Ground Zero and Your Brand’s Image – By John Smallwood, President Travel Outlook
In todays consumer world, a brands image carries as much weight as the brand’s service. Without branding, there would be no sure-fire way to differentiate yourself from your immediate competition. Imagine shopping for groceries in a store without branding. There would be no way to identify your favorite snacks among dozens of identical items.
A brands image gives the company personality, relatability, and encourages brand loyalty. For hoteliers, your brands image can be made or broken by your reservation department or call center, which in many cases is the primary customer touchpoint.
If you want to create and maintain a healthy brand image for your hotel, rely on a highly trained call center to help you do just that. Continue reading below to find out all the reasons why Your Hotels Call Center is Ground Zero for Your Brand Image.
First Impressions Matter
In the hotel business, like in life, first impressions are everything. A good first impression can be the catalysts to a lifetime relationship with a customer and create brand loyalty that leads to repeat business. Alternatively, a bad first impression can not only deter potential business from one customer, but it can spread like a virus through online reviews, social media, and word of mouth and severely hurt your business.
For hotels, first impressions dont start with a handshake, they start with your reservation department or call center. More specifically, your brands first impression begins with whoever is answering the phone in your reservation department or call center. If that person is rude, unhelpful, incompetent, and does not exude professionalism, then your hotels image may be in trouble.
Bad News Travels Quickly
An increasing number of customers in the hospitality industry are experiencing negative call center experiences and are sharing them far and wide across social media. A decade or two ago, news of a bad customer interaction would only reach a handful of people, and the impact on your business would be insignificant.
Today that is far from the case. News of bad customer service representatives, rude employees, or lazy workers spreads like wildfire over social media. Not only will a bad interaction with your call center discourage a customer from booking with your hotel, but it could discourage potential future bookings as well, which will leave a lasting mark on your brands image. With the broad-reaching consequences of the information age, no hotel can afford the negative repercussions of an underperforming call center.
It Starts with Training
The hospitality industry relies on the trusted teachings of the Kennedy Training Network, whose training concepts help increase sales and revenue across various business models.
Kennedy Training Network Certified call center agents represent the best in the business. Underachieving call centers dont have to be rude or completely inept to misrepresent your brand. They could simply be underperforming by not sharing everything your business has to offer.
A recent test of top hotel brands’ call centers found that the majority of call center employees failed to sufficiently convey their hotels best features.
- Only 14% of tested call centers asked Discovery Questions.
- Merely 7% adequately sold their hotels benefits.
- Only 25% of call centers described the hotels rooms.
- Just 25% quoted more than one room category.
In summary, if your hotels call center isnt doing everything they can to sell rooms and work for you, theyre working against you and not fulfilling the potential of your brand’s image. A call center does more than fulfill the duties of your reservation department, they represent your brand and in doing so, become synonymous with your brands image in the eyes of your customers.
Overseas call centers arent the answer
Youve worked tirelessly to craft your brands identity and separate yourself from your competition, dont let your hotels call center hold you back. As previously mentioned, your call center represents your business, if youre call centers underperforming your business, and the perception of it, will suffer.
Outsourcing your reservation department to an overseas call center may save you money temporarily, but ultimately it will cost you bookings. While agents may sound polite, they may have a challenge with the American English dialect and the nuance of cultural differences in North America.
While technology advancements have allowed thousands of businesses to outsource work overseas, many businesses who shifted their call centers overseas experienced a significant decrease in the quality of their customer interactions.
Image is everything
In todays digital age, image is everything, and for better or worse, its permanent. According to John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook, When it comes to making great first impressions on behalf of your business, trust trained professionals who can artfully sell your business and who know the ins and outs of what makes your hotel great.
With the right call center on your side, your brand’s image could be defined by its powerful first impressions and detail-oriented customer service.
About Travel Outlook
In addition to the unique use of world-class call center technology, Travel Outlook is the only call center certified by Kennedy Training Network, the hotel industrys best source for sales training and guest service excellence. Its luxury call team is tested by Forbes and Kennedy each month. Travel Outlooks clients include many of the worlds finest hotels and resorts.
Media Contact:
Raul Vega
LEVEL 5 Hospitality, LLC
[email protected]
Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
© 2021 Hotel News Resource
