5.5 Service Excellence

Service excellence consists of going above and beyond a customer’s expectation to create exceptional and memorable experiences. Service excellence matters because the more satisfied a guest, the more likely they will be to return to or to recommend the property to others. In a crowded marketplace, exceptional reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations help a property to stand out. Some key attributes of service excellence include anticipation, personalization, consistency, passion, and positivity. Great service entails being proactive, rather than reactive. Successful hospitality requires anticipating guests, a function that pairs closely with personalization. Anticipating the needs of a specific guest enables a personalized response that can enhance their overall experience. When a facility’s staff consistently anticipate guest needs and provide personalized responses, they not only demonstrate quality of service, but also enhance the overall guest experience. Above all, employees who show passion and positivity amplify guest satisfaction. A strong focus on service excellence at all levels of property management, in turn, will help generate revenue and profit.

5.5.1 Understanding Guest Demographic and Personalization

Understanding guest demographics and personalization is key to increasing revenue for a property. Hotels serve a diverse range of guests with different expectations, needs, and spending habits. Understanding guest needs and personalizing service to match increases guest satisfaction, brand loyalty, and revenue. A happy guest is more likely to return and recommend the property. Business and leisure travelers are the most common types of hotel guests. Business travelers stay at a destination to conduct business such as sales, meetings, and new client acquisitions. These travelers often manage a set territory and might frequent the same lodging establishment on every business trip to that area. This repeat business provides an important revenue source for properties. Repeat business travelers typically want quiet rooms with fast Wi-Fi and may also require access to boardrooms or event spaces. They may require rooms with office space or access to business centers within the property. They tend to prioritize onsite dining options, onsite fitness facilities, and express check-in services. The business traveler usually stays on property for 3 to 5 nights and does so on a routine basis. The length of their stay is what differentiates them from the digital nomad classification of business travelers. The digital nomad traveler works fully remotely and thus prioritizes longer stays as they can work from any location. They require workspaces and strong Wi-Fi and often gravitate to extended-stay or rental properties to take advantage of meal preparation and laundry spaces.

Leisure and vacation travelers stay at a property during all or a proportion of their vacation. They tend to prioritize proximity to their vacation destination. This may include airport or cruise port locations as well as tourist destinations. These travelers also prioritize lodgings that provide spaces designed for relaxation and fall within a set price point. Leisure and vacation travelers may want certain amenities, such as on-site restaurants and fitness facilities. But not all travelers will need, or even want, these amenities. Many guests, however, do want flexible check-in and check-out times. They may also need baggage holding, assistance with ground transportation, and typically make use of concierge services. This demographic includes family travelers, luxury travelers, and budget travelers.

Individuals traveling with extended family or small children have unique needs. They often need larger or adjoining rooms or may prefer rental properties. They will frequent onsite dining if the facility offers kid-friendly options. This demographic may also prefer resort properties for their all-inclusive nature. Family travelers prefer properties that understand that kids may be loud or rambunctious. Furnishings that are easily damaged or properties with excessive stairs are not commonly considered by this group. Family travelers tend to prefer properties with indoor swimming pools or other kid-friendly amenities like game rooms. They may request additional services like cribs, highchairs, outlet protectors, and refrigerators for milk and baby food storage. These travelers are also looking for easy access to accommodations and attractions. Properties can attract this demographic by partnering with nearby attractions for discounts and combination marketing.

Business and leisure travelers typically fall into two main categories—budget and luxury. Budget travelers prioritize cost when making their purchasing decisions. They will often weigh amenities among properties in the same price category. Therefore, it is important for properties to list any booking benefits such as discounts, complimentary breakfast, or any on-property amenities. Luxury travelers prioritize service and quality over price. They are willing to pay more for a property but only if they feel like they get the service value for their dollar. These guests need to know the quality of the rooms, service, and amenities. These travelers will often become repeat customers if given the high level of personalized service that they require. In order to maximize bookings and minimize customer complaints, each property should know their target customer demographic and cater to it as best they can through direct marketing incentives.

5.5.2 Service Recovering and Guest Complaints

Even the best-managed property will fall short of guest expectations and incur complaints. Guests who are dissatisfied with their stay are a liability to the property as they will not return as repeat business and may post negative online reviews or give negative word-of-mouth reviews that will impact future business. Therefore, it is important to take all guest complaints seriously. The best strategy is to prevent as many complaints as possible by offering excellent service, embracing an attitude of hospitality, training all staff well, and keeping a clean and well-maintained facility. Prevention will keep most, but not all, complaints at bay. How a facility handles complaints can go a long way toward service recovery. In 1992 two researchers Micale McCollough and Sundar Bharadwaj identified a theory called the service recovery paradox (McCollough & Bharadwaj, 1992). In this theory, a well-handled complaint can create more satisfaction in a guest than before the complaint took place. This means that if a guest is satisfied with how the property handled the situation, it can make the guest happier than they were before the incident occurred.

One way to handle guest complaints is to employ the LEAN method. The LEAN method refers to a process of handling guest complaints in the following order of operations—listening, empathizing, apologizing, resolving, and notifying. An employee first needs to listen to the guest complaint, practicing active and sincere listening to understand the problem. Next, the hotel employee must empathize with the guest, reiterating the problem and letting them know that they are heard and understood. Then the employee must apologize for the problem and suggest a resolution. Resolutions to guest complaints can be as simple as moving a guest to an alternative room, offering a discount on a service, or offering a complimentary service such as free food or free ground transportation. Once the guest has been satisfied, the employee must close the recovery loop by notifying whomever might have been involved in or responsible for the issue that caused the complaint. For instance, if the guest was unhappy that their room was not clean, housekeeping would be notified of the error so that it can be rectified in the future and halt future complaints about cleanliness. A good service recovery program using the LEAN method or a similar system can enact the service recovery paradox and turn an unhappy guest into a repeat customer and a loyal brand representative.

5.5.3 Cultural Sensitivity and Global Hospitality Standards

According to the Washington Tourism Marketing Authority, 54.4 million out-of-state guests visited Washington in 2023 (State of Washington Tourism, 2024). Tourism, by definition, means that out-of-state guests or foreigners visit a destination. A multimillion-dollar industry, global tourism employs a wide range of culturally diverse and non-native speakers in order to service and host guests, who hail from a range of cultures with varying hospitality standards. To be successful, lodging establishments must be sensitive to the diverse needs of guests.

Travelers not only hail from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, but they also practice a variety of religions, speak different languages, and have other unique needs. Many cultures and religions have required dress codes, dietary considerations, and prayer needs. As the host, a hotel should provide the resources that these guests need to feel welcome, including language translation assistance. Although English is widely spoken as a second language, translation services may still be required. Having a multilingual staff provides a flexible solution, reducing translation errors and ensuring that guests receive personable service. If multilingual staff are not available, translation software can help bridge a language gap.

Lodging staff should ideally also be conversant with various hospitality standards. The level, quality, and type of hospitality can differ from country to country. Although staff cannot master every nuance, they should be familiar with the most common national hospitality norms. For example, the simple act of a handshake changes by country. The United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom typically prefer a handshake when meeting new people or conducting business. Individuals from the Middle East typically only feel that handshakes are appropriate between same-sex genders. Travelers from Japan and India may offer a slight bow rather than a handshake, and individuals from France may grasp the upper arm or even give a short cheek kiss during a handshake. Knowing these subtle differences will set guests at ease, make them feel welcome, and keep staff from potentially offending guests. Adhering to global hospitality standards may increase repeat business and will help to keep negative press and guest complaints at bay.