INTRODUCTION TO TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY IN BC
Chapter 9. Customer Service
Explain the importance of customer service
Describe the characteristics of exceptional customer service and its benefits
Explain how the quality of customer service differentiates a destination
Describe how to recover from service failure
Explain how social media impacts customer service delivery
In the tourism and hospitality industry, the success or failure of our businesses and destinations
depends on service. Some, however, deliver consistently higher levels of customer service.
place across many platforms and is critical for tourism and hospitality employers.
Employers and human resources managers are most concerned with employee skills and training
related to personal development, tourism/hospitality knowledge, computer and communication
skills, leadership/management skills, and customer service skills and attitudes.
customer service issues, including quality of customer service, key challenges and benefits to
employers and employees, the concept of customer orientation, and ways to recover when
service interactions go wrong.
Quality of Customer Service
Quality customer service is an experience of feeling valued or heard. Sometimes it’s an
intangible component of why a guest may prefer one tourism or hospitality provider over
another. There is something about quality customer service that you often can’t put your finger
on — but you know it’s there. And it’s a critical factor for tourism success, both as a means of
satisfying ever-increasing customer expectations, and as a way to achieve business profitability
In 2012, Cornell Hospitality presented a report from PKF Hospitality Research that showed guest
satisfaction is heavily influenced by service factors such as employee attitude and the pacing and
order of services provided. It found that the greater the client satisfaction, the higher the revenues
for a given hospitality business, and that service plays a far greater role than price and location in
the guest-purchase and decision
The concept of total quality (TQ) refers to an approach by businesses to integrate all employees,
from management to front-level, in a process of continuous learning, with a goal of increasing
customer satisfaction. It involves examining all encounters and points of interaction with guests
to identify points of improvement. Total quality management (TQM) in tourism and
hospitality is a process where service expectations are created by the entire team, with a
collaborative approach between management and employees
key challenges and benefits to employees
Many employers struggle to justify the time and expense associated with training, particularly in
a seasonal workplace or environment with high staff turnover (Saunders, 2009). In fact, many of
the benefits of training are intangible and therefore difficult to measure, although there is
evidence that the return-on-investment of training is quite high. For example, employee
competence and job satisfaction are not always easily assessed, but can improve productivity and
organizational profitability
Employers do need to understand the positive impacts of training on their bottom line. Key
benefits may include improved employee attraction/recruitment, retention, engagement, and
innovation.
Customer service training provides employees with a foundation for effective service delivery.
Potential benefits of this training may include improved skills and attitudes; better
communication skills; better understanding of workplace practices; increased morale,
confidence, self-satisfaction, and work satisfaction; increased participation; greater job/career
advancement potential; greater interest in and willingness to participate in further training; and
more independence (Grey, 2006).
As employees acquire certifications and credentials, and these are recognized by employers, both
groups benefit. Employees have a tangible way of demonstrating mastery of service knowledge
and skills, and employers have tools to assist with the recruitment and screening of potential
staff.
Customer Orientation
Kim defines customer orientation “as the set of activities, behaviours, and beliefs that place
high priority on customers’ interests and continuously create superior customer value” (2008, p.
195). Even when employees have positive attributes, it may not be enough to ensure positive
customer engagements unless they are specifically trained toward customer orientation.
Customer service and competition:the customer oriented organization
One way to ensure quality service may be to encourage tourism and hospitality professionals to
acquire industry certifications. Businesses can also choose to implement tools to determine
customer satisfactions levels, such as the SERVQUAL technique that compares customer
perceptions of quality against customer expectations (Morrison, 2010). Under the SERVQUAL
model, the five dimensions of service are:
1. Reliability: where the quality and level of service is consistent
2. Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of staff and their ability to convey trust and
confidence
3. Tangibles: the organization’s physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of staff
4. Empathy: the degree of caring, individualized attention that the organization’s staff
provide to its customers
5. Responsiveness: the willingness of staff to help customers and provide prompt service
customer relationship management (CRM) strategy for tourism and hospitality businesses.
