fast service every single time. Yet patience shouldn't be used as an
excuse for lousy service either! If you deal with customers on a dally bas's, be sure to
stay patent when they come to you stumped and frustrated but also be sure to take the

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 time to truly figure out what they want — they’d rather get competent service than be
rushed out the door!
2. Attentiveness. The ability to really listen to customers so crucial for providing great
service for a number of reasons. Not only is it Important to pay attention to Individual
customer interactions (watching the language/ terms that they use to describe their
problems), but it's also important to be mindful and attentive to the feedback that you
receive at large. For Instance, customers may not be saying it outright, but perhaps
there IS a pervasive feeling that your menu isn't laid out correctly. Customers aren’t
likely to say, "Please Improve your menu!", but they may say things like, " 1 can
never find the right choices of food in place,” What are your customers telling you
without saying it?

3. Clear Communication Skills. For all of the "mumblers" and people who love to
ramble on, you need to listen up! It's okay to find out more about your customers, but
make sure you're getting to the problem at hand quickly; customers don't need your
life story or to hear about how your day is going. More importantly, you need to be
cautious about how some of your communication habits translate to customers, and
it's best to err on the Side of caution whenever you find yourself questioning a
situation. When it comes to important points that you need to relay clearly to
customers, keep it simple and leave nothing to doubt.

4. Knowledge of the Product. The best forward-facing employees in your company will
work on having a deep knowledge of how your product works. Its not that every
single team member should be able to build your product from scratch, but rather they
should know the ins and outs of how your product works, just like a customer who
uses it every day would. Without knowing your product from front-to-back, you won't
know how to help customers when they run into problems. In hospitality, product
knowledge IS as important to a sale. It goes that if you are not aware of your product,
you Will not be able to sell it!

5. Ability to Use "Positive Language”. Sounds like nonsense, but your ability to make
minor changes in your conversational patterns can truly go a long way in creating
happy customers. Language is a very important part of persuasion, and people
(especially customers) create perceptions about you and your company based off of
the language that you use. That is why it is essentially important to say the right
words and be choosy in your choices of words when dealing with a customer. Here's
an example: Let's say a customer contacts you with an interest in a particular product,
but that product happens to be backordered until next month. Small changes that
utilize "positive language" can greatly affect how the customer hears your response..

 Without positive language: "l can't get you that product until next month. it is
back-ordered and unavailable at this time."

 With positive language: "That product will be available next month. I can
place the order for you right now and make sure that it is sent to you as soon
as it reaches our warehouse."

The first example isn't negative by any means. but the tone that it conveys feels abrupt
and impersonal, and can be taken the wrong way by Customers Conversely, the second

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

example is stating the same thing (the item is unavailable), but instead focuses on when/how
the customer will get to their resolution rather than focusing on the negative.

6. Acting Skills. Sometimes, you're going to come across people that you'll never be able
to make happy. Situations outside of your control (they had a terrible day, or they are
just a natural-born complainer) will sometimes creep into your usual support routine,
and you'll be greeted with those "barnacle" customers that seem to want nothing else
but to pull you down.

Every great customer service personnel will have those basic acting skills
necessary to maintain their usual cheery persona in spite of dealing with people who
may be just plain grumpy. To battle this, you must wear a SMILE! ALWAYS!
Hospitality people need to, under all circumstances, wear their happy face. There is no
exemption to this rule!

7. Time Management Skills. It is important that an employee spends time to each

customer, however, the bottom line is that there is a limit, and you need to be
concerned with getting customers what they want in an efficient manner. The trick
here is that this should also be applied when realizing when you simply cannot help a
customer. If you don't know the solution to a problem, the best kind of support
member will get a customer over to someone who does.

Don't waste time trying to go above and beyond for a customer in an area
where you will just end up wasting both of your time! Sometimes, it is best to be
honest than consume your time on something you know you are not capable solving.

8. Ability to "Read" Customers. You won't always be able to see customers ice-to-face,
and in many instances (nowadays) you won't even hear a customer's voice! That
doesn't exempt you from understanding some basic principles of behavioural
psychology and being able to "read" the customer's current emotional state.

