Bridge Hotel

Customer service policy and procedures

Policy
All members of staff provide services to customers either directly or indirectly and must meet the needs
of customers in a professional and ethical manner with courteous and efficient service.

Bridge Hotel is committed to:

 Politeness: the use of good manners in all interactions
 Responsiveness: meet agreed timeframes and follow up on all queries
 Professionalism: being objective and knowledgeable and demonstrating integrity
 Understanding: customers and their business, including acknowledging any mistakes the Hotel
has inadvertently made in any aspect of their services
 Confidentiality: respecting the confidentiality of customer information
 Transparency: processes are clear, consistent, easy to access and documented.

General Principles
Staff will:
 demonstrate to the customer at all times respect, courtesy, patience, attentiveness,
consideration and sensitivity that is appropriate to the age, culture and linguistic background of
the individual or group
 listen to what customers have to say and determine the exact nature of the request
 respond to customer enquiries promptly and efficiently in a timely manner
 act with integrity and honesty when dealing with customers
 make every effort to see customers with appointments on time and advise if delayed
 assist with further enquiries. A contact name, telephone number and an address is to be
included in all written correspondence.
 if unavailable or away from the office, return email messages promptly upon returning
 If away from the office for two or more days an “out of office” message is to be left on outlook
and the telephone.
 provide the customer with advice and other information that is accurate, clear, concise, reliable
and in plain language
 take appropriate action and respond in accordance with organisational policies and procedures
with minimal inconvenience to the customer
 adopt fair, lawful and appropriate procedures when making decisions, carrying out activities and
performing services
 be sensitive to any language or other communication difficulties experienced by customers
when providing advice and other information
 be sensitive to any customers with disabilities when providing advice and other information
 present a positive image of Bridge Hotel to the public.

Southern Academy of Business and Technology | Level 2,95 Bathurst Street Sydney NSW 2000
RTO Code: 31595 | CRICOS Code: 03602E | Phone: 1300 852 205 (Australia) | +61 02 8031 7727 (Overseas)
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 Managing Personal Enquiries
All face to face communication will be conducted in a professional, courteous and concise manner.
Personal dress is seen as important, and should adhere to the following dress code:
 Smart casual in all circumstance, if your role involves a uniform then this needs to be worn.
 Jewellery should be kept to a minimum. Single loop or stud earrings only.
 Covered footwear should be worn at all times.
 Hair should be clean and neat. If it reaches the shoulders, it should be held up in a pony tail.
 Visible tattoos are not permitted.
 If you work in the kitchen, hands should be washed before meeting and greeting customers.

The following procedure should be followed for personal enquiries.

 Acknowledge and greet the customer with their name.
 Shake hands with the customer.
 Introduce yourself and give your position in the organisation.
 Give the customer a summary of what you know about them and what you hope to achieve at
the meeting.
 Confirm with the customer that your understanding of the meeting’s objectives is correct.
 Ask the customer to give any relevant details that will help you to define what Bridge Hotel
services would be most appropriate for them.
 Work to establish a rapport with the customer.
 Maintain, and express a genuine interest in each customer’s needs.

During every face to face meeting, you are required to demonstrate effective interpersonal and
communication skills including:
 Speaking clearly and concisely
 Using effective non-verbal communication skills to encourage audience interest
 Responding to questions
 Asking questions to seek feedback
 Use of active listening techniques to confirm and clarify understanding.

Throughout every meeting, maintain sensitivity to any specific needs and any cultural, family and
individual differences that the customer may have, and incorporate these into your behaviour.

Assess whether the customer’s needs are urgent to identify priorities for service delivery.

All face to face meetings should be acknowledged with a follow-up email not later than 48 hours after
the meeting has been concluded.

Managing Written Enquiries

All written communication will be clear and concise.
Bridge Hotel endeavours to acknowledge receipt of written correspondence:
 email within one working day
 mail within three working days
Where Bridge Hotel is writing to a customer in response to an enquiry or other matter, all written
correspondence must be finalised in the timelines shown below.

Southern Academy of Business and Technology | Level 2,95 Bathurst Street Sydney NSW 2000
RTO Code: 31595 | CRICOS Code: 03602E | Phone: 1300 852 205 (Australia) | +61 02 8031 7727 (Overseas)
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 Managing Telephone Enquiries
The following procedure should be followed for telephone enquiries.
 Answer the phone in a timely manner. All telephone calls should be answered on or before the
third ring.
 Greet the client with “Good morning or good afternoon”, and then introduce yourself.
 Be warm and friendly
 Speak slowly and clearly
 Be careful with language: slang or jargon is not to be used
 Be positive and helpful: if you don’t know the answer say that you will find out the answer and
get back to the customer via telephone or email with the answer.
 Give clear advice to the caller about when the caller can expect a response when calls cannot
be fully responded to immediately. This should be within one business day.
 Deal with customers calmly, courteously and patiently, even when the callers are angry,
aggressive or distressed. Remain polite and seek help if necessary,
 Answer unattended telephones in the absence of colleagues whenever practical
 Respond to telephone messages within one business day whenever practical
 Change voicemail message(s) when absent from the office for any period of time, for example,
external all-day meeting, state or territory based public holiday or leave.

Emails
Subject field of email is clear and concise. Do not capitalise all letters.
Relevant recipients identified
Email includes greeting and name and position
Email text concise and to the point
Email checked for spelling and tone before sending. Tone should be warm.

Prioritising customers
In order for operations to be as efficient as possible, Bridge Hotel prioritises customers using the
following ratings:
1. Customers seeking an immediate appointment.
Their request should be actioned within 4 hours.
2. Customers seeking appointment in the near future but not immediately.
Their request should be actioned within 1 working day.
3. Request for general information.
Requests for general information are important and should be responded to within 2 working
days.

Records
A Customer Record Sheet should be filled out for each customer and updated as necessary.
In all of the situations referred to in this policy, adequate documentary records must be made and
maintained on the appropriate Bridge Hotel file.

Southern Academy of Business and Technology | Level 2,95 Bathurst Street Sydney NSW 2000
RTO Code: 31595 | CRICOS Code: 03602E | Phone: 1300 852 205 (Australia) | +61 02 8031 7727 (Overseas)
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 Booking
The Hotel is very popular and always busy. When liaising with customers, assume the following lead
times:
Bookings for weddings and conferences – at least 6 months in advance
Booking for lunch and dinners – at least four weeks in advance
If the customer is pushing for an earlier date, advise them that while this may not be possible, you will
certainly try your best. Liaise with reception on this and put the customer’s name on the wait list.

Referrals
There may be instances where a staff member liaising with a customer may not be able to immediately
provide them with the required information as this may be another department’s responsibility. sTaff
must recognise that the enquiry is outside of their responsibility and contact the relevant staff member.
Staff should refer to the following list for referrals:
Accounts Manager – if a customer asks for a discount or a specific package that is not in line with
quoted prices, the Accounts Manager should be contacted via email with the details of the customer’s
request. The Accounts Manager will then follow this up.
Entertainment Services Manager – if a customer wishes to organise entertainment services (e.g.
performances) as part of their package, the Entertainment Services Manager should be contacted via
email with the details of the customer’s request. The Entertainment Services Manager will then follow
this up.

Feedback
Bridge Hotel welcomes feedback from all of its customers.
Feedback can be provided via email or by letter, or by completing our online feedback from.
Bridge Hotel is also committed to actively seeking feedback from customers. When a service has been
delivered to a customer, we will send an email to the customer thanking them for using our services and
asking them their experience with us. Ask at least four relevant questions relevant to the service they
received. Questions could:
 Were you satisfied with the services provided to you? Why or why not?
 Would you recommend us to others? Why or why not?
 What aspect of the services we provided to you did you like best?
 What aspect of the services we provided to you did you like least?
 Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
However, if there were other aspects that you think feedback might be valuable on, include this in the
feedback email. Do not include more than six questions.
On receipt of feedback from any source, all feedback is recorded in our Feedback Register. The
feedback register is reviewed at regular management meeting and evaluated for any action to be taken.
Where the feedback includes unmet needs, the customer should be contacted directly within 48 hours
of the feedback being received, and the suitability of other products or services should be discussed.
Customers should be supported to contact other services if appropriate.

Southern Academy of Business and Technology | Level 2,95 Bathurst Street Sydney NSW 2000
RTO Code: 31595 | CRICOS Code: 03602E | Phone: 1300 852 205 (Australia) | +61 02 8031 7727 (Overseas)
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 Managing anonymous customer feedback
Customers can provide anonymous feedback to Bridge Hotel via the website. This feedback, however,
can be difficult to investigate (often staff need to obtain more information from the person providing the
feedback) and for obvious reasons it can be impossible to contact the person making the complaint and
communicate the findings Bridge Hotel.
Bridge Hotel will not normally investigate anonymous feedback unless the issue places public safety at
risk or raises a serious/legal matter and there is sufficient information in the feedback to carry out an
investigation.

Dealing with difficult customers

Bridge Hotel staff are expected to treat customers with courtesy and respect at all times and to make
every reasonable effort to address the customer’s needs even when the customer is rude or difficult.
Staff must try and put themselves in the customer’s shoes and be empathetic.
Actively listen to what the customer is saying and repeat their concerns to make sure you are
addressing the right issue.
Use calm, objective wording. For example, “As I understand, you are quite rightly upset because your
book did not arrive in the time we specified.”
Apologise to the customer and present a solution. For example, you could offer a discount on a future
service.
All feedback should be recorded.
Where the customer indicates they wish to lodge a formal complaint, outline the complaint procedure as
in the company’s complaints handling policy.

Confidentiality and privacy

Bridge Hotel is committed to the protection of customer personal information. All dealings with
customers must abide by the Privacy Act 1998 and the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the
Privacy Act 1998 (CTH) except when qualified by any relevant Codes of Practice and will underpin all
matters related to personal information at Bridge Hotel. Bridge Hotel also has a Privacy Policy in
accordance with that Act.

Privacy Complaints
Individuals who feel that Bridge Hotel may have breached their Privacy or Aus. Biz Coaching’s Privacy
Policy, are to contact Bridge Hotel in writing either by email, fax or letter.

Southern Academy of Business and Technology | Level 2,95 Bathurst Street Sydney NSW 2000
RTO Code: 31595 | CRICOS Code: 03602E | Phone: 1300 852 205 (Australia) | +61 02 8031 7727 (Overseas)
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