![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-24-at-7.45.57-PM.png)
This is a special edition as Ghana observes this year’s National Customer Service Week, dubbed NAKOFEST, which begins today, 3rd October, and celebrates tourism and hospitality excellence.
![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-02-at-8.01.55-PM-1024x713.png)
Considering all that we now know about customers (if you have followed the last five articles), how should we respond as service providers?
Having started as a front desk clerk at one of the then top hotels in the country, and considering the diverse fulfilling experiences I have garnered over the years, and the many more opportunities still glaring at me, I present a trump card in this article for all those working in the hospitality and tourism industry; the S.P.I.R.I.T approach.
The MUST-KNOW for all service personnel:
The purpose of service organizations is to be attentive and responsive to customers/guests’ needs. If there are no customers/guests, there is no business.
Every customer/guest comes to us with a baggage of expectations. When we meet guests’ expectations, comprising of core, unstated and service, as elements, (refer part 3 cont.) guests perceive the service as high quality. When we fail to meet their expectations, they perceive the service as of relatively low quality.
It is extremely easy to lose customers/guests and very difficult and expensive to replace those we lose; this is particularly true where there is much competition.
In every customer/guest’s mind is a scale (expectation /customer service scale), to rate every service encounter. This is similar to the following images that help hospitality operations assess how well they are doing in meeting customers/guests’ expectations.
![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image.png)
![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-02-at-8.03.37-PM-1024x329.png)
The Way Forward-BE BORN OF THE S.P.I.R.I.T.
Permit me to borrow a common phrase from the gospels in the bible, but with a twist. Unless you are ‘born of the spirit’, you cannot thrive as a service provider in the world of hospitality and tourism.
You will be born of the SPIRIT of hospitality when you correctly anticipate the needs of customers/guests. Anticipating customers/guests needs? Now that seems daunting, particularly when merely meeting customers’ needs seem like a struggle for most service providers! After all, you cannot read minds! That’s why the best way to figure out what your customers/guests want is to ask them.
Currently hoteliers are becoming more tech-savvy. With the help of technology, they can receive continuous feedback from customers/guests anytime, anywhere! As an individual service provider, you too must learn how to ask relevant questions at appropriate times. The information you receive will help you meet and/or exceed guests’ expectations.
What follows is the trump card: Service with the S.P.I.R.I.T approach
![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-02-at-8.15.26-PM-1024x759.png)
That’s the SPIRIT!
Look out for our usual Thursday edition; it draws down the curtain on Questions of service series with style!
![](https://ghhospitality.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-23.png)