This is an important part of the personalization process as well, because takes

knowing your customers to create a personal experience for them. More importantly
though, this skill is essential because you don't want to misread a customer and end up
losing them due to confusion and communication. Look and listen for subtle clues
about their current mood, patience level, personality, etc., and you'll go far in keeping
your customer interactions positive.

9. A Calming Presence. It is having the ability to stay calm and even influence others to
be calm when things get a little hectic. The best customer service personnel know that
they cannot let a heated customer force them to lose their coot; in fact, it is their job to
try to be the "rock" for a customer who thinks the world is falling down due to their
current problem. Simply said, this is having the ability to maintain grace under
pressure.

10. Goal Oriented Focus. This may seem like a strange thing to list as a customer service
skill, but I assure you that it is vitally important. That's because employees with goals,
and business goals + customer happiness can work hand-in-hand thus resulting better
service and outstanding returns in business. When employees and company at large

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 focus on one aim or goal, they become more synchronized thus, resulting to more
progressive outcome.

11. Ability to Handle Surprises. Sometimes the hospitality world is going to throw you a
curveball! Maybe the problem you encounter isn't specifically covered in the
company's guidelines, or maybe the customer isn't reacting how you thought they
would. This meant being caught in a situation that is new and alien to you. Whatever
the case, its best way to deal with it is think straight and never lose the ability to think
things over until you arrive at what you think is the best possible solution.

And it does not stop there, it's even better to create guidelines for you in this
sort of situation. Once you have created for yourself a happy and satisfied customer,
create a guideline out of it and present it to your coworkers. Let's say, for instance,
you want to come up with a quick system for when you come across a customer who
has a product problem you've never seen before.

 Who? One thing you can decide right off the bat is who you should consider
your "go-to" person when you don't know what to do. The GM or DM might
be able to help you, but you can't go to them with every single question- for
sure! Define a logical chain for yourself to use, then you won't be left
wondering who you should forward the problem too.

 What? When the problem is noticeably out of your league, what are you going
to send to the people above? The full conversation, just the important parts, or
maybe some highlights and an example of a similar ticket?

 How? When it comes time to get someone else involved, how are you going to
contact them?

12. Persuasion Skills. This is one a lot of people didn't see coming! Experienced
hospitality personnel know that oftentimes, you will get messages in your inbox that
are more about the curiosity of your company's product, rather than having problems
with it. To truly take your customer service skills to the next level, you need to have
some mastery of persuasion so that you can convince interested customers that your
product is right for them.

It's not about making a sales pitch in each email, but it is about not letting
potential customers slip away because you couldn't create a compelling message that
your hotel's product is worth purchasing!

13. Tenacity. Call it what you want, but a great work ethic and having the willingness to
do what needs to be done (and not take shortcuts) is a key skill when providing the
kind of service that people talk about. There are many memorable customer service
stories out there (many of which had a huge Impact on the business) were created by a
single employee who refused to just do the "status quo" when it came to helping
someone out.

Remembering that your customers are people too, and knowing that putting in
the extra effort will come back to you ten-fold should be your driving motivation to

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 never "cheat" your customers with lazy service. It is always important to go the extra
mile when in comes to provision of customer service as it will eventually lead to
happy and satisfied returning guest.

14. Closing Ability. Being able to close with a customer means being able to end the
conversation with confirmed satisfaction (or as close to it as you can achieve) and
with the customer feeling that everything has been taken cared of (or will be). It is
making sure that each and every issue they had on deck has been entirely resolved. It
is making sure that all problems are given solutions and are being addressed, which
would lead to a resolution. Your willingness to do these shows the customer 3 very
important things:
• That you care about getting it right
• That you're willing to keep going until you get it right
• That the customer is the one who determines what "right" is.

When you get a customer to, "Yes, I'm all set and okay!" is when you know me
conversation is over!

15. Willingness to Learn! If you came across this article and read all the way to the
bottom, you likely already have this skill the willingness to learn! This is probably the
most "general" skill on the list, but it's still necessary. It is even the most important
skill hospitality personnel must have within her. This is the ingredient to growing and
improving.

Those who don't seek to improve what they do, whether it's building products,
marketing businesses, or helping customers, will get left behind by the people willing
to invest in their skills.

