Good customer service is essential to success in any industry, but it is particularly important in the service and hospitality sector. “Hospitality” means treating guests well; and here, we’re talking specifically about hotels. Because service is so vital to hospitality, hotels are a good place to look for excellent service practices.

So today we’ll be listening in on a phone call from an angry customer at the Majestic, a five-star hotel in Shanghai. By listening to a bad example and a good example of service practice, we’ll be studying skills that are useful in any industry, no matter whether you are dealing with internal or external customers.

We’ll see that a very important part of handling angry customers is showing empathy: Empathy is similar to sympathy – it means showing that you understand the customer’s pain.

Listening Questions

Bad Example:
1) How does the customer, Steve, learn the service associate’s name?
2) What is Steve’s problem?
3) How could Jenna have handled the complaint better?

Good Example:
1) When Steve says, “I’m at the end of my rope,” what does he mean?
2) What does Sandy do to calm Steve down?

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3