Tourism, Hospitality and Customer Service from a teenage perspective.

As important as eye contact and a smile when you’re speaking with someone, having phone manners and proper phone etiquette is vital within the hospitality industry.  Actually, I believe that it is important within all industries and fields of work.  I am thinking of this today because I just made a phone call to make dinner reservations, and the man I talked to was extremely personable, patient, clear, and an understandable talker.  I did not feel rushed, under pressure, or burdensome.  Like many hotels, restaurants, and offices there is some form of phone conduct they are required to follow.  It usually runs along the lines of ” Good morning/afternoon/evening this is so and so thank you for calling this and that how may I help you”?  What separated the fellow I spoke with from the others is when he said his long, informative speech he was speaking at a steady pace, and clearly, which was inviting and resulted in an approachable stress-free start.  It was a brief but pleasant phone conversation, and that alone makes my day and happy to be using that particular restaurant.  As much as I do not want to insult and criticize my generation, I have a major issue with some of the customer service.  I have spoken to and witnessed terrible phone manners.  When people speak rapidly, and with a monotone careless voice, it gives off the complete wrong energy and it can really hinder the customer’s experience.  It’s also important to acknowledge that I am not just saying  that this only pertains to teenagers, because there are plenty guilty adults, It’s just that my experience today was with a young person.   Ultimately, I believe it is a very sensible move for any authoritative figure at a work place to pick someone with great phone qualities to answer.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  Happy turkey day! One of America’s most popular and prepared holidays.  I was on schedule to work which of course I was not thrilled about.  My cousin that I am really close with was home, my mom had a close friend from Israel coming up for the dinner, and my brother was going to be there.  Uhh, there were just so many reasons that I did NOT want to go to work.  Unfortunately, I had no legitimate reason to turn the opportunity down.  I knew I would be making good money and learning a lot about what it’s really like on a hectic day.  So, I got into work, and immediately was put to the test.  I had to adapt quickly to all of this new and unfamiliar terminology.  I had no idea what was going on, and I was instantly feeling frustrated and confused.  I felt like my colleagues were talking to me as if I were the queen bee of working on Thanksgiving.  “I’ve never done this before, people hellllooooo”, I thought to myself.  I knew right then and there I could not go on for the next 9 hours feeling like that.  So, I took charge.  I was in the back of the kitchen and I took a deep breath and decided to tackle my problems.  I found the people I needed to find to ask them questions and to seek clarification.  Things started getting easier and I was feeling very confident.  I also wrote down the tables with the amount of people I knew I would be busing for.  On a day like that organization is key. 

If I were a manager.

1.  If I were a manager, I would gather my staff and have a ‘pre-game’ discussion about my expectations for the day, and what our general goal was. 

2.  I would encourage my staff to write down their table numbers so that they were organized and ahead of themselves when things started getting busy. 

3.  I would make a strong effort to check in with every worker and see if they needed to use the bathroom, take a quick break to eat, or maybe even sit down. 

The restaurant served over 400 people.  That’s outstanding, and I was able to handle it.  The tips were great, and I really enjoyed the pace of everything.  I just was thinking to myself on the way to see my family that what if someone had the same questions I did? Or what if they were feeling like I was at the beginning, but for the entire day.  I just feel like communication in a job is so important.  You don’t want your employees feeling nervous, or any type of negative emotion.  All in all, however — I’d say it was a good day.  It worked out to be a positive experience and I enjoyed it. 

Closing story : Briefly, I would just like to admit how awful I felt at one point.  During our 3:oo seating, things got really busy  for about 20 minutes.  It was that hectic everyone running around thing.  There was a table of three people who I was busing for, and the boy asked for a take out box.  I assumed they were leaving.  So, I did a couple rounds of the dining room, and noticed that they were still gone.  I kept glancing at the table looking for a check but I didn’t see one, so I figured my server had picked it up fast.  So, I went over to their table and started clearing their glasses.  As I was bringing the wine glasses to the bar, I saw them strolling back into the dining room.  I hesitated, then as stealthily as possible, I walked back towards their table.  That was a mortifying moment when the lady asked me what I was doing.  I apologized and explained that when he got the take out box I assumed that they were done eating.  Luckily, they were very nice and understanding.  My server however, heard it wrong from a distance and she though I was drinking their wine.  So, these people thought I was crazy, and my waitress thought I was drunk.  Those 10 minutes were not my proudest.  *For all you busers and servers out there — Keep in touch about when the check has been taken care of.  Just a suggestion!

My name is Kaite Berry.  I am just beginning this “blogging thing” and I am very excited about it!  Within this particular blog, I would like to focus on the world of hospitality, tourism, and customer service in the eyes of a teenager.  I am currently 17 years old, and I have had several positive and negative experiences with this industry.  I also plan to go into this working field after I graduate high school, this year.  I believe that many people can benefit from seeing the views of our world’s customer service, and vast tourism fields from the perspective of someone my age.  I plan for this to be a fun, interesting, and diverse blogging page!

To me, customer service is like a mother and/or father with money problems.  This may sound alarming, yes, but if you think about it, I think it sends a clear message.  A mother and father that are struggling financially, and are trying to maintain their home and children would make a constant effort in keeping the mood stress free for their kids, right?  Customer service should be a similar thing, as far as maintaining that positive atmosphere.  I currently work at a hotel restaurant busing tables and also cleaning for a property rental owned by my mother called ‘The Quiet Place, South Bristol’ (www.thequietplace.com).  The busing job may not be 100% interaction with our customers, but I make an effort every day I work to cater to their needs and bring them the best service they deserve.  For the Quiet Place, I act as a hostess in checking in guests, and when my mom travels, I manage any needs of the tenants.  To have customer service, you must  have self control.  You may be having a terrible day where it seems like everything is going wrong, but when you are in front of your customers, your paying customers that is when it’s most vital to take a deep breath and push your issues to the back burner.  To me, someone who has enough self-control to cover up their struggles and assist someone is the right kind of person in this industry.  You also have to think that if you provide great customer service, you’re providing a great image a reflection on your business or company you work for.   I recently went on a trip with my SUPA (Syracuse University Project Advance) French class to the campus of Syracuse, NY to sit in on a few classes to observe.  During our lunch break, we were free to go wherever.  My group of friends and I picked a very quaint, small, original, family owned pizza place.  Unfortunately, I was not impressed by the service.  What upset me the most is what happened when my friends and I were looking at the wall menu.   The younger girl taking orders realized she had a customer’s order in the oven, and she was worried it was burning.  Instead of excusing herself politely, she began to argue with the other worker, which escalated in them arguing over who would go check the oven.  Another flaw was her very negative body language.  She gave off a very rude vibe and she slouched, rolled her eyes and sighed whenever she took an order.  To me, that’s careless.  I was very upset with the way that their service was.  Just because of that experience I would never recommend, or talk highly of that restaurant.  I don’t think people are aware of the vibes, and energy that they give off.  Our society today, and especially my generation, really should enroll in at least one customer service course.  Everyday people are exposed to a bad experience with a worker, and that’s saying something.  Personally, I feel very strongly about improving our customer service skills, and gaining that self-control. So, that was a brief look into what I believe what it takes to have great customer service skills.