Tips on How to Greet Customers

When entering a hotel, most guests want to see an employee make a genuine effort to
acknowledge and assist them. Greeting the guests can often be the most important aspect to
have a repeat business. Take these 5 tips to ensure your guests never walk out your door
dissatisfied:

1. Smile with your greeting.

Guests want to hear words of greeting and see a smile. If the employee at the door
appears grumpy and doesn't even offer a simple
“Hello. Welcome to Hotel X- the guest will most likely start their experience off in the wrong
mood.

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 2. Stop what you are doing
A guest should be greeted within 30 seconds of entering your hotel. Stand up from
your task and offer a smile and words of greeting. After offering assistance. you can return
back to your other tasks.

3. Show, don't tell

When the guest enters your hotel, they will most likely inquire about a specific
accommodation. Take time to answer right away his/her Inquiries or If possible show them
exactly the types of rooms available It will only take a few seconds and your guest will
appreciate your time and effort.

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4. Ask questions.
Take a moment to ask further regarding his/her needs. often imperative questions.

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5. Dress professionally.
Because you will be the first face that a prospective guest
sees. be sure to dress and act professionally. Avoid wearing
provocative outfits that may offend guests. Rather, choose
conservative, professional outfits that are appropriate for your work
environment. If you present a neat, groomed appearance, your guest
will feel more comfortable during a sales transaction.

The second a prospective guest walks through the door, they

will be analyzing many aspects of your business. Be sure to offer
them a warm, professional greeting assistance, and quality

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

customer service. Ignoring or downplaying their Importance dangerous for your hotels
success. It is said that "There is only one boss and it is our guest.

2.2 IDENTIFY CUSTOMER/GUEST

Before you can charge ahead and zone in on your target, you first need to have a solid
handle on what exactly an ideal customer is. Your ideal customer is someone who gets their
exact needs met by what you're offering. Your idea) customer is someone who benefits from
your product or service. But, it's also defined as someone you most want to target with your
marketing and promotions based on your current business situation. Perhaps you've been
mainly reaching creative freelancers, but you'd rather shift your focus and work with more
agency founders. Your existing customers may not necessarily be your ideal ones.
In a perfect world, your ideal customer will marry both of these aspects. They're
someone who sees tons of value in your product or service, but will also help push your
business in the direction you want to go.

Steps in Identifying Customer's Needs

Step One: Know your product or service

First thing's first, you need to have a solid understanding the nature of the business.
You need to have deep knowledge of the business from your customer's point of view. Get
out a notepad and pen and jot down exactly what you offer to your customers. What problems
do you solve for them or what challenges do you address? Why should people choose your
hotel for instance instead of your competitors? What sets you apart? Who actually benefits
the most from your product or service? When it comes to this question, you need to be honest
with yourself. It's not enough to determine who you want to benefit most—you need to
identify who is actually finding value in your offerings right now.

Step Two: Determine Your Goals

Once you've looked at the business through your customer's eyes and identified who
are currently your customers, it's time to determine what your goals are. Are you happy with
this current type of customer and, more importantly, are they happy with you? Or, do you feel
that you're not appropriately targeting the people who would value your business the most?
Remember that your current customers may not be your ideal ones. if you've noticed that
your customer retention rate is really low—people are patronizing once, but not returning.
Perhaps you've been on the receiving end of a lot of customer complaints, Or, maybe you just
want to shift your focus, change your business model, and reach a totally different audience.
So, this is the time to outline your goals. Determining what specifically you want to achieve
will help you alter your strategies when it comes to your customers.

Step Three: Analyze Past Interactions

Your past interactions with customers can reveal a lot—both good and bad. combing
through any major mistakes and successes with previous or existing customers will definitely
help you in narrowing your focus. Sort through your past interactions and pull out what you
can. That information will all be incredibly valuable in the next step.

Step Four: Build a Customer Profile

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 You've done your research, put in the legwork, and are ready to outline everything
that makes your customer tick. This is when you'll build your customer profile, which shares
all of that need-to-know information about who exactly you're trying to target. This process
involves answering some important questions that cover everything from basic demographics
to what influences their buying decisions. Find out as much as you possibly can about your
particular customer. The more you know, the more powerful you'll be.

