Jeannine Sok: Get a quiet guest to speak up

“Was everything to your satisfaction?”
“Sure.”

The guest leaves, the staff member carries on. A familiar moment at check-out. Perhaps everything really was to their satisfaction. Perhaps we’ve just said goodbye to someone who’s decided never to book here again. No complaint, but no further booking either.

I think that’s one of the most underestimated risks in the hospitality industry: we can easily mistake a guest’s silence for satisfaction. When someone says nothing, it gives us the pleasant feeling that we’ve done a good job. But do we actually know that’s the case?

Many hotels focus on occupancy rates, turnover, review scores and staff costs. This is understandable, as you need to know how your business is performing. However, a full hotel does not necessarily tell you how welcome your guests feel. And what someone does not say out loud will not appear in a complaints report either.

I am currently writing a handbook for a new boutique hotel. The owner has asked me to help shape her vision of hospitality. What strikes me is the way she talks about her staff. About their development, the attention they can give to guests and what is needed to achieve that. She calls this ‘investing’. She is thinking about the hotel she wants to build and the people who will have to make that a reality every day.

I also recognised that sense of commitment in the conversations I had during the event The value of hospitality. Entrepreneurs and hotel managers spoke candidly about their experiences. You could really feel their passion for the profession. That gives me energy. Especially as I often hear different views as well:

“Staff are expensive.”
“Training costs money.”
“We don’t have time for that extra bit of effort.”

Yes, training staff costs money. And giving them your attention takes time. But what is the cost when a guest has to wait days for a reply? When the phone just keeps ringing? When a member of staff is so engrossed in a screen that they don’t even look up when someone comes in?

The time you save by doing that could end up costing you a guest later on. It’s just that you won’t receive an invoice for it.

That is precisely why that familiar question at check-out deserves more attention. With “Was everything to your satisfaction?” There is nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem arises when the question becomes a routine and we, when “Sure” already moving on to something else. We may have asked the question, but how much scope did we allow for an honest answer?

Another question might help. “What could we have done better?” For example. But even those words become a habit if you don’t wait for the answer. Really listening means looking up, pausing for a moment and asking follow-up questions when a guest hesitates.

A complaint gives you the chance to put things right. That can be uncomfortable. You might hear something you’d rather not have heard. Still, as an entrepreneur, I’d want to know where the problem lies, as long as there’s still something I can do about it.

That is why I see hospitality as an investment – in staff who can give their full attention, and in guests who feel: ‘I can trust that everything will be alright here.’ That trust takes time to build, even when staff schedules are tight and the reception desk is busy.

The cost of that time is reflected in your business. What you miss out on when a guest leaves without saying a word is much easier to overlook.

I wonder what that bloke would have wanted to tell us.