When I speak with businesses about training their staff, many struggle with the transient nature of staff in the tourism industry, especially in towns like Queenstown, Te Anau and other places where there's a large number of tourism businesses.

Recruiting quality staff is a challenge, and investing in training them can cost a lot. But what is the cost if you don't train them?
It doesn't have to be difficult, though. By having good systems in place where you can train them yourself, your business will provide the quality customer experience that you expect.

But what about your own training and development? How much time do you spend planning the next few years of your business growth, your product development, marketing trends, distribution etc?
I see time and time again that business owners or managers who invest in their own development achieve far greater results than others.

Currently, tourism growth is softening. There are many factors that can be attributed to this, from worldwide political situations to economic slowdown. So the more reason to work ON your business and plan for the next few years.

If you're interested in growing your business, then check out the new courses below. Over the last 22 years, I have worked with hundreds of tourism businesses and am most happy to have a chat to you if you have any questions about the new Tourism Success Programmes.
Registrations are now open (for April/May start)  - click on the link below, or go to www.smartraining.co.nz.

Satisfied customers are important, but if you manage to delight them, they are more likely to write rave reviews, recommend you to others and come back. If you have an ‘emotional connection’ with your customers by creating a more personalised and memorable experience where they feel special, they are more likely to write positive reviews and recommend you to others.

Here are some ideas to delight your customers:

• Be genuinely interested in your customers and hire staff that are caring, warm ‘people people’. If they have a genuine service attitude, your customers will benefit! Lead by example and be clear how you want your staff to deal with customers.
• Brainstorm ways to delight your customers with your staff – it gets them engaged and thinking from a customer’s perspective. Ask them to come up with examples of how they have been delighted as a customer before. Then make this part of your customer service standards.
• Encourage your staff to be creative in delighting customers. It's the little things that count, the attention to detail.
• Personalise the customer experience by anticipating their needs. Find out what they like, how you could help them and go the extra mile to meet those needs.  "Test" your own product/experience - or have a mystery shopper do it for you. 
• Do the unexpected. Great customer service goes a long way, but if you can do something unexpected, you’ll delight your customers even more.
• Reply to emails/phone calls/social media enquiries as soon as possible. If you don’t, they are likely to go to your competition and if they reply before you do, they are likely to get the business!
• Print off and pin reviews of delighted customers on your notice board. It’s hugely motivating and keeps you and your staff in a positive mood and encourages to do more!

LAST CHANCE to register for the Tourism Business Success Programme starting on the 3rd of May 2018 in Queenstown. 50% funding available for qualifying business. CLICK HERE for more info. Don't miss out and take some time to work ON your business and take it to the next level!


Till next week! 
Marijke

If you run a busy business, you can sometimes be overwhelmed by emails from customers, and may not have time to provide great service. Here are 6 tips that will help you automate a few things that will make your life easier and provide a better customer experience.

1. There’s nothing worse for a customer to not receive an answer to their email or question. But sometimes you’re just too busy and can’t get back to everyone immediately. The customer doesn’t care about this of course – they just want attention!
   If you get a LOT of emails, set up an automatic email response. It’s a bit like an ‘out of the office message’, but you write something like: Thanks for your message. We will get back to you within the next 2 hours. This way, at least the customer has heard something back from you.
   
   
2. Make it easy for customers to ask for help and contact you.
   First of all, ensure you have an automatic signature that has ALL YOUR CONTACT DETAILS. Your name, email, address, website and phone number. It’s amazing how many people don’t have this set up. You can set this up in your email software (eg Outlook, Gmail etc). Just look for ‘Signatures’.
   
   
3. Include a “contact us” or “directions” link to your website in every email to spare customers the task of locating it on your website.
   
   
4. Send appointment or booking reminders. To ensure people don’t forget their appointment with you – set up appointment or booking reminders. You can do this in Outlook Calendar (or similar systems) and many booking systems do this automatically. I even get them from my dentist and doctor!
   
   
5. Gauge customer satisfaction. Send out customer satisfaction surveys – you can use software such as www.surveymonkey.com or ask a simple: What did you particularly enjoy, what could we improve? The results can help you improve your customer experience.
   