2.3 DELIVER SERVICE TO CUSTOMER/GUEST

For the vast majority of the hospitality businesses, good customer service is essential
for success. While many entrepreneurs and business owners focus on marketing. new
products, or promotional campaigns, research has shown that customer service is one of the
biggest factors in a company's success. Poor customer service turns people away to
competitors, while good service creates brand loyalty and relationships with customers,
increasing customer retention and revenue.
What makes good in delivering service to customer? Many business owners think of
customer service, they think of passively answering calls and responding to complaints or
questions. While this type of customer service is common. it cannot be considered good
customer service. This type of service may not cost you customers, but it won't improve your
business, revenue, or customer relationships in any way.
Delivering good customer service goes beyond what your customers expect or receive
from most other businesses. The best customer service doesn't wait for problems to occur or
big issues to arise. Instead, good customer service is proactive, working towards solving
problems before they occur, as well as actively fostering positive relationships with your
customer. By providing reliable, friendly, and personal service with your customers, you can
help avoid problems from ever arising and keep customers with your company when issues
do occur.
To improve your business, don't ask how to deliver good customer service. Instead,
ask yourself how to deliver amazing customer service that separates you from your
competitors.

Tips for Delivering Exceptional Customer Service

1. Respond Quickly. When a customer has a problem or issue they need resolved, a wait of
even a day can seem like a lifetime. Often, even delays that short can be enough to send
them to a competitor. Customers want fast and prompt service. That means you should
provide 2417 customer service. Phone calls should be immediately answered, and emails
need to be responded to within the hour.

2. Use the Right Employees. Customer service takes skills. When dealing with angry,
dissatisfied customers, your customer service employees need to be able to resolve their
complaints, make them happy, and keep them as paying customers. This is no easy task.
Hire only the most professional customer service representatives who have proven
experience in the field. Training end regular evaluation is essential.

3. Listen. Good customer service usually happens through listening. In fact, most customer
service representatives should be listening most of the time. hearing out what the
customer's problem is exactly and determining would be the best solution. Most
customers with complaints don't just want a resolution—they want to know that their

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 issue has been heard and that the company will take steps to prevent it from happening
again

4. Exceed Customers' Expectations. When you're resolving a customer's complaint or

problem. go above and beyond. Your customers expect that their issue will be fixed. That
should be the bare minimum service that you provide. Good customer service does more
than just resolve a customer's problem—it exceeds their expectations and leaves them
feeling happy and appreciated.

5. Respect Your Customers. Even when an issue is resolved, customers want to know that
their business is appreciated. Your employees need to be friendly, courteous, and speak
with customers on a personal level. Customer service that resolves problems in an
impersonal, cold way will still be seen as poor.

6. Don’t Ignore the Little Things. Sometimes, little things can have a big impact. Using the
customer's name, asking them how their day has been, or proactively calling them after a
purchase to find out if there are any issues can all be used to increase customer
satisfaction.

Benefits of Good Customer Service

Providing good customer service doesn't just benefit your customers. It also has many
advantages for your business. There's a reason why major industries a lot of money, time,
and resources into improving their customer service. The advantages of good customer
service include higher revenue, increased sabs. and even improved employee satisfaction. By
investing in your customer service, your business can receive many major, unexpected
benefits beyond just happier customers.
1. Customer Loyalty. It goes without saying that good customer service results in
happier, more satisfied customers. What some people don't realize is that these
satisfied customers are also much more likely to stick with your business, even if
costs are higher or quality is spottier than with competitors. When you provide good
customer service, you create bonds with your customers.

2. Word-of-Mouth Advertising. The most cost-effective form of advertising is when

your customers do it for you. Word of mouth can be a great tool for growing
businesses and marketing your services. If you provide good customer service, your
customers will be more inclined to promote your business with family and friends and
on social media.

3. Business Reputation Growth. When customers choose where to do their business.

they often make that decision based on business reputation People want to spend their
money on professional reputable businesses. Your business reputation is directly
related to how you treat and interact with your customers. The most successful
companies in most industries all provide exceptional customer service, which is why
it's seen as a marker of professionalism

4. Product/ Service Evaluation. While you may hope that your products and services
would be evaluated based on their level of quality, the truth is that customer service
will always play a role? If you look at reviews for products, note how many mention
customer service issues unrelated to the such as delivery or interactions with the

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 supplier. Improve your customer service and your products and services wilt make a
better impression.

