You’ve prepared the guest’s room; they’ve got their room key, and have already checked in and went to their room to unload. But, five or so minutes later you receive a call at the front desk, wherein the customer informs you that the room temperature in their room is too hot, that the towels were not provided, or that the loud noises coming from the hallways outside is disturbing them. If you are new to the hotel service, this may seem like an awkward and uncomfortable situation because the customer is not only asking for clarification, but is actually telling you that something is going wrong in their stay.
The initial response to a complaint is actually more than providing a solution. Before you attempt to provide an answer to the problem, you need to let the customer know that you acknowledge that a problem was brought to you. This does not mean you need to act overly dramatic by saying, “I’m so sorry, I’ll be so glad to help with your request!” A simple apology or thankfulness of their time will be sufficient as long as you sound sincere: “I’m very sorry to hear of this issue,” or, “Thank you for letting me know.” It’s crucial that you do NOT make the guest think they are being ignored or scolded. Some first-timers tend to skip this part of the process and get right into how this occurred. This can often come off as feeling like you’re being defensive, which is never good when you’re dealing with a complaint.
The next step involves clarification of the problem. A statement such as, “The room is not right” is a very vague explanation for a complaint, and doesn’t give much information that is necessary to resolve it. Asking just one question is the most effective way to ensure that the problem is understood: “I’m sorry. May I clarify what is missing?” or, “Could you please explain if the noise is coming from the hallway outside or the room next door?” The object isn’t to make the customer feel like they’re being put on an inquiry. Rather, it is to understand exactly what is missing so that you can then direct the right party for the resolution (reception, housekeeping, maintenance).
Once the problem is clarified, it must be addressed as such. The more practical the solution to the issue at hand, the better. “I will have housekeeping to bring those towels up to your room right away” or, “Let me call maintenance right away so we can resolve this issue.” You can’t make promises that you don’t know if it will happen, especially if it involves a wait. Be as clear of an estimate of time frame as possible: “Housekeeping can have those towels to room 406 in no more than 20 minutes.” The specificity of your wording will give the customer reassurance that their problem will be addressed; just saying that you’ll do so is not enough.
This practice of responding to a complaint can also be practiced by creating scenario cards with simple problems on each card: missing linen, loud noise, wrong room type, slow luggage delivery, confusion over the breakfast location or times, and maintenance request. Pick one and answer it in four parts: acknowledge the problem, clarify one detail, indicate next action to be taken, and a closing follow-up statement. Keep it simple. If you feel that your response is becoming too wordy, try to say it with less words until you feel like it sounds like something that can be genuinely said to a guest at the front desk counter.
The most difficult challenge for a novice employee in this part of the process is staying calm and not being too emotionless. Having a flat, emotionless voice will make even the most perfect language for customer service to sound careless, whereas apologizing repeatedly may make the problem appear larger than it is. Try slowing down your pace a little bit from the normal talking speed. This gives a little more time for you to think after the customer explains the problem. This pause gives you that split second to decide on a useful answer rather than feeling pressured to come up with excuses or explanations. The professional tone will then be built on simple elements like your pace, volume, and the way in which you word your responses.
A simple complaint does not necessarily mean you need to have it handled immediately. You need to provide a respectful initial response, gather more details as to how the problem occurred, and take a step to solve the issue in a way that the customer understands. As you practice, observe whether your response is helpful or confusing in its resolution. The ideal result is a response that another staff member can understand and carry out from your log of requests for a guest without having to guess how the customer explained the problem.