The Impact of the Innkeeper
Written by Jay Karen on February 28, 2008 – 1:12 amThe guests cancelled on the seventh day out, just in time to get their deposit back – but maybe not in time for you to secure a new reservation. The departing couple complained about the draft in their room. The phone is ringing. You can still hear the drip in the kitchen sink that won’t go away. Your part-time housekeeper called in sick, so you have to turn all the rooms by yourself today. All of a sudden, it’s nine o’clock in the evening and you haven’t had a moment’s rest. Life is tough for an innkeeper! Did you let the stress and frustration seep into your tone with a guest today?
Why do I ask? Recently, I made an observation that I want to share with our readers. Frequently we at the PAII office receive complaints from travelers, who have recently stayed at PAII member inns. They apparently had a bad experience, see the PAII logo on the inn’s web site and feel compelled to let us know about it. Most complaints we get are less about the quality of food, comfort of bed or cleanliness of bathrooms; they feel compelled to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard primarily due to the way they were treated by the innkeeper. My observation was somewhat corroborated by Bill Oates of Inn Consulting Partners, longtime friend to innkeepers in our industry, in an address to a gathering of innkeepers in Virginia. He took a cursory look at negative consumer reviews on TripAdvisor and BedandBreakfast.com, and noticed most of the complaints centered on the reaction of innkeepers to their grievances.
Most guests will overlook eggs being a little cold or the sight of a dust bunny under the bed. Few, though, will overlook an encounter with someone rude or dismissive – or at least perceived rudeness. With the advent of online reviews, these negative encounters will be publicly aired more and more. I don’t necessarily think our readers need a lesson on how to be polite and accommodating; we all know how to treat guests. The question you need to ask yourselves is – am I letting the professional get personal?
More than any profession I know, innkeeping blurs the line between professional and personal – but there is a line. You live where you work. Most times, your spouse or partner works with you. You use personal funds for business expenses. Sometimes innkeepers get lured over the line to the personal side by demanding guests. A complaint easily appears like an insult. A last-minute, 8 p.m. request for a room seems inconsiderate. Taking the unused soaps is just downright thievery.
The observations both Bill and I independently made indicate that the innkeeper’s impact on a guest’s experience is enormous – maybe more than some of you realize. If you are not acutely aware of your own efforts to deliver great customer service, then it might be time for a little reflection. What’s going on in your life that might cause you to be terse with your customers? Are you getting enough rest? Have you attended any conferences that help you stay fresh on guest relations? Are you still happy being an innkeeper?
No matter how personal you may let things get, the customer is shielded from the harsh realities of being an innkeeper. They do not know how very difficult it is to run a busy inn. Nevertheless, by reserving a room at a B&B, they are expecting something different than what they might encounter at a hotel. They deserve the best possible experience all around, which includes a courteous, helpful and amiable innkeeper. The warmth of the innkeeper is at the center of our brand as an industry. For your own sake and for the betterment of our industry, it is my obligation to bring this discussion to the table – even though these negative guest-and-innkeeper encounters are on the whole few and far between.
I wish you nothing but success and happiness as innkeepers. If you are feeling a higher-than-usual level of stress, I challenge you to pause, take a deep breath and discover again what it was that drew you to this business. What makes you happy? Speaking of happy, Bill also noticed that most positive online reviews left by guests mentioned pleasant interactions with the innkeeper. Commit to delivering the warmth our customers hope for and deserve. That warmth has a way of finding its way back to you.
How do you stay on top of your customer service game? I welcome comments and input.
Jay Karen
Tags: Online Reviews
Posted in Online Reviews | 10 Comments »
Jay Karen, President & CEO of the
March 7, 2008 at 6:42 pm...
Hi Jay!
Debbie calls “it being a dump truck”. Do not dump your trash on the next person.
Darla has a sign that says “passive aggressive behavior not tolerated”.
I had a boss that used to tell us that “taking money from rude customers gave him extreme pleasure”.
I take a learning vacation. Like at Disneyland… with the PAII team!
Diane Sheiry
The Waverly Inn
March 7, 2008 at 6:59 pm...
Thanks, Diane. I’ve been hearing some other great saying, like “This garden is fertilized with the ashes of difficult customers.” It’s perfectly ok (and I encourage it) for innkeepers to vent about difficult customers within the confines of their peers (i.e. PAII Forum, state association meetings, etc). It’s a common bond among innkeepers, and to gripe about it certainly can relieve stress. I just hope innkeepers, who find themselves frustrated all the time, are doing the self-reflection necessary to delivering warmth and good service every day the doors are open…at least trying their best to do it.
Can’t wait to see you at the Advisory Council meeting in May.
Jay
March 7, 2008 at 9:11 pm...
