18 January 2019
Treat your Guests as a Customer
The hospitality director suddenly flew out of his chair. Customer! You can’t use that word here! Then you lose your audience right away. We use the word -guest- here! I let him take a breath. Ah, ok, guest’, I said and asked in amazement: ‘From what line of thought do you actually say guest instead of customer? It became quiet…
In the hospitality industry it is customary to address and treat your customers as ‘guests’. After all, they are ‘guests’. We are not used to anything else. Anyone who now uses the word ‘customer’ in the hospitality industry gets anything but loving terms. However, when we dive into history, we discover that nothing is what it seems….
The origin of the word 'Guest
It used to happen regularly that a host and his company came to visit. His company, the so-called guests, did not have to pay. They even ordered a blind card. Without prices! Nowadays it is very rare for you to be treated as a 'guest' free of charge. Being a 'guest' is no longer what it was.
If we go further back in time we discover something remarkable. The word 'guest' does not exactly have a friendly meaning. Guest' is born from the word 'gastus' or 'stranger/enemy'. [1236; CG I, 27]. Who treats his enemy to loving attention?
Do a little less interesting, be a little more interested
The word customer, on the other hand, has a happy birth. Customer' comes from the French word 'chalant', which means 'to be strongly interested' [1174; TLF]. It is also derived from the old French 'chaloir', which stands for 'care/warm running' [9th century; TLF]. Derived from the Latin 'calēre' (not to be confused with the Rotterdam coelère;)) and literally means: 'to be warm/excited'.
Are there people who like your product or service and the way they are treated? Then you already have your customers in. Just give them a little love, warmth and attention. Say, for example, when a customer comes in so warm and excitedly: 'Hey, how nice, that you thought of us! Welcome!
After reading the above, the attentive reader may still think: 'Hey, we don't use the word 'chalant' (= customer) as such, but we do use its counterpart: 'non-chalant' (i.e., it is non-customer). The more chalant you are, the more pleasant the guest will experience this, the more nonchalant you will be....Will you treat your customers as guests or your guests as customers?
Don't panic. Do not hesitate to use the term 'guest-freedom' with love. Because who wants very strange and hostile types in his business?
How do I touch the sensitive chord?
Do you like it and do you think it makes sense to have a good sparring about how you can treat your customers/guests in such a way that they keep coming back to you and do the marketing for you...
How do you get yourself, colleagues and employees to transform good intentions into 'guest-oriented' behaviour?
-How to get out stronger when things go wrong or are under pressure?
-Yes, how you can even boost the experience of your guests / customers in 0.25 sec?
