Week 8 : Empathize

I am going into my 8th week at Wardman Park and still learning so much. I really enjoy working here with all the accommodating co-workers constantly teaching me new ways to improve and master my hospitality skills. Today was an interesting day as I had to deal with a hostile guest and she was upset about not receiving a King bed over two Double Beds. We are a very busy hotel mostly hosting large conferences and conventions. We are sold out most of the time and we have more double bed rooms than kings. After coming off of a sold out night it is sometimes challenging giving guests king rooms unless they are guaranteed a king when they book their reservation. This lady that I dealt with today wanted a king and was not guaranteed one and was really hostile with me over getting a room with a king. She would not even let us explain or work with us trying to help her. Working here you really learn to appreciate not being picky and to try to understand when the shoe is on the other foot. We try to accommodate all of our guests, but it is those selected guests that really make work challenging for the staff. The one thing that I need to work on the most is to really try to stay calm. Sometimes I feel attacked when I deal with a hostile guest and then I get flustered on my words. At the Marriott we try to use the LEARN model when we deal with guests. LEARN stands for Listen, Empathize, Apologize, React and Notify. It makes it challenging when you do all that you can, empathize, apologize even if you are not in the wrong and you still have unhappy guests that are never satisfied when you go above and beyond to alleviate the problem. I wish that everyone could experience some type of hospitality or service industry job, so that they can understand what we go through everyday behind the scenes. It is a lot more challenging then it looks.

Wardman Park Hotel

On the Right Track

I have been with the Marriott for about seven weeks now and starting to feel apart of the team. I am meeting new people everyday and still constitenly learning new things. I feel more comfortable talking with guests and providing them with information. The hardest part about my job is being able to multi-task by remembering all that I have learned and being able to apply that quickly to make sure guests are satisfied and happy. Another challenge is when you do all that you can and they are still unhappy. When you work in the hotel and hospitality industry you realize the challenges of trying to please everyone, but obviously not everyone is exactly the same. We have to be able to read people and understand what they want to help get them what they need. My managers, supervisors and co-workers all help me by giving me helpful hints to make changes and or adjustments to make my job easier. Two things that made me feel like I was heading in a positive direction was when I got a 10 on my GSS review. GSS means Guest Service Survey and these surveys go out to a selected group of Marriott rewards members. The members then grade Marriott and us as individual Guest Service Representatives to see how there experiences were during there stay. 10 is the highest number to get to say that they really enjoyed there experience with myself and the Marriott hotel. During our stand up meeting I was recognized and congratulated that this was my first review and that it was the best grade. I was enlightened and so happy that I am on the right track. I also had one of the top Sales Manager's of the Wardman Park Marriott come up to me and say that a guest personally came up to him and was raving about me on what a wonderful employee I was and how much I helped him out throughout his stay. I could not believe that a guest would go out of his way to recognize me in such a way. Hearing that makes me work just as harder to give more guests of Marriott the same experience during there stay. You can't please everyone in the hospitality industry, but you sure can try to make a difference to as many as possible.

Wardman Park Hotel

Follow Up

I just completed my month long training at Wardman Park and I am still learning new things everyday. I am still feeling very intimidated trying to apply all that I have learned so far and multi-taking on having conversations with fellow guests and giving them a speedy check-in or check-out. Now that I am an employee, I have a new found respect for the hospitality industry and how much work, time and effort is involved to provide great customer service. It is a lot harder than it looks because every single person that comes up to you has different wants, needs, preferences and personalities. My job is to assess all these qualities and act accordingly to make sure they are completely satisfied. The one thing that I think that I have excelled the most is following up with guests. If you call that guests room and make sure that they received there extra towels or that there more comfortable with there new room, these are the little things that matter the most to guests. If you take one second out of your busy day to follow up with a guest, they will remember your hotel over another, as you are going above and beyond. It makes me feel good to know that making a little effort goes along way.

Disclaimer..Please Read First

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is to document a college internship experience. Content published on this blog represents the author’s ideas, opinions, and experience. This does not necessarily represent the views of the internship organization.