Originally Posted by
JBord
I often wonder why people are calling so often. Most of what I need to do is on the app or website. As a LT Platinum (current Titanium) I need to talk to a phone rep maybe twice a year. So when people call so often that the service becomes an issue, is it that rather than asking for help they're asking for special treatment of something they're not entitled to?
But in the end the simple answer is treat your customers as if they might have a better choice of hotels just down the street (because they usually do).
A lot of calls to CS are for IT issues or to get help w/ things that should be working properly but aren't (post 8/18).
A FT friend just sent me a screenshot of his account. 40 upcoming reservations & several cancellations - do not appear at all, even though they did a few days ago! He did not receive email confirmations on any of the reservations. Because he & his wife (different nationality) are going to certain countries that require proof of airline & where they'll be staying he needs hardcopy documentation. Because he didn't receive email confirmations that he could print out, he was going to his account, pulling up the reservations, cut/pasting & emailing them to himself to print. Now he needs to contact MBCS. He also had some reservations that were award reservations made before the category change went up, so needed to contact them to get them to add the dif in points (which is how they handle it) so that they can issue the cert. He's had to call a # of times, gets an agent who doesn't understand what is needed & has to get a supervisor to help, all of which takes several minutes. Others are chasing down stays that aren't posting or PAG points not posting.
I've got a friend who works at a property & it's no picnic for them either. If they have to reach out to MBCS to sort something out, they can be on hold from 15 minutes to an hour 45 minutes. Because folios aren't being received by guests (prior to 8/18 it was rare for a guest not to get a folio), they're having to print/scan/email folios to multiple guests/week - and they get blamed/yelled at by the elite not getting the folio in the first place, when their FD screen shows 'emailing' right after they click on the check-out button & as far as FD knows, the folio was sent.
Agree w/ your comment to treat your customers as if they have a choice to stay elsewhere - and to just treat them well in general, whether they be elite or joe/jane tourist.
Originally Posted by
itsaboutthejourney
Thanks for being here!
My suggestions:
1 - Know your stuff, including loyalty. Obviously as FT'ers we know a lot more than a typical guest, but it's insulting and sets a bad start when the FD person tells me things that are simply wrong. Even if said with good intent, don't give me false info on the program or elite benefits. An example: know what the breakfast benefit certificate you are handing me means; is it a buffet? credit towards an a la carte menu? is there an upcharge for hot items? Telling me you don't know leaves me walking away needing to find out and that you have not been helpful. Taking the time to find out will help you explain to hundreds of guests who follow me. And if your property's restaurant isn't telling the FD staff what the breakfast cert includes, there is a breakdown of communication.
2 - Give me some rationale for the room you assigned me. Examples: "The suite we have is on the 2nd floor with no view, so I assigned you a club room on a higher floor with an amazing view" or "we have Club level rooms available, but I want you to see one of our newly remodeled rooms on the floor just below". This tells me you know your rooms and either you or the rooms manager took some time to assign me a room with a little thought.
3 - Know what the Ambassador program is and make sure your computer systems shows you the guest profile and preferences - and act of them.
4 - If I've been 'approved' for a 4pm check-out, please make sure the key is coded to work until then. And if your crazy Marriott system is somehow unable to do that, please tell me that ahead of time so I know to allow time to return to the desk the next day to get the keys reprogrammed for 4pm.
In return, I promise to be polite, patient and appreciative of your efforts. I know the FD is not an easy job. Thanks for what you do!
Good specific suggestions.
Cheers.