5. Successful Business Strategies. By interacting with your customers and encouraging

their feedback, you can improve your business operations and services. Good
customer service gives you the opportunity to have more open communication with
your customers, using their feedback and even complaints to help improve your
business.

6. Reduced Risk of Business Failures. Many hospitality entrepreneurs focus on the

benefits of good customer service to the customer. However, businesses themselves
can receive major benefits. Perhaps the biggest is that by providing good customer
service, you have a greatly reduced risk of business failure. Not only does good
customer service allow you to get a better idea of your customers' wants and needs,
but it also creates better relationships with your customer base. They are more likely
to forgive your hotel business when you make a misstep.
7. Employee Turnover. There are also benefits of good customer service to the
employee. With good customer service, your frontline employees do not have to deal
with angry, dissatisfied customers. This means that customer support teams and
frontline staff are less stressed and less likely to quit. Businesses with good customer
service have less employee turnover.
8. Employee Morale. Another benefit of good customer service for employees is that
your employees will be more satisfied and happy. When employees are more
satisfied, they are also more productive. They can perform at a higher level and
provide better customer service, which means the benefits continue to multiply for
your customers and employees.
9. Increased Efficiency. With good customer service, you do not need to allocate more
resources, time, and attention to placating customers or resolving major issues. This
allows for increased efficiency and productivity Your business does not have to waste
time or resources on handling extraneous issues. This is one of the top major benefits
of good customer service to external customers.

2.4 HANDLE QUERIES THROUGH USE OF COMMON BUSINESS TOOLS AND

TECHNOLOGY

In the advent of industrial revolution 4.0, hospitality industry is now using technology
to handle customer service in an efficient and cost-effective way. This can help use data
management and analytics and insight-driven marketing to improve your customer care
systems. The quality of that service will either enhance or degrade customer loyalty to your
brand and your business. With the economy in recession, customers have more alternatives
than ever. The business that proves to be responsive to customer questions, complaints, or
other needs can gain a clear competitive advantage. That's why it's so important to understand
how new technologies can help you anticipate customer needs, tailor business processes to
best serve customers. and ultimately improve the efficiency of your business the latter of
which can keep costs down.

Customer Service Technology

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

 There are a few major areas in which technology now is able to help provide key
advantages to businesses especially in the hospitality industry in engendering customer
loyalty by improving customer service:
 Websites. Providing areas on your website where customers can
answer their own questions or seek answers from others.
 E-mail. Using e-mail as a way to improve customer service and
more quickly respond to certain needs or help requests.
 Communications. Unifying communications so that you know
that the customer who left a voice mail also sent an e-mail with
the same request a few days ago.
 Software, Better managing customer relationships with more sophisticated data-
gathering tools, such as customer relationship management software.

Giving Customers What They Want. When They Want It

The goal of the hospitality business in terms of its customer interactions is the
generate loyalty. There's no better way to do that than to offer quality products and services
and to be responsive to your customers. But as new technologies have come to market to
make it easier for businesses to provide customer service, they may also be increasing the
number of channels through which you interact with customers and the complexity of those
interactions. Hospitality businesses nowadays want to use technology to raise the quality of
their customer service focus on the following:
 Data management and analytics. Using data collected from customer to analyze their
preferences.
 Insight-driven marketing. Gaining insights into your business from customer data so
you can more effectively target marketing.
 Marketing automation. Streamlining and automating business processes to improve
efficiency and keep costs low.
 Self-service optimization. Finding ways for customers to interact with your business
when they want.
 Workforce effectiveness. Encouraging your staff to embrace new ways improving
customer treatment by providing tools and training to deliver better service.

2.5 HANDLE COMPLAINTS/CONFLICT SITUATIONS, EVALUATION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

In a service industry like tourism it's inevitable that a guest will lodge a complaint.
How a business handles guest complaints separates the professionals from the amateurs. Not
every dissatisfied guest will make a complaint. Therefore, complaints must be viewed as
valuable sources of intelligence about possible issues that may need attention. They must
always be acknowledged and dealt with effectively. By ignoring or dismissing complaints,
you are effectively telling the customer that you don't value their opinions. Many business
owners see complaint management as a time-consuming and frustrating process. However,
by developing an efficient system, complaints can be resolved quickly and easily.

