Customer Service

Managing the data deluge

20-Feb-2018 By Stefan Chomka

The way hospitality businesses capture, store and use data is changing. How can operators use the mass of data they now collect rather than drown in it?

ALMR launches hospitality diploma

21-Dec-2017 By Stefan Chomka

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers has launched its diploma for the UK hospitality sector.

Industry 'hasn't seen the light' on tech

14-Nov-2017 By Mark Wingett

Many restaurant groups have “not seen the light” when it comes to technology, despite the huge potential for improving efficiency, according to Wagamama customer director Emma Woods.

SPONSORED FEATURE

Five things to consider when buying a new EPOS system

18-Sep-2017 By Restaurant

Gone are the days of handwritten bills and manual cash registers. With business owners being as busy as they are and customers expecting new levels of efficiency, creating the modern restaurant experience means working with a state of the art EPOS. How...

Talking tech: the systems that will shape the restaurants of the future

14-Sep-2017 By Fiona Griffiths

From robots and AI to cloud-based EPoS solutions and mobile ordering, technology continues to change the restaurant landscape.

Loyal learnings: how the latest tech can help you get repeat customers

08-Sep-2017 By Restaurant Magazine

The days of using vouchers to encourage repeat custom are long gone. If you want to drive loyalty, it's time to get digital

Businesses should remove tips from bills to restore customer trust, says poll

01-Jul-2016 By Hannah Thompson

Consumers and business executives would overwhelmingly like to see discretionary charges – or tips – removed from restaurant, hotel, café and bar bills and lack of clarity is eroding trust.

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Five ways hospitality operators can make more of guest Wi-Fi

18-Apr-2016 By Andrea Calcagno

Andrea Calcagno, CEO of Cloud4Wi lists five ways the hospitality sector can benefit from the Wi-Fi they offer their customers. 

SPOTLIGHT ON SERVICE

Spotlight on service: How do you define good service?

27-Nov-2015 By Liam Garrahan, Emma Eversham

What is good service? Restaurant, hotel and pub operators often talk about making it a key focus of the business and how it is integral to its success, but how exactly do you define it?

Martin Wolstencroft: “Staff have to care about themselves and the customer”

14-Oct-2015 By Liam Garrahan

Restaurant and bar staff have to care about themselves and the customer in order to give good customer service, says Martin Wolstencroft, founder of Arc Inspirations.

UK hotels come top for customer service

13-Oct-2015 By Sophie Witts

UK hotels have been rated as offering the best customer service in Europe, according to new research from the Independent Hotel Show and Travelzoo.

Technology having increasing impact on diner choice

15-Sep-2015 By Liam Garrahan

Fifty-five per cent of diners say that technology plays a vital role in the restaurant experience, according to a recent report, with online menus, reviews and apps having an increasing influence on where consumers choose to eat.

ASK Italian and Zizzi remove tips administration charges

07-Sep-2015 By Mark Wingett

Azzurri Group, operator of Zizzi and ASK Italian, is to follow PizzaExpress in removing the 8 per cent administration fee on tips made by electronic card payments from November this year.

People 1st supports hotel service standards following Hotels.info reports

11-Jun-2015 By Emma Eversham

People 1st has come out in support of service standards at hotels in London after they were slammed in reports by Hotels.info.

Bookatable launches mobile pay-at-table feature

05-Jun-2015 By Sophie Witts

Bookatable.co.uk has become the first online booking service to introduce a pay-at-table function on its mobile app.

Burger & Lobster turns to technology to manage customer journey at Cardiff

07-Apr-2015 By Emma Eversham

Burger & Lobster has installed guest management technology at its Cardiff restaurant to allow it to better manage its reservations and give customers more accurate wait times. 

Pushy waiters deter diners from leaving tips

12-Dec-2014 By Melodie Michel

Over-attentive waiting staff has been named as the most irritating practice in British restaurants in a survey commissioned by restaurant critic Barry Verber.

