How do hotels provide personalized service? Why didn't my OTA score improve?

Beware of "service trap" of personalized service on OTA.

The "service trap" means that in the process of serving the guests, the purpose and starting point are good, but the result is the dissatisfaction and complaints of the guests.

With the intensification of hotel competition, almost all hotels have launched personalized services aimed at various special needs of guests, so that guests can obtain psychological and spiritual satisfaction and pleasure and enhance their satisfaction and loyalty. It should be said that personalized service is an important measure for hotels to improve service quality and level. But there is a "service trap" in actual work. The author analyzes the common "service trap" in personalized service based on the cases encountered in the work, hoping to arouse colleagues' reflection.

First, the conflict between personalized service and equal treatment.

Personalized service is often designed for a certain guest or a certain class of guests. Because some personalized services can't reach all the guests, and even seize the resources that other guests should enjoy, there will be complaints and dissatisfaction from other guests.

For example, VIP control elevator service is one of them. When a general hotel receives a VIP reception task, it often controls an elevator for VIP use. When the hotel concierge controls the elevator on the first floor, other guests want to go in as soon as they see the empty elevator, but they are told that it is specially prepared for VIPs. Some guests may cooperate to take other elevators, and some guests will be dissatisfied and complain, "Don't I pay?" Especially when I saw that the elevator was empty and I was not allowed to take it, I was even more angry. Another joke happened in a hotel. The hotel is going to control the elevator to receive VIPs and not let other guests ride. Upon arrival, the distinguished guests found that the elevator controller refused to take the passenger elevator, and the guests waiting for other elevators were their own leaders. The distinguished guest was very unhappy and put all the responsibility on the hotel. Offended distinguished guests and other guests. Even if some hotels put up a "under repair, suspended use" sign to confuse guests, experienced guests will see through it and fall under the pretext of dishonesty.

There is also a typical case. Some hotels have introduced a system of free rounds. Some guests with good reputation can go through the check-out formalities directly by giving their room cards to the cashier at the front desk when checking out. This was originally a very convenient way for guests. However, sometimes, some guests are exempt from rounds, and some guests need to wait for rounds, which makes the guests who need rounds feel inferior or have a bad reputation. Wait, in practice, there are many similar cases.

Second, the conflict between personalization and generalization.

Guests who enjoy personalized service expect to provide it every time they arrive at the hotel, sometimes, sometimes not, and guests may be dissatisfied. But in fact, some personalized services are provided spontaneously and randomly by individual services, and some personalized services are not promoted within the hotel. It is also possible that the information inside the hotel is not shared, which leads to the disconnection of services.

One hotel provides "suitcase handling" service for guests who have stayed in the hotel for more than 30 times in a year, that is, these guests don't have to drag their suitcases when they arrive at the hotel again. The luggage provided by the hotel provides guests with shampoo, facial cleanser, perfume, underwear, shirts, slippers and so on. As long as personal belongings are provided by the hotel. Once this service was launched, the guests appreciated it, and when they checked in again, they no longer had to drag their suitcases. But after a while, the guests found the hotel management staff to complain. The reason is that when he checked into the hotel, the hotel did not put the guest's suitcase into the guest room on time because of the poor internal information communication. Guests' expectations for hotel services are constantly improving. What he wants today is personalized service, and what he wants tomorrow is standardized service. If the hotel does it today and does not do it tomorrow, he will be dissatisfied.

Third, personalized service cannot keep pace with the times.

Some personalized services should be constantly innovated and adjusted according to the actual situation. Otherwise, it will not only fail to impress the guests, but may also make them dissatisfied.

A case was told to me by an old leader of the provincial party Committee. He is a native of Jiaodong and likes to eat tortillas with shrimp sauce, so every time he goes to various cities for investigation, the reception units in each city firmly remember his guest history. He eats tortillas with shrimp sauce for breakfast, tortillas with shrimp sauce for lunch and tortillas with shrimp sauce for dinner. This market eats tortillas with shrimp sauce, and there are tortillas with shrimp sauce in the market next door. Every time I don't want to eat, the city leaders help me and the waiters help me. Make him sick at the sight of shrimp tacos. At the last stop, as soon as he got off the bus, he told the reception unit that he couldn't serve shrimp tacos today. It is a good thing to provide targeted services according to customer history, but it is counterproductive because it is not copied according to the actual situation.

Another guest told me a case. He caught a cold at a meeting and asked for a cup of boiled water instead of tea. The waiter recorded in the guest history. Every time he comes to a meeting, the waiter always says to him, "Mr. Li, please enjoy the boiled water prepared for you." Look at the employee's mind, don't want to hit the employee, and endure drinking boiled water every time.

I had a similar experience when I set off for other hotels. Most hotel rooms have introduced SMS service. I feel very warm when I go back to my room every day and see the note written by the staff reminding the weather and diet. But seeing the unchanging urine list every day makes me feel a little "moaning".

Personalized service is always advocated by our hotel industry. We firmly believe that with the joint efforts of hotel staff, we should properly handle the above relationship, reduce the "service trap" and make personalized service more attractive.