Jackie Hall - The Personal Approach

Having worked in the Holiday Park industry for several years, I feel I have encountered every possible level of customer service. From the absolute delight of a happy face and a sincere welcome to space invaders who overshare their thoughts on their job or employer, to the downright rude and dismissive.

It got me to thinking; when you sift through CVs and conduct interviews, you are trying to decide whether the person is suitable for the job role. But on Holiday Parks in particular, many roles are customer facing and have a much greater impact on customer experiences than you may realise. Do you always consider their personal approach?

Take a Maintenance Manager. You want all the relevant expertise when it comes to the ability to do that job. No question, if they have the skills they get the job, right? But do you ever consider whether they have the people skills to do the much larger role on park? This isn’t restricted to Maintenance by the way…all roles have a greater purpose in the customer journey. 

Let’s play this out. 

A family comes on holiday. It’s late on a Friday evening as they’ve travelled after work and school. They’re all very excited and equally as exhausted. They arrive on park and reception is closing. The receptionist looks up and gives them a huge warm smile. “You’re just in time I was about to close for the night. Let’s get you checked in.” The family breathe a sigh of relief-they’re here!

Reception is a customer facing job, so the least you’d expect is a friendly welcome….

On arrival at the unit, the family are unpacking. They try to put the TV on to keep the kids happy, but it’s not working. They call reception to report it and ask for help, but it’s now closed. The phone goes to the Night Manager/Duty Manager/On Call/Warden. The family explain what has happened. The reply is “oh god not again I asked them to fix that. I’ll send someone down”. Did the family need to know it’s a problem that should have been fixed prior to their arrival? Probably not.

They wait. The kids are grumpy, they just want the telly. It’s late so they try the number hoping once more to get the problem fixed. They are told “I’ve called him but he’s busy and then he’s finishing for the day it’s going to have to be tomorrow now”. Not a great end to their hectic day, and not the best start to the holiday. Nonetheless the family unpack and settle for the night-the telly can wait till morning. 

It's now Saturday morning and there’s a knock at the door. Thank God! The kids have been up for hours-some telly would help. Or at least it’ll be ready for later. A maintenance man is there. “I’m here to fix the telly. I’ve fixed it three times this month they should really get a new one”. Yet more information the family don’t need. The family are just happy he is there. He spends the whole time complaining that he worked late, was called in early and now he was having to fix the same things as they just won’t buy new.

Does this sound familiar? It’s a true story and one that I was given recently from a holiday park guest who paid for a Hot Tub Lodge on a peak weekend. Not the premier experience they expected.

It sounds like I’m picking on maintenance here and I’m really not.

Food and beverage, reception, grounds, cleaners. Members of staff that all see customers on a daily basis, but not all of them are considered for the role based on their customer service experience or how personable they are. And to be honest I feel like this may be a mistake.

There is no doubt that in this difficult climate, experience provides added value. If a guest has paid for a luxury lodge and the telly doesn’t work but they are met with a friendly member of the maintenance team who apologises, solves the problem and has a friendly chat, it might not be the end of the world. However, if they are met with contempt, complaints and a bad attitude, they may consider whether they would pay that money again for that kind of service.

People skills are just as important as the relevant qualifications and experience. Do you agree?

If you want some help on improving your Customer Engagement and customer experiences, get in touch with Jackie now at jackie.hall@ruthbadger.com