Hi Jay,
I think we (meaning the industry) have a challenge on our hands. The demographics of our guests have dropped about 20 years in the past 10 years. That being said, the “younger ” guests has a whole different set of expectations, needs and wants that the over 45 year old guest. There has been a discussion on the forum about this as well. So bottom line, because this younger guest is so internet savvy, he looks for comments from other guests about a place and is then not the least bit concerned about posting his own comments. Our challenge is to understand what works for this demographic. We can then develop a rapore that works for both them and us as innkeepers. I try to do an attitude adjustment daily to deal with all this…thanks for all you do,
Chris Mason
Parish House Inn
March 7, 2008 at 9:53 pm...
Chris,
You make a great point. The demographics are indeed shifting. The more we promote B&Bs as “business travel friendly,” the more diversity we’ll see in what guests are expecting. The better job we do with internet marketing a social media, the more we’ll get Gen X to stay at B&Bs.
Innkeepers would be wise to stay fresh on these matters. Not to offer a shameless plug (but I will), we are sharing some great knowledge on these matters in our weekly and monthly emails (INNfo and innkeeping), and we have several sessions at the PAII Conference on this very matter. Peter Scherman and Rick Wolf from The B&B Team are presenting a session called, “The i.guest in a Changing Marketplace,” which hits this nail in the head.
For those readers interested, here’s a list that includes other sessions that would offer similar education:
http://www.paiiconference.org/education-marketing.htm
Wow. There is so much on which an innkeeper needs to stay current, it’s mind-boggling!
Jay
March 9, 2008 at 12:43 am...
Hi Jay,
I was wondering what you do with the negative comments such as the one you posted. Do you contact the Inn to relay the feedback and give them an opportunity to improve?
Just wondering,
Rita Sleys
Rosemont Inn B&B
March 9, 2008 at 4:10 pm...
Hi Jay,
In response to Rita’s question, we got some negative feedback in January from a guest in the age group that’s mentioned here. Many of the younger generation seem to think they can do what they like when they get to our inns and have little or no consideration for others. I did post a management response to this feedback which Tripadvisor posted, however they have not posted any further reviews from any of our guests since, which is something I’m trying to sort out now. Yes, we have to be hospitable, but we’re human too and if someone is putting our other guests’ safety and comfort at risk, we have an obligation to say something, even at the risk of being called “rude”. To cap it all, I’m British, and face the additional problem of some Americans believing I’m being rude and abrupt when in fact I’m not. Sometimes I just have a different way of saying things. I’ve been in this industry over 20 years and until recently have never had a problem with my perceived attitude in any country in the world. Am I going to be penalized for it in this country in this electronic age? Apparently so.
Hilary Jones
Inngenium LLC
Admiral Peary House
Fryeburg, ME
March 10, 2008 at 2:13 am...
Rita,
When we get customer complaints, we send a letter to the innkeepers, along with a copy of the complaint. Since we were not on site to observe any of the subjects of the complaint, we do not take sides in the issue. If the complaints are justified, we do hope the innkeepers see it as a learning opportunity. But, I imagine some complaints get blown out of proportion.
Jay
March 10, 2008 at 2:58 am...
Hi Hilary,
Thanks for sharing that anecdote. Your story perfectly highlights how difficult this can be.
I wouldn’t suggest that innkeepers need to be perfect, and can safely say that not all complaints are legitimate.
There are a lot of issues at play with what seemed to happen at your inn that night with those guests.
- Managing expecations with last minute reservations
- Putting all your policies, procedures and offerings on your web site, but realizing that guests don’t read all of it
- A new generation of “inngoers” entering our market and making sure they get a proper orientation (staying at inns is very different than staying at your run-of-the-mill hotel)
- When and how innkeepers should/shouldn’t respond online to reviews
Lots of stuff to blog about in the future!
Look forward to seeing you next month,
Jay
March 19, 2008 at 7:05 pm...
Innkeepers do not need to be perfect, however, we do need to realize, the guest will be the guest, and a younger demographic will not behave the same as an older one.
A much more experienced innkeeper told us early on that in order to be successful we would need to understand the servanthood of innkeeping. It’s not about the innkeeper or the property but about the guest and meeting their needs. We provide a package for others. We provide service to others.
While we do need to make some guidelines and have some expectations of our guests we as innkeepers would I think do well to remember that it is about those guests. And as the guests change, like a new demgraphic then it is our job and in a sense our duty to figure out how to change our ways to meet the guest needs.
Often the guest is behaving in what is now the cultural norm, and we may have expectations that are no longer the norm.
I often need to adjust/remind myself of this on a daily basis too!
Change is the one constant an innkeeper can depend upon, and PAII helps us isolated out here in our Inns to keep up with the trends, norms and changes!
good topic Jay.
Joyce Schulte
Chambered Nautilus Bed and Breakfast Inn
March 19, 2008 at 7:26 pm...
“Often the guest is behaving in what is now the cultural norm, and we may have expectations that are no longer the norm.”
Great comment, Joyce. While common decency and manners should transcend generations, there are definitely changes with each successive generation – both good and bad, depending on the beholder.
Those who are trying to pay attention and adapt when and where possible, in my humble opinion, have the greatest chance for ongoing success.
See you soon!
Jay