Customer service is defined by the act of assistance, advice and advocating that a person provides customers before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service.
You can offer this service by attending to a customer’s needs, answering questions, displaying professionalism, and helping them buy or understand the company’s products or services. Good customer service leads to happy customers, which positively affects a company’s growth.
The goal of customer service is to go above and beyond to solve customer problems and provide clients with the best solutions available. Successful venues understand that customer care can make or break their relationships with the planners that book their venues, so they make sure to offer the type of service their planners expect. As a venue manager of a unique space, an example of good customer services is providing quick answers to planner inquiries about catering, square footage, availability, and proactively contacting planners to inform them about any changes before they are inconvenienced.
When it comes down to customer service, there are several characteristics that venue managers need to possess to ensure planners feel valued and appreciated. Here are seven characteristics of venue managers that lead to good customer service:
- Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand an individual’s feelings and where they’re coming from. When a customer is facing a problem, for example, providing empathy involves a certain level of understanding and taking the time to express genuine concern. This sentiment lets planners know your employees and business care about their feelings.
- Problem-Solving Skills: Problem-solving is the ability to find a solution to a difficult issue or situation. It involves identifying the problem, understanding the cause, finding a solution, and most importantly, taking actionable steps to remedy the problem. For example, if a planner has a discrepancy with a catering request, the venue’s caterer uses their problem-solving skills to remedy the situation and find a suitable resolution for all parties. This example shows that they value the planner’s satisfaction with your establishment.
- Communication skills: Communication skills are the ability to convey a message either verbally or through writing. While this skill is important in all industries, it’s especially important when working with planners who book your venue. When you listen well and speak clearly and effectively, it ensures planners receive all the necessary information they need and are confident in your venue’s abilities to successfully host their event.
- Patience: Patience is a person’s ability to endure difficult circumstances without frustration, anger or other negative emotions. This characteristic is particularly useful when dealing with angry or dissatisfied clients. If a client is frustrated, it’s important for you to remain calm, collected, and attentive to the dissatisfied customer’s needs. This allows for greater understanding and opens up an opportunity for better communication.
- Active listening skills: Active listening involves fully concentrating and focusing on what someone is saying. This skill might take some practice, but it makes your clients feel valued and heard.
- Positive Attitude: A positive attitude is a state of mind in which an individual looks at things favorably or with optimism. This trait is an important part of customer service as it shows professionalism and leads to greater customer satisfaction overall. When you are approaching your working relationships with optimism and positivity, it makes customers feel good and puts them in the same state of mind. A positive attitude can leave planners or potential clients with a good impression of your business, which translates into customer retention and/or venue referrals.
- Quick Response Time: Responding to an issue or circumstance in a timely manner shows that you’re respectful of a customer’s time. This is important for good customer service because it ensures you are attending to customers promptly and that you’re valuing their needs.
As a result of these seven characteristics of good customer service, you can expect to see these benefits when you and your team offer superior customer service to planners:
- Customer satisfaction
- Increased customer retention
- Customer referrals
- Positive customer reviews
- Better work environment
- Competitive advantage
Good customer service has several benefits no matter the size of your event business, so it’s important that you and your employees are consistently putting the customer first. By implementing these seven characteristics into your client interactions, your event business will be positively impacted and your customers will be happy.
