Essential customer service skills for hospitality workers

Posted 1 day ago

What training do hospitality and retail workers require?

In the fast-paced world of hospitality, exceptional customer service is the key to creating positive customer experiences and keeping guests coming back, as well as the quality of the main service of course. But what are the customer service skills that can set your business apart from the rest?

What are customer service skills?

Customer service skills refers to supporting customers throughout their experience with your business. In hospitality this could be serving somebody behind a counter, taking orders at the table or much more.

Let’s explore some of the key customer service skills that will boost your employees and better your customer’s experience.

Hospitality customer service skills

Problem solving

Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan. Whether it’s a dietary restriction, a misplaced reservation, or a broken digital room key, the ability to approach problems calmly and find creative solutions is a valuable skill to have, and can help to keep the positive customer journey flowing nicely.

Communication

This is a vital skill required. Hospitality roles are often fully face–to-face customer service where staff will need to communicate daily. Clear and concise communication can customer understand instructions and also understand situations that could arise that needs to be explained.

Patience

Staff will come across a variety of personalities and requests when working in hospitality. Patience is essential to help staff remain calm under pressure and continue to provide high-quality customer service.

Active listening

Active listening is a skill that lets customers know staff are putting in that extra effort into making their experience a memorable one. Paying close attention to guest’s needs can help staff to anticipate what they want so they’re able to tailor their experience with you.

Adaptability

Whether you’re running a restaurant or a bar, it’s crucial that staff can adapt to unforeseen circumstances and adapt their service. Having the ability to adapt ensure a smooth experience for guests despite the unexpected situation.

Time management

Juggling multiple tasks is common in this industry; remembering numerous tables orders, dietary requirements, customer requests, and incoming reservations. Strong time management skills means your employees can meet guest’s needs promptly.

Knowledge of the business

Customers will often always ask questions, whether it’s about a menu, a service, recommendations or many other things. This is why it’s important that staff are familiar with the business so they can give correct and confident answers.

How to improve customer service skills

Skills for customer service training

One way to improve customer service skills is with customer service training. It’s a surefire way to train up new and existing staff to improve soft skills and interpersonal skills.

Experience

Effective customer service skills also comes with experience. After working in your business for a period of time, staff will begin to understand the business better and anticipate common customer problems and questions.

Customer service training with iHasco

Take the next step towards boosting your staff skills with our CPD Accredited Customer Service Training course. Our training courses are designed to be effective, with presenter-led footage and animation to keep your staff engaged and to make sure they take away all the key information they need to learn. Our courses are ideal for a wide range of industries and people, such as hospitality, retail, construction, care, education and more!

We cover many different areas, including:

We’re already helping thousands of organisations just like yours, and we’d like to help you too. Why not check out our range of courses for the care sector today by claiming your free, no-obligation trial? Alternatively, you can request a bespoke quote and we’ll be in touch to discuss your unique training requirements.