Why do guests complain?

 There is only ONE reason why guests complain.
 Guests complain when they do not receive what they thought they should have
received.
 In other words, their expectations were not met.

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  Guests generally expect friendly service, clean, well-maintained facilities and a level
of quality in line with what they paid.
 Failure to provide these will result in guest dissatisfaction, which may lead to a
complaint. If it does, this is a signal that others are probably feeling the same way
but NOT telling you.

Why are expectations sometimes greater than reality?

 Because of the subjective or unrealistic promises made in advertising material.
 Because the price is high compared to similar properties.
 Because the price does not match the level of quality of the product. Because while
expectations are realistic, the product is poorly presented.
 Because the guest develops preconceived high expectations that are formed from
other sources of information. For example, the product was Stalked up' by other
users.

Steps in Taking the Complaint

Step One. When a customer first makes a complaint, take a step back It can be
difficult to remain impassive in the face of criticism, but an emotional response will only
serve to irritate the customer further.

Step Two. Give the customer your full attention and listen to the whole problem
before responding. Put yourself in their shoes - if you had a problem, you would want
someone to listen to you. Appearing disinterested, or attempting to argue back, will only
exacerbate the situation.

Step Three. Don't jump the gun. You might deal with complaints on a regular basis,
and may well have handled a similar situation before. However, for the customer. their
complaint is unique to them. Treat them as an important individual by listening to their
problem in full.

Step Four. Try to understand in the face of a complaint, it's easy to be defensive -
particularly if you don't believe you're at fault. However, you have to put yourself in the
customer's shoes. If you were on the receiving end of their experience, would you personally
be satisfied?

Step Five. Always use your initiative when dealing with complaints. if the blame lies
with one particular member of staff, it is often best to remove the customer from their
presence. This can defuse tension and emotion, and help the customer to re-evaluate their
anger.

Step Six. Never pass the customer around from person to person. Each complaint
should ideally be handled by one staff member. Therefore, you should always ensure that
the person assigned to the case has the authority to deal with the situation.

Finding a Solution
1. Once the customer has aired their grievance, you should immediately give a sincere
apology. Any number of factors could have contributed to the issue, and you might not
be at fault. However, you need to take responsibility for the problem. Sometimes, an
apology is all it takes to place an angry customer.

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6

2. Customers never want to hear excuses. However, you are fully entitled to briefly explain
why they didn't receive the standard of service they expected. This should take place
after you've listened to their complaint and made an apology.

3. Sometimes, a complaint will be followed by a request for compensation typically a

refund or a voucher. However, customers often haven't planned beyond making the
initial complaint. In these cases, ask the customer for their desired outcome. This makes
them feel both involved and valued.

Every business should have a contingency plan in place for customer complaints. Create
something you can quickly and easily offers as a consolatory gesture, such as money-off
vouchers or a free product.

Tips for Dealing with Complaints

1. Try to remain calm when dealing with a complaint — even if the customer becomes
irate or confrontational. Your ultimate aim is to turn their negative experience into a
positive one, but arguing back will only make the situation worse.

2. Complaints should always be resolved as quickly as possible. The aim is to make the
customer feel as though their problem is being treated as a priority, without being
rushed.

3. Keep comprehensive records of all customer complaints, from the initial problem to
the eventual solution. You can then periodically assess these records, identifying any
common complaints and taking steps to improve company processes.

4. All customer-facing staff members should be trained to deal with complaints. If

possible, give your employees some authority when it comes to issuing refunds or
other consolatory gestures. Forcing the customer to wait for a manager can make a
bad situation worse.

REFERENCES/ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/READINGS

Printed References:
Dinaga M.R. and Lirazan, T.P. (2021). Kitchen Essentials and Basic Food Preparation.
Mindshapers Co., Inc.

Online References:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cbfJnJDa43l0okqDFG2e6it7YZ2A1vk-

Front Office Operation | HMPE 6