Technology could help attract youth into industry, says Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi

16-Oct-2014 By Melodie Michel

Giving the opening keynote speech at the Annual Hotel Conference 2014, Alex Polizzi, who presents the TV show Hotel Inspector, explained that though technology has a role to play in today’s hotel sector, nothing can replace human interaction in customer...

Hospitality and tourism leads the field on customer satisfaction

14-Oct-2014 By Carina Perkins

Hospitality and tourism is outperforming other industries in terms of customer satisfaction and experience, according to the latest analysis.

More work needed to improve customer service, says People 1st

16-Sep-2014 By Carina Perkins

Hospitality employees are still falling short when it comes to customer service, according to new research from People 1st.

Customer service voted most important factor for choosing a restaurant

07-Aug-2014 By Melodie Michel

Customer service has been voted more important than food quality and value for money when choosing where to dine out, according to an annual survey conducted by Grass Roots.

Customers less satisfied with leisure sector

17-Jul-2014 By John Harrington

Customer satisfaction with leisure sector businesses has fallen slightly over the past six months, new research shows.

Flowify launches front-of-house software

14-Jul-2014 By Melodie Michel

Software provider Flowify has launched Sofia, an interactive tool working as a real-time advisor to front of house restaurant teams. 

Tourism customers most likely to use social media to interact with companies

08-May-2014 By Lauren Houghton

Recent results from the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) released by the Institute of Customer Service showed that 44% of customers used digital methods to interact with companies in the tourism sector, the highest percentage from all sectors surveyed. 

Whiting & Hammond launches loyalty card with Zonal

30-Oct-2013 By Luke Nicholls

Pub operator Whiting & Hammond has launched a new range of loyalty cards for customers and staff across all seven of its sites.

Zonal launches EPoS table management solution

04-Oct-2013 By Luke Nicholls

Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) system provider Zonal is helping foodservice outlets overcome busy periods with a new one-stop product which it says will ‘transform the way operators manage wait times, meal stages and table-turn times’.

Beds and Bars launches online check-in service at St Christopher's Inns

12-Aug-2013 By Emma Eversham

Beds and Bars, the UK-based hostel and bar group, has launched an online check-in and payment service across its St Christopher's Inns business to help 'transform the customer experience.'

Hospitality Assured releases free customer service analysis app

24-Jul-2013 By Peter Ruddick

Hospitality Assured, the quality standard created by the Institute of Hospitality (IOH), has released a free app which gives business owners and operators the chance to analyse their levels of customer service.

E-learning customer service course for SMEs launched by People 1st

07-May-2013 By Emma Eversham

The People 1st Training Company has launched an interactive e-learning course in customer service that is designed for use within small companies. 

Staff retention in hospitality: More work needed to reduce turnover rates says People 1st

21-Mar-2013 By Emma Eversham

Restaurant, hotel and pub owners will need to continue to train and develop their staff if they want to improve retention levels, says sector skills council People 1st with the release of its fourth State of the Nation report.

Bad staff attitudes account for more complaints than quality of product, report finds

09-Jan-2013

Hospitality businesses across the UK are being urged to focus on improving staff attitudes in 2013 after a report has found that the majority of problems eliciting a complaint were people-related, with the quality of the product accounting for just a...

Service standards hold the key to profitable Christmas for restaurants

07-Dec-2012 By Luke Nicholls

Restaurants across the UK are being urged to focus on providing first-class customer service and nurturing customer relationships throughout the festive period after a survey found that December is seen by diners as the worst month to eat out in terms...

New management training programme launched to improve hospitality's customer service standards

04-Oct-2012 By Luke Nicholls

With Channel 4’s Hotel GB currently highlighting the importance of customer service standards in the UK (albeit in Big Brother fashion), the People 1st Training Company has developed a new programme to give UK managers the skills to create a long-lasting...

Tourists find customer service at London’s hotels below average in run-up to London 2012 Olympics

28-Jun-2012 By Emma Eversham

London’s hotels have been given a lower customer service score than the capital’s tourist attractions, shops, pubs and restaurants by a sample of overseas visitors who came to the city earlier this year.

