As the hospitality industry moves toward achieving higher standards than ever, the measuring and defining of customer service standards is essential.
Exceptional levels of customer service are vital to the success of any leading hotel brand. Hotels need to continually monitor and evaluate the service their staff offer their customers and are turning to Mystery Shopping Programmes as a means to measure that service.
The benefits of Mystery Shopping Programmes within hotels are endless. Not only do the programmes measure and monitor the levels of service the hotel provides but improves sales and customer retention. Continual measurement ensures standards are constantly achieved.
By increasing staff awareness about the importance of customer service for each department ensures that staff are clear about the standards required and how to achieve them.
Many hotels use customer surveys and satisfaction questionnaires as a method of collecting customer data but find that this does not give them the whole picture of the service they provide their customers.
The customer journey can start months ahead of a stay and the initial contact is vital to set the right impression. Mystery Shopping Programmes tend to cover every aspect of the hotel visit from a customers perspective. This can be from the reservation process right through to check out and in some cases after sales follow up. Advanced mystery shops also review the hotels website and advertised features and offers.
Every customer touch point should be measured against set company standards. There are a wide range of service elements that can be measured and evaluated in every hotel department.
Hotel mystery shopping programmes prove to be most successful when every member of staff is involved in the process. Organisations who ensure that every member of staff is trained in the service level standards set and understand the expectations of the customers they serve are rewarded with improved sales and increased customer retention. The Mystery Shopping Programme reportage should be shared amongst all staff within every department. This is so staff can see themselves how they are performing against standards set. It is vital that reports are presented in a positive manner and wherever possible staff are rewarded for their achievements. Hotel Mystery Shopping programmes are sometimes referred to as Mystery Guest, Secret Customer and even Mystery Diner Programmes.