CRMs are tools used by businesses to select customers and maintain relationships with them to
increase their lifetime value to the business.
There are a number of points in time where this relationship is maintained. For example:
The first time potential guests visit a website and leave their email address to
receive more information
The moment a reservation is made and the company captures their personal details
The in-person service encounters from the front desk to the parking lot
Welcome notes, personalized menus, friendly hellos, and other touches throughout
the interaction
Background messages including clean facilities and equipment in good repair, pleasant
decor and ambiance (flowers, etc.)
Follow-up communications like a newsletter
Further interactions on social media
All of these touch points are opportunities to maintain strong relationships with customers and to
increase the likelihood of positive word of mouth sharing.
Let’s take a closer look at one tool that tourism and hospitality businesses are increasingly using
as part of their CRM strategies: rewarding customer loyalty.
Loyalty and Customer Relationships
With competition between tourism destinations and businesses continuing to grow, organizations
are increasingly focusing on retaining existing customers, which is often less expensive than
attracting new ones. This focus forces tourism businesses to look at the customer relationship
over the long term, or the customer lifetime value (CLV) cycle, rather than at single
transactions only.
Building positive relationships with loyal customers requires planning and diligence for all
customer touch points. This may include
1.Managing service encounters: training staff to provide personal service to customers
1. Providing customer incentives: inducing customers to frequent the business
2. Providing special service options: offering enhanced services or extra offerings to loyal
customers
3. Developing pricing strategies to encourage long-term use: offering repeat customers
special prices or rates
4. Maintaining a customer database: keeping an up-to-date set of records on customer
purchase history, preferences, demographics, and so on.
5. Communicating with customers: reaching individual customers through direct or
specialized media, using non-mass media approaches
Loyalty programs pull together several of these elements to help a business identify, maintain
contact with, and reward frequent customers.
Recovery from Service Failures
If a business fails to meet customer expectations, there’s a risk the customer will tell others about
it, often through social media networks. An on-location problem that turns into an online
complaint, going from private to public, can become far more damaging to business than the
original issue. To avoid any problem from escalating, organizations and staff must work hard to
resolve issues before the customer walks out the door — or pulls out a smartphone to make an
online posting.
Of course, it’s not always possible to resolve issues on the spot. A customer’s expectations may
go beyond the service the business is able to provide, or staff might not be authorized by
management to provide the means necessary to resolve the complaint. In these cases, staff must
still step up as service professionals, realizing that the actions they take when faced with a
complaint can have a significant impact.
Online complaints highlight this point; reviewers are often more upset about how a problem was
handled than about the problem itself. As well, potential guests who read online complaints are
looking for reassurance that the same thing won’t happen to them. If they don’t find it, they may
dismiss the business as an option and move on. How a business handles complaints, face-to-face
and online, is critical to ensuring successful recovery from service failures.
Service recovery occurs when a customer service professional takes action that results in the
customer being satisfied after a service failure has occurred. Often service failures are not the
fault of front-line staff, and at times, may not even be the fault of the business. Failure may be
the result of an error made by another employee, by the guest him- or herself, or by a technical
error. Regardless of where the problem originated, when customers bring it to the attention of the
staff, they have certain expectations for resolution.
Disappointed customers often want:
An empathetic ear. Sometimes they simply want to vent. They want to know that the
employee or manager is listening and cares.
An apology. In some cases a sincere apology is enough.
A solution. Typically customers bring issues to the attention of staff because they want
them fixed.
Compensation. Upset customers are looking for compensation, but not always.
Follow-up. For some people, it’s important to know that their concerns are brought to the
attention of management and are fixed for future customers.
Reassurance. Customers want to know they’re in good hands.
Skilled service recovery is especially important in the age of social media. Customers who are
active on social networks are likely to be equally vocal about their satisfaction with service
recovery when a problem is expertly handled as they are with their displeasure when they are
disappointed with service (WorldHost Training Services, 2013).
While service recovery is a critical skill, all tourism and hospitality professionals should
approach each encounter with the goal of providing remarkable service. The next section
explores how this is accomplished.
