The interconnected web of loyalty, satisfaction, productivity and leadership
Guest loyalty inspires profit and growth – a 5% improvement in customer loyalty results in a 25-85% improvement in profits – now those are numbers that are worth the effort! We recently shared The food chain of employee and customer satisfaction, and wanted to delve deeper into the service-profit chain.
Guest satisfaction can inspire loyalty, but a satisfied guest is not automatically a loyal one. It’s only the ultra-satisfied guests that become loyal. If a hotel wants to maintain that loyalty, it has to constantly improve and up its game.
Loyal guests are more likely to tell others about their loyalty though than just satisfied customers. Excited guests however will tell other people about their experiences, possible even shout it from the rooftops, and even become ambassadors for the hotel or hotel brand.
It’s these kinds of loyal guests that you should be looking to create, no matter where you work in the hotel.
Inspiring guest loyalty and brand ambassadors
Value is important when it comes to guest satisfaction. Guests base this on the perceived value of the service they’ve received. They must feel that they have gained something more from their experience than what they think it’s worth, or what they paid for it.
This kind of value generally has an emotional component, based on a memorable experience. Creating this kind of value depends on the ability to create experiences that wow and delight guests, and this requires hotel management to be very clear about the service plan for their guests.
Inspiring employee productivity
Employee productivity drives value, through engaged and productive employees. We’re talking about the employee’s ability to act on the wishes and requests of the guests, and to find solutions that work within the service delivery framework of the hotel. Fruitful employees have a high level of product, service, and guest knowledge.
This is why employees who have served a number of years in the company are generally more productive than new employees, and it’s also another reason why it’s so important to inspire employee retention and loyalty. Employee loyalty generally means employees have been around longer and as a result, have had the time to build up a great knowledge of customers, processes, and the culture within the hotel.
Productivity is often the result of employee loyalty. This loyalty comes from the combination of employee enthusiasm and satisfaction. In order to create the excited guest, employees need to feel the same! A happy employee will have what it takes to effectively engage the guest in a similar way.
Employees inspiring customer satisfaction
In short: failing to manage employee retention means a loss of productivity and a decline in guest satisfaction, while low employee turnover is linked to higher customer satisfaction. Internal quality has been known to inspire employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is not impossible to achieve, but inspiring real excitement in your staff is a little more difficult.
In the service-profit chain, employee satisfaction is a result of internal quality. This looks at how employees feel about their jobs, colleagues, and the hotel and is influenced by things like the design of their workplace, how their jobs are structured, as well as how employees are selected, trained, and developed.
Reward and recognition schemes provide employee incentives and being equipped with the right tools for serving customers enables satisfaction because no-one likes to feel inadequate in their job.
Leaders that listen
Leadership is a critical success factor in the chain. To inspire and maintain a culture within the hotel that is focused both on service to customers and fellow employees, is what a successful service-profit chain leader must do.
This requires leaders that are able and willing to listen. Such leaders must also engage with employees and customers, test service delivery processes, and actively seek employee suggestions for improvement.
How do you see yourself fitting into the service-profit chain? Do you think there’s one area that’s more important than another?
