Guest satisfaction is one of the most fundamental factors that decides the conclusive appropriateness of
the hotel industry despite the utility of hotel facilities such as room services,
F&B services (restaurants, bar, lounge) and banqueting is a basic
component of lifestyle for many guests. Therefore, maintaining a
good relationship with guests is very vital for every hotel industry and
it’s also a major responsibility for the hotel’s PR / Marcomm.
For Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu (LMKK), there is a weekly cocktail held at
the pool bar on every Tuesday and all guests who stay in hotel on that day will
be invited. Excom (General Manager (GM), Executive Assistant Manager (EAM), Director
of Sales (DOS), Financial Controller (FC) and Director of Food & Beverages
(DOFB), Head of Departments and associates of Sales & Marketing department
will attend the weekly cocktail in order to communicate with guests, understand
their thoughts & feelings and also gathering feedbacks.
It was such a great experience for my
internship as I had the opportunity to learn how to communicate and engage with
different guests: types, races, regions, etc. I had an unforgettable practice on
my very first engagement with guests. I had encountered an unhappy guest.
Ms Lee, a HongKong tourist who had her 4
days accommodation in LMKK talked to me because I’m a Chinese so that she could
speak Mandarin (and Cantonese). I had a sense of foreboding when she first
talked to me because of her not-so-good facial expression. As expected, she started
to complain about the hotel after self-introduction. At that moment, my thought
was: ‘Seriously? How to handle her? Oh my god, Oh my god…’ However, despite
feeling really bad, I tried to calm her down with apologies and smiles. After finish the conversation, I reported
directly to EAM about this incident and then EAM had an immediate conversation
with her.
Guest complaints are inevitable. No matter how perfect you are, it is impossible to please everyone. If there is a complaint incident, we were told not to show impatience, listen to the guest, aplogise immediately/respond and report to leader who is on duty. You may recall the methods of handling crisis
in PR250. (Even though this incident does not belong to the media crisis.)
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| During the conversation with Ms Lee.. photograph by my colleague. |
Summer
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