Ditch the scripts!
Repeatedly reciting a script is driving people away from hospitality
We live in a world of influencers, social media, and storytellers. Anyone with a smart phone can broadcast anything to anyone anywhere.
In hotels, restaurants, and retail service is still so scripted that it bores both customer and employee.
Who would want a career in a workplace that requires them to repeatedly recite a script all day long, day in and day out?
“Have you dined with us before?” (Yes, we’ve booked a table here 27 times previously on Opentable.)
“Are you celebrating anything special today?” (Yes, that’s why we clicked the “birthday” tab on the app.)
“How those first few bites tasting?” (Many servers don’t even wait to hear the expected, “it’s good, thanks”, before turning away and heading to the next line on their script.)
“No rush.” (as the bill lands on the table while we’re not quite done with the main course and are wondering what the desert menu looks like.)
“Got any plans for the rest of the evening?”
How many times can we expect customers to hear these same, scripted lines and also expect them to believe they represent caring customer service?
How many times are employees expected to recite them and also expected to maintain their passion for the hospitality industry.
Hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses everywhere are struggling with a critical shortage of skilled staff. No one takes a job in a service industry thinking that they’re going to be a lousy employee.
They start working in the industry because they love people, they care about people, and they want to create exceptional experiences and memorable moments.
Let’s trust, empower, and encourage people to behave like the humans they are instead of trying to program them to behave like robots.
Let’s make hospitality personal and let’s make it a career of choice!
Thanks for reading our newsletter!
The video clip is from a Business Smarts seminar we did for Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.
At Always Care we help hospitality businesses make jobs more meaningful and experiences more memorable by helping you make the most of the biggest differentiator you have – your people!
Let’s connect and discuss how we can help you ditch the script and train to retain.
Stay safe,
Always Care