For a family birthday recently,
we decided to pick up a specialty cake from a well-known chain of Coffee shops.
Gradually they are gaining currency for their fare and we decided to give them
a try. We selected a sinful looking type with a heart of butter scotch and
caramel, dark chocolate exterior that was topped with more dark chocolate
lattices. With three of our favourite ingredients we couldn’t have gone wrong,
yet we wanted affirmation from the Cafe staff about the perfectness of our
choice. I asked the teller and then the Outlet Manager what they thought about
it and they said it was a good pick. I then asked them if they had tried it.
The teller drew a blank and the Manager tried to hide behind a non-committal
nod leaving my query unanswered.
Then there have been servers
working in establishments ranging from a seasoned American pizzeria franchise
to the newbie French Patisserie & Boulangerie, who have failed to deliver
the perfect order or provide correct information about the ingredients that
have gone into making a particular dish.
We were staying at a mountain
resort a few months ago and asked the F&B Manager for his recommendation.
While there were a couple of things he could suggest, the rest of the menu he
was clueless about. Yes, it was the
F&B Manager and he had not had the chance or taken the trouble to test the
entire menu out. His lack of first-hand
knowledge about the wares of his hotel led us to have one bad meal at the place,
coercing us to give a mental black mark to the resort in an otherwise wonderful
stay.
The Joys of Knowing Your Own Product
This may or should not happen
with larger chains with their big strategies and immaculate planning. I have
been witness to elaborate menu tasting sessions where all related folk – from
General Manager to the Kitchens and F&B Brigade – spend delirious and
divine afternoons testing the restaurant menu changes tasting dish after dish
in a state of gastronomic debauchery. Sometimes, our warriors in white have
been generous enough to invite the Excom to combine work with pleasure in a
benthamitic exercise, getting us to become wiser about what our restaurants
offer on the whole, share our opinion and along the way become more informed
brand ambassadors.
Yet, I’ve had mushrooms raise
their heads in my risotto in spite of telling the order taker that they are anathema
to me. I’ve been agreed with for a service in the suite and then have the Front
Office Assistant sheepishly backtrack because he didn’t know better. Don’t you
recall the times when you went ahead to expect a certain feature tom-tommed by
the greeting Concierge only to have the Guest Relations Manager issue an
apology on the non-occurrence of it! There have been times in all our hotel
interfaces when the General Manager has had to give an explanation just because
the ill-experienced PR Assistant had up-sold some facets which we had come to
expect but were still a long way off from the Brand’s reach or plan.
Price to Pay
From a Pizza Hut to a star hotel,
there have been innumerable times when we have been served up the wrong fare
only because the maître d’hôtel
or the man of the moment was ill-advised and inexperienced. In fact, at a
competition hotel once, an Editor friend’s husband was presented with a platter
of the crucifying crustacean even after the hotel had been informed about the
gentleman’s specific food allergy causing him to have a swollen tongue, choking
bout and severe reaction. It cost the hotel its reputation and brought upon
both, harsh backlash and a bad review. That was a small price to pay; because
severe food allergies in some cases can also prove fatal.
It’s not just food. It goes over
to the other products that your brand / hotel sells – for instance the incomparable
range of beverages, that fantastic tea menu with those exotic names on the
list, definitely the rooms & suites, of course the spa or specialty
merchandise showcased in your boutique shop.
Ways to Ensure Staff Are Familiar with Offerings
When one of the hotels I used to
work for was unveiling its world-class new rooms and suites with all the
mod-cons and trappings that any top brand could offer – from French linen and
bath amenities, Danish television sets, rich Indian weave throws, crystal
vases, Lalique lights, original art on the walls and remarkably super-luxe
routine of services covering turndown, in-room and entertainment – the astute
VP & GM worked out a roster along with the Rooms Division Head for all the
key Executive Committee members and Department Heads to try the rooms &
suites out for a night with their respective spouses. We were supposed to try
out ALL the services during our stay, the spouse lending the outside eye into
the exercise and fill out an exhaustive feedback form on both the hard and soft
aspects of facilities and service. I think that was a fantastic way to have
staff learn about the new facets, internalize them and then stand on confident
ground to sell, promote, up-sell or cross-sell the product, as the case may
have been.
My soul child recounted a similar
exposure at a Pizza chain she worked with during one of her summer holidays.
For every up-sell or for exceeding the target, the trainee would get a free
Sundae or Gourmet Pizza. This way, the management not only offered a neat,
happy incentive but also ensured that the entire menu had been tried by the
front-of-the-line sales staff.