Exceeding Expectations with Remarkable Service
We’ve discussed the basic ingredients of meeting customer expectations. However, for a
business to be successful, it’s important to not only meet, but exceed, expectations. Remarkable
service doesn’t necessarily require a great deal of cost, time, or resources. Often it’s the little
details, the special attention from employees and the personalized touches that people remember
most. There is no formula for remarkable service. It will depend on the type of customers, the
nature of their visit, and the things they value. Finding ways to provide remarkable service
requires support from management, keen observation skills, and a willingness to “go the extra
mile” (Destination BC, 2013).
Providing good service is about understanding, recognizing, and anticipating the needs of
customers and working hard to meet or exceed them. The core service essentials are also simple:
make eye contact, smile, greet warmly, and use the customer’s name. These simple actions tell
customers that your organization values them and is eager to help. In order to exceed
expectations, your organization must be on the alert for opportunities to provide remarkable
service (WorldHost Training Services, 2013).
The Role of Service and Social Media in Customer Satisfaction
While the basics of great service haven’t changed, social media and networking have raised the
stakes in the service industry. The cost of a negative experience is higher — but so is the value of
a positive experience. In fact, the opportunities of social media reviews and ratings far outweigh
the risks.
Businesses that take time to “listen” to social media are going to be more successful at
leveraging the power of online interactions. These companies effectively read review sites such
as TripAdvisor, Yelp, and others and respond to guest comments both good and bad.
Many factors contribute to how people rate businesses, including value, quality, and
convenience. More than anything, however, service influences customer impressions. Whereas a
lapse in quality or convenience can be overcome with excellent service, it is especially
challenging to overcome the effects of bad service.
Now that we have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of customer service, maintaining
positive relationships with our guests and aiming to exceed their expectations, let’s look at some
organizations that support the training and development of the industry.
Tourism and Hospitality Human Resource Support
A number of organizations support the training, development, and credentialling of tourism and
hospitality professionals at both the national and provincial level.
Human Resource Councils
At the national level, the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC), a national
sector council, is responsible for best practice research, training, and other professional
development support on behalf of the 174,000 tourism businesses and the 1.75 million people
employed in tourism-related occupations across the country. Provincially, the organization
go2HR serves to educate employers on attracting, training, and retaining employees, as well as
hosts a tourism job board to match prospective employees with job options in tourism around the
province.
Training Providers
Throughout this textbook, you’ll see examples of not-for-profit industry associations providing
training and certification for industry professionals. For example, the former Canadian Institute
of Travel Counsellors (CITC) is now hosted by the Association of Canadian Travel Agents and
continues to offer a full-time and distance program to train for the occupation of Certified Travel
Counsellor. Closer to home, WorldHost Training Services, a division of Destination BC, offers
world-class customer service training.
Educational Institutions
British Columbia is home to a number of high-quality public and private colleges and
universities that offer tourism-related educational options. Training options include certificates,
diplomas, and degrees in adventure tourism, outdoor recreation, hospitality management, and
tourism management. Whether students are learning how to manage a restaurant, gaining
mountain adventure skills, or exploring the world of outdoor recreation and tourism
management, tomorrow’s workforce is being prepared by skilled instructors with solid industry
experience.
Through these educational opportunities, tourism professionals can earn a range of credentials
and certifications that not only boost their confidence, but have proven benefits to employers
seeking fresh ideas and potential leaders for their organizations.
Another key component in BC’s ability to compete as a tourism destination is its reputation for
healthy wildlife, wild viewscapes, and pristine resources. Chapter 10 highlights the important
role the tourism industry can play in either preserving, or damaging, our natural assets.
