Guests become offended when surveys seem forced -

World traveller and hospitality industry expert, Paul Bol Raap understands the importance of customer service surveys; it's just the unprofessional way those surveys are being presented that bothers him.

"Having travelled all around the globe, I can honestly say that I've seen it all when it comes to attempts at measuring my level of guest satisfaction," Mr. Bol Raap said before sharing a few examples about what is rapidly becoming a common occurrence.

In an effort to meet the quotas their employers are assigning, flight attendants have turned the art of providing and measuring customer service into a mechanical process. It starts with being served a glass of your favourite beverage, followed by some pleasant but obviously superficial remarks.

Then, shortly before landing, that same attendant flaunts his or her name tag under you nose and asks you to fill in a customer satisfaction survey before deplaning.

Hotels are stumbling down the same path as more and more guests are hearing room service attendants saying, while entering the room, "Sir, would you be so kind as to fill out the customer service questionnaire? I need to take it with me when I leave and my name is John"

The same thing occurs the next morning in the dining room when the server asks "Sir, while your cheque is being prepared, may I kindly ask you to fill out this form? Oh and by the way, my name is Jessica."

When a guest offers to take the form and complete it at a later time, the immediate response is "Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take this form. You see, it's numbered and we get in trouble with our management when one form is missing." Or even worse, the guest gets told, "We need to hand it in to our F&B department!"

When checkout time arrives, the harried guest hears "Sir, can I kindly ask you to fill out this guest satisfaction form while I am printing off your folio?" By this time, the guest has forgotten about any good service and can only remember the constant harassment of having to deal with forms being shoved into his or her face!

Guest satisfaction surveys should be simple and unobtrusive, and they can be! International Hospitality Check (IHC) has an elegantly simple guest survey solution that really works and gives management the information they need to address guest dissatisfaction quickly and professionally without causing the guest any distress.

Mr. Bol Raap invites all hotel or residential property manager interested in reviewing this Guest Satisfaction Survey program to visit www.internationalhospitalitycheck.com or contact him directly. IHC offers the ability to run e-mail, IVR and pen-paper operated surveys either direct or with their affiliated partners.

About International Hospitality Check - With offices located in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Dubai and Shanghai, International
Hospitality Check is dedicated to setting new standards of service for Mystery Customer Research and Auditing in the Hospitality and Leisure industries.