Restaurants leave customers playing the waiting game

11-May-2012 By Luke Nicholls

More than half of UK diners believe that speed of payment is now a more important issue for a restaurant to address than the quality of food, with 89 per cent claiming that slow payment has ruined their evening.

Service at 87% of hospitality businesses not good enough to generate recommendations

26-Apr-2012 By Emma Eversham

The latest findings from a customer service benchmarking survey show that 87 per cent of hospitality businesses are not providing good enough service to generate guest recommendations.

London 2012: Hospitality businesses urged to improve customer service with 100 days to go

18-Apr-2012 By Peter Ruddick

As the countdown to the London 2012 Olympics reaches the last 100 days hospitality businesses are being urged by VisitBritain and People 1st to 'warm up their welcome' and improve customer service to make the most of the Games. 

Service remains more important to restaurant diners than pricing

05-Mar-2012 By Peter Ruddick

A survey of UK consumers has found that restaurant service remains a more important factor than food pricing to drive whether diners make recommendations to friends and family or leave a restaurant early.

How to manage your hospitality business's online reputation: Your website

27-Jan-2012 By Luke Nicholls

In the consumer-led world of hospitality, it is easy to underestimate the power of the internet. But with well over a million Google searches for ‘London hotels’ being made every month in the UK, and an ever-increasing number of restaurant bookings made...

London 2012 Olympics: Six months left and businesses not prepared, says People 1st survey

27-Jan-2012 By Peter Ruddick

With six months to go until the London 2012 Olympics begin, the majority of businesses have not prepared themselves for the Games, according to a survey by hospitality skills council People 1st.

SurveyMe smartphone app gives restaurants real-time customer feedback

16-Dec-2011 By Luke Nicholls

SurveyMe, the UK’s first smartphone app which allows for real-time customer feedback in restaurants, has launched in the hospitality industry.

Strand Palace first UK hotel to receive WorldHost Recognised Business status

16-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Strand Palace hotel in London’s West End is the first hotel in the UK to be awarded WorldHost Recognised Business status with over 80 per cent of its frontline staff having been trained to WorldHost customer service standards.

TripAdvisor launches dedicated customer support phone line

08-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

TripAdvisor is rolling out a new customer support phone number for registered business owners and managers in a bid to send a “strong message” about the review website’s commitment to customer care.

TripAdvisor admits to lacking customer service

13-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The online review site TripAdvisor has admitted that its contact process for businesses to report fraudulent reviews has been lacking, as the threat of legal action still looms from disgruntled restaurant operators.

People 1st merger to align hospitality and travel training

01-Jun-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The hospitality skills training group People 1st is considering a merger with its counterpart for the UK transport sector, GoSkills, in an effort to pool reduced resources and streamline customer service training efforts.

Service Standards: How to give great hospitality service

28-Mar-2011 By Becky Paskin

Improving your own service skills, as well as those of your staff, can make a noticeable difference in your business and the satisfaction of your customers.

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How to best measure customer service

21-Mar-2011

Jules Murray, of sales and customer service consultants Spider on the Wall tells BigHospitality how restaurants, pubs and hotels can measure customer service in the most cost-effective and beneficial way.

Service standards: Why is British service so poor?

07-Mar-2011 By Becky Paskin

Britain may be the second most popular country in the world, according to the recent BBC World Service Country Rating Poll, but when it comes to delivering a warm, hospitable welcome, we rank just 14th.

Growing market share: top tips from Virgin Atlantic

20-Jan-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Virgin Atlantic has grown in just over 25 years to become the country’s preferred travel brand. Here, the airline’s marketing director shares his top tips on how to grow market share and develop customer loyalty – a strategy he says is easily adaptable...

Michel Roux Jr promotes service careers in new TV show

06-Jan-2011 By Becky Paskin

Michel Roux Jr has taken a break from promoting chef careers on Masterchef: The Professionals to present a new TV show aiming to raise the profile of front-of-house careers instead.