Hotels are in the business of
selling experience. Guests come and live in the rooms, eat at the restaurants,
relax by the pool or in the Spa, shop in the arcades. These experiences are
partaken of by all the five senses. Hotels have a much longer shelf life and
recall value. Guests keep returning to places they have had a fantastic stay
in. It is a people-centric business, created by people and plattered out to
people. So, it really does make sense for the team to have experienced
firsthand the product they are employed to serve up and showcase.
What Ignorance Looks Like
Staff who have not experienced their own product cut a sorry figure in front of guests – from close at home quarters or distant shores – who can come up with just about any query – what’s the best soup on the menu, what on earth is oolong tea and what does it taste like, which masseuse has the most magical hands at the health club, which aromatherapy oil works like a miraculous antidote to jet lag, how far is the next-door golf club really, is the award-winning entrée we read about on Tripadvisor still served at the Hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant and what does it really contain?
“Is it” is an easy question to
answer. It can be learned from manuals or in training sessions and repeated ad
verbatim. It is “how” that can cause all the trouble. Sample this - “Is the
mattress good?” asks the guest. The Lobby Manager showing the room or the
Executive Housekeeper welcoming the guest or the Chambermaid providing the
turndown are all tutored to respond with a standard – “yes, it is one of the
best. It is made with medium to firm innerspring coil or is exclusively of fine
foam to ensure excellent support and a comfortable night’s sleep.” But wait
till the guest hits you with the next barrage of questions – “How firm is it?
Will it be easy on my back? Will I be able to get a good, uninterrupted
shut-eye? I quite hate the ones I have used at Brand X. I hope yours are not the
same?” A cookie-cutter ‘yes’ to all and a standard parrot-like response will
quickly sift the chaff from the informed, experienced grain that knows his
product like the back of his hand and can help the guest feel confident and
comfortable with the product.
Turning A Staff Member into that Committed Brand Ambassador
It was the autumn of 2001 and I
had just returned from a fellowship in the United States. While I was away, the
chain I used to work for had fully launched its Vilas top-end properties that we
had all been preparing for before my sabbatical. I used to head the
Communications Department for the Chain’s property in India’s capital city but
had the privilege to work very closely with the Corporate Office. I was in
tandem with the Corporate Communications Office for all the international Press
visits from our top source markets. Imagine my chagrin and embarrassment at the
initial few FAMs when I was quizzed about the exquisite vilases by the visiting
journalists and all I could recite was what I was reading in the brochures like
them. I was upset at not knowing enough, at not having experienced the peerless
properties myself; yet being treated by the unsuspecting foreign media as an
expert Brand Ambassador. For the media,
all of us were on the same side of the fence. For them, it did not matter
whether I was the Unit head and not from the sanctum sanctorum of the Corporate
office. I was a Brand representative; they could have asked me anything
expecting the perfect responses to all they wished to know.
Finding myself at a disadvantage
I walked into my General Manager’s office, expressed my disappointment and
shared how I felt it was embarrassing for the Company too. The bright boss did
not wish to spend too much time discussing what was an obvious issue, agreed
with the larger objective, got the due permissions from the President’s office
and sent me packing on a three-city tour to stay in the three jewels that the
Chain had just unveiled. I came back with information that was etched on my
mind, reinforced by the superlative services in the ethereally designed
edifices of awe-inspiring, spell-binding hospitality. Then on, I needn’t have
consulted a brochure. My press releases and backgrounders on these jewels had
that extra punch and my personal representation of these products to the media
– well what can I say. They saw the Vilases through my eyes and experienced it
first with me before setting foot themselves.
If you want to turn a staff
member into that committed brand ambassador you must have them experience the
product, enjoy its finer elements and identify with it closely for stronger
brand affiliation and greater representation that cuts above training manuals
and modules.
Don’t make the oft-repeated
mistake of training a department or team in just its own area. You must plan
out to give cross-training and cross-exposure. I’ve been asked about who does our
flowers? Which brand of gold-rimmed show plates are used in the French
Brasserie? How does the Hotel store its wine? Is the hotel equipped to handle
special ability guests and how? A bellboy may be quizzed about the best temperature
control in the rooms and a personal butler could be enlisted for advice on the most
appropriate choice for supper to soothe the upset belly or a potion to tame a
splitting headache. The permutations are endless. All you can do is rise to the
occasion or shine out as a stellar example for housing the excellently trained,
most well-informed team that knows its product because they have experienced it
themselves!
Let the team have its pie and eat
the cake too!
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Note - Picture Courtesy - Google Images
