Briefing: Hospitality will always be about people

Research from Forrester found that 73% of people consider “valuing their time” as the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good service. Being able to anticipate and react to needs in a friendly accommodating way is vital in hospitality. People skills are essential to a successful career and this focus on relationships is also what makes the industry a rewarding and exciting place to be.

These videos discuss what makes hospitality great:

Forrester’s report Trends 2016: The Future Of Customer Service looked at changing customer service expectations. The report reminds us that dissatisfied customers today have many outlets to share their negative experience. The report states that when dissatisfied by a brand 39% of people tell friends and families about negative experiences and 11% post negative comments about the brand on Facebook.

As well as keeping up face to face communications hospitality companies must maintain good levels of service on all channels. The study found that in the 12 months preceding the survey (published January 2016) 84% of respondents had sought assistance via an app, help page or FAQ page on a company’s website. 83% had spoken to customer service on the telephone and 76% had accessed customer service via email.

Self-service and digital channels are becoming increasingly important, but whatever method is used to deliver the service, the principles of taking people into account remain the same. And in any industry the attitudes people take towards customers and also colleagues will ultimately play into levels of success.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.