Key Terms
Customer lifetime value (CLV): a view of customer relationships that looks at the long-
term cycle of customer interactions, rather than at single transactions
Customer orientation: positioning a business or organization so that customer interests and
value are the highest priority
Customer relationship management (CRM): a strategy used by businesses to select customers
and to maintain relationships with them to increase their lifetime value to the business
Loyalty programs: programs that identify and build databases of frequent customers to promote
directly to them, and to reward and provide special services for those frequent customers
Moment of truth: when a customer’s interaction with a front-line employee makes a critical
difference in his or her perception of that company or destination
Service recovery: what happens when a customer service professional takes actions that result in
the customer being satisfied after a service failure has occurred
SERVQUAL: a technique developed to measure service quality
Total quality (TQ): integrating all employees, from management to front-level, in a process of
continuous learning, which leads toward increasing customer satisfaction
Total quality management (TQM): a process of setting service goals as a team
Qualities of a Remarkable Service Professional Score
Treat all colleagues with courtesy and respect.
Qualities of a Remarkable Service Professional Score
Treat all customers with courtesy and respect.
Create a positive first impression for all customers.
Communicate clearly when sharing directions or information.
Be aware of the impact of voice and body language during communications.
Use open-ended questions to clarify.
Listen in an active and engaged way.
Listen without judgment to gain understanding.
Demonstrate empathy to customers.
Take initiative to deal with challenging situations.
Qualities of a Remarkable Service Professional Score
Solve problems effectively.
Speak highly of the organization’s products and services on a consistent basis.
Provide positive recognition to customers.
Provide constructive feedback using assertive language.
Look for ways to improve as a customer service professional on an ongoing basis.
Look for ways to provide remarkable, out-of-the-ordinary service on an ongoing
basis.
2. What are three key benefits of customer service training for employers? What are three benefits to
employees?
3. Identify and discuss three ways that tourism and hospitality businesses can maintain a long-term
relationship with their guests.
4. What kinds of training and credentials are available to tourism and hospitality professionals? What are
some of the benefits to both employees and employers of these credentials?
5. Take a moment to list all of the loyalty programs you belong to (using cards from your wallet or apps
on your phone). Next to each, write the following: the reason you joined the program, the benefits you
receive from it, and your estimate of the benefits the issuing company receives.
6. Name five instances in which a guest might interact with each of the following types of tourism and
hospitality business:
a. A tour operator
b. A hotel
c. An airline
d. A ski resort
7. Choose a tourism business, hotel, or restaurant that has received excellent reviews, and determine
which comments can be linked either directly or indirectly to the quality and level of employee training
and customer service. Find at least one example of each of the dimensions of RATER.
Case Study: Accent Inn and WorldHost Training Service
Accent Inns is an award-winning, family-owned and operated company based in Victoria with hotels
located in Victoria, Richmond, Burnaby, Kelowna, and Kamloops. All Accent Inns have developed a
reputation for their quality, reasonable rates, and excellent service. Guest and staff satisfaction are key
components of their service culture to treat every guest like family. The team at Accent Inns put great
effort into making every customer interaction memorable.
In 2013, Accent Inns committed to incorporating customer service training at each property to be
delivered by Accent Inns assistant general managers (AGMs). Core outcomes were to raise the level of
service, empower front-line staff with the tools to exceed guest expectations, and strengthen the
facilitation and coaching skills of the AGM team. Building on the business’s existing training culture and
strong corporate values, WorldHost Training Services created a customized half-day program for the
AGMs to use in their hotels.
To prepare, the AGMs completed an experiential 1.5-day train-the-trainer session. An emphasis on
coaching support and a team facilitation approach led many to gain confidence in this new role. One
trainer excelled and was selected as the full-time trainer for Accent Inns. Working with the human
resources team from Accent Inns, WorldHost also completed a needs analysis at each property to ensure
staff had input into future training. Training continues to be developed and delivered internally.
According to Kathy Gaudry, human resources manager for Accent Inns, “The WorldHost team was
fantastic; they worked hard to ensure the training was completely relevant to our employees and our
culture. The results were phenomenal — our junior leaders have acquired the skills they need to deliver
training locally to their own teams — we couldn’t be happier.”
Visit the Accent Inns website (www.accentinns.com) and review the information to answer the following
questions about their customer service culture:
