Letter of Service Recovery

Dear Mr Bennert,

Thank you for taking the time to share your valued feedback with us. I am disappointed to read about the inconveniences that you encountered during your stay with us. Please allow me to assure you that your feedback is important to us.

I am sorry to hear about your reservation record that was without breakfast during check-in. The manager has kindly agreed to do the respective refund for your breakfast.  

Regarding the rooftop pool experience, I am very sorry to hear that the key for the roof top pool was malfunctioned, causing great inconvenience for you. It can be better managed, and we have put in place a more robust plan for managing similar situations for these facilities, while placing the highest emphasis on the needs and well-being of our guests.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the disappointment and frustration you experienced, and I do hope that we can regain your confidence in our hotel in the near future.

Warm Regards,

Chantel Neo

Guest Service Agent

Communication Problem in Workplace

Building and maintaining good work relations with colleagues and business partners is an important competency in the hospitality business workplace. In a globalised world, career success requires the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds.

Before I enrolled into university, I was working at a travel agency in charge of selling group tour packages and Free Independent Tours (FIT). In group tour packages, there may be some changes to the tour itinerary from various factors such as changes in suppliers and itinerary routes which may ultimately change the cost in price. Additionally, there are different itineraries for different seasons of the year.

The communication process normally starts from the respective suppliers such as hotels or attraction sites, who will convey the changes to the tour operator. The tour operator would update the itinerary, then convey the new information to the tour consultant teams. With the new changes in tour itineraries, there would be a product briefing for all the tour consultants to allow them to understand the updated changes in the itineraries and the upcoming promotions. Thereafter, the tour consultants would then be able to sell the tour packages to the customers.

Due to the long communication line, a communication break-down is inevitable. I remember a specific incident where it was during one of the school holiday period where the travel agency decided to have a variety of promotional packages to attract more customers to travel during that time. Information regarding the new promotional price of an Australia package was made known to the consultant teams and we sold according to the information received. 

Finally, a family of four decided to make a booking to Australia. I proceeded with the booking via the online system. It was then that I realised that the promotional price which my tour operator mentioned was only for a specific date during the June holidays, and not the date that the family intended to book. 

Through the process, I had to check with my tour operator to and fro and get back the updated information to the family. The mother of the family was very upset with the information and she mentioned to me how the brochure was a misrepresentation of the price and the tour itinerary, as it was only on that date where it had the exclusive price and tour activities.

After that incident, it made me further realise how communication is so vital in an organisation. It is crucial in ensuring teamwork, which would impact on the success in achieving the organisational vision and goals. 

What could have been done to prevent this scenario from occurring?

Personal Branding

Self awareness

One of the key areas which connected to my personal branding is self-awareness. Self-awareness is knowing about myself, understanding my strengths and weaknesses, needs and wants and knowing what others think about me.

Most people would know about their strengths, weaknesses, needs and wants. In communication, my strength would be the ability to effectively encourage others and giving them practical advice when they are unsure of their choices and decisions. To be a good encourager, it is not actually having the right answers and advice to their problems, but being empathetic, connecting to my friends, and listening in to their concerns, rather than just making a swift conclusion in diagnosing their problems. Sometimes, I feel that my strength also happens to be my weakness. As much as I am empathetic and able to give valuable advice, I do get impatient when one of my friend wallows in depression and is trapped in his negative mindsets when he has met with certain setbacks.

Johari Window

Definitely, everyone does not know everything about what others think about them. That is where the Johari Window, blind and unknown side, come into the picture. Similarly, I am unaware of many things and impressions that people form about me.

However, I do try to seek advice and feedback from my friends whenever I face a difficult scenario, and learn about their sentiments of how they would handle such situations. Through that, I learn more about myself, such as my temperament, and how it affects the way I handle and manage interpersonal relationships around me.

Reviewing the Johari Window, I do aim to learn more about myself, especially in the blind and unknown side. For instance, I hope to improve interpersonal relationships around me, using the right communication method for different people, so that I can effectively grow in my communication skills.