   
6. Ask customers for referrals or reviews. A large part of your business will come through word of mouth. So having referrals or reviews on your website will add credibility to your business.
   Send your customers a link directly to your review page (on for example Tripadvisor.com, yelp.com etc) or ask them to write a referral for your website. Ensure you always put their name and where they are from. Even better, make a video or include a photo. Click here for some examples.

So, have a look what you can implement in your business to improve the customer experience and make your life easier!

Till next week,
Marijke

I just got back from a wonderful holiday in Vietnam. Apart from great food, interesting culture, beautiful environment, the thing that I probably enjoyed most was the kind nature of the people and the great service we received. (Did I forget to mention the shopping?).

For some people (or nationalities), great service and big smiles come naturally.

Here are a few tips based on my experiences in Vietnam:

• Smile and say hello! Most of the people we met smiled at us. Even when we said no when they asked if we wanted to buy something, they remained friendly. Not just that, they actually have a very good sense of humour, which was quite contagious :)
  
• Get to know your customers’ names. Within a day or two, the hotel staff knew my name. How nice and personal is that? It made me feel very special. If you have regular customers or guests, ensure you know their name and show an interest – the ‘emotional connection’ you make will enhance their experience.
• Be keen to ‘want the business’. In one place, a lady came up to us asking us where we were from, how long we were there for etc. She obviously wanted to sell us something, but her interest in us and smiles made us go with her to her tailor shop. They showed us testimonials of happy customers and encouraged us to get one item made before ordering more. In the end we got 9 items of clothing made! The service was amazing and that was the reason we stayed with them. At the end of this, they asked us to write a testimonial in their book and on Tripadvisor.
• Remember their preferences. In the hotel at the breakfast buffet, the chef remembered what I had the day before. She would also encourage me to try something else, which I did.
• Make it easy for your customers to reach you. We’d booked a transfer in a private car. The owner of the business (Mr Tom) sent us a message through a messaging app. Something I hadn’t expected.
• Wifi everywhere. Ok, we think we live in a modern country, but in Vietnam wifi really IS  everywhere, even in the car used for the transfer from the airport to a town we were staying. Oh, and it’s free! This made it very easy for us to communicate with accommodation places we stayed at etc.
• It’s the little things that delight so much… a cold small towel before dinner (it was 38 degrees), cold water in the car, a little treat on the pillow at night (different every night), a concierge taking time upon our arrival to explain where everything was and the things to do, a complimentary cold drink on arrival in the hotel etc. etc.

I can go on, but you get the picture. It has nothing to do with the wealth of the country, it’s to do with the attitude of the people.
So, what can you do in your business to delight your customers?
 
Till next week, Marijke

One of the most flattering things is when someone that you’ve only met once briefly remembers your name the next time you meet!

I must admit it’s not my biggest strength, but I’m working on it! I have a friend who I think must have a photographic memory for names. She probably doesn’t, but she is committed to remembering people’s names.

If you are dealing with customers (most of you are!), what a great impression would you make if you remember their names and how good would it make them feel!

I used to have an optometrist whom I visited only briefly twice a year to pick up contact lenses. I would come in and they would greet me with: ‘Hi Marijke!”. That would always impress me greatly and made me feel 'important’ as a customer.

On the other hand, there is someone I regularly deal with and this person never seems to recognise me. I might have a common face, but this makes me feel like this person is totally disinterested, even though we work in the same industry.

So my point is, don’t just say: “I’m terrible at remembering names…”, that’s just too easy. Work at it and it will make the people around you feel good about themselves and you! It creates goodwill and opens the door to successful relationships.

Here are a few tips:
1. Commit yourself to remembering names. Make it a conscious decision to remember people's names.
2. When you meet someone for the first time, concentrate on what the other person is saying and look at them. If you didn’t hear their name, ask again.
3. Repeat their name and use it occasionally during the conversion (without overdoing it!). Also use it when you leave.
4. If you can, write it down afterwards. You can always add a few pointers about their physical characteristics.
5. Try to make an association between the person's face and an image the name suggests. If you remember visual images most easily, try creating an image based on the name and linking it to some physical characteristic of the person. If you are more comfortable dealing with sensory feelings and gut instincts, try linking the name to the impression the person makes or to a reaction you have to the person.

So, try to make a conscious effort to learn people’s names, it makes them feel good and you too!

Till next week, Marijke

NOTE: registrations are now open for the 2016 Marketing for Success Programme. Click here for more info! Limited spaces!