Calendar
In these current uncertain economic times the “Service Industry”, restaurants, hotels, casinos…etc, is taking an especially hard hit. With less disposable income one of the first things families do is cut back on perceived luxuries. They cut their vacations shorter, they travel closer to home, and they don’t eat out as often and so on. Because we live in a family resort town this puts our livelihoods under extraordinary stress.
The question arises “What can we do, as business owners and employees, to survive these troubled times?” Well, as business people we all know that we must control our costs by purchasing more carefully and watching waste. We must control our personnel costs by hiring and scheduling more effectively. Also, we must monitor our energy costs by conserving fuel and electricity whenever possible. These are all things that are tangible and through vigilance attainable. But what about the customer, after all we are in the “Service” industry; just by the name alone the product we sell is ourselves and our ‘service’.
Ocean City became a resort destination because of our unique natural location and beauty. We grew by hotel, restaurant and condo because people enjoyed our beaches and weather. Families have come for generations to swim, to sun themselves and forget about their daily lives and troubles for 1 or 2 weeks a year and we have thrived as business owners and as a community. Now we find ourselves wondering how to keep our guests coming back and wanting to spend their limited dollars with us. And that is where that word ‘service” rears its head.
The dictionary defines service as “work done or duty performed for another or others”. I believe that the best way to guarantee that our guests return to our businesses is to provide them with the best product through the best service possible. This can be achieved by constant employee training and reinforcement, by owner and management commitment to a high standard and by instilling pride in the workplace. Those properties that take their customers for granted and treat them as if their patronage doesn’t matter will fall by the wayside very quickly in these economic times, no matter if you are a young property or a well established business. Treat your guests with respect and give them the best product you can at a fair price and most of them will return and even better yet they will send their friends.
One final thought, don’t think for a minute that there will always be another customer following the one you just lost because of a non-caring, arrogant attitude. I promise you, if you want to remain in business in these tough economic times, every customer needs to be thought of as a potential return customer. The day's of endless lines for mediocre products served by untrained, unpleasant people are over.
ocdevilsadvocate
[ 1 comment ] ( 340 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 434 )
