WC And Hospitality Industries Are Similar – Service and Employees
The WC and Hospitality Industries are very similar in quite a few respects.
The idea for this article resulted from seeing the best in the hospitality industry and the worst. We, as consultants, usually are contacted when there is a breakdown in communication somewhere in the insurance process.A large percentage of the time the breakdown in communication causes a “surprise” or unexpected outcome such as a premium audit result that resulted in a much higher premium audit bill than was expected at policy inception.
Customer service is very important in both industries as the product being sold is only used when needed such as a policy or a hotel room. An employer may only find out how great their coverage is when they have a claim. The same can be said when one arrives to find out how great their hotel will or will not be for the length of the stay.I recently traveled to Florida on business trip. There were great service providers and very poor ones.
Enterprise Rent A Car in Winter Park FL; KeKes Restaurant in Winter Park; and Ayothaya Thai in Orlando provided a no surprise service. Both of the restaurants are award winners.Enterprise had me out the door in two minutes. KeKes Restaurant and Ayothaya Thai had outstanding service and the product was also great. Their workers made the difference.
The one bad experience I had was at the Orlando resort hotel. I will not mention the name as I do not want this blog to be the subject of a lawsuit. When I checked in, I must have been checked into a room with a person’s name that was very similar.
When I arrived at the room and opened the door, there were two suitcases on the bed and someone was taking a shower. The front desk was very apologetic and upgraded me to a different room. That was OK customer service. It was not over yet.
At 10 PM that night, I was frantically called by the front desk saying that I had been identified as a possible credit fraud as I had checked into the room using a Visa. That was interesting as I had checked in using an American Express card. I explained this to the hotel clerk over the phone as to what had earlier occurred as it was late and I did not want to return to the front desk.
The front desk clerk then said they would send security to the room if I did not come to the front desk immediately. I asked to talk to the manager or shift manager who was not at the hotel at the time.
The breakdown in communication had occurred and the “surprise” was in play. As with any type of service industry, the mistake by the provider had tainted the relationship. The resort was massive. The return to the front desk was a long trip. Who would want to have to return to the front desk for a second time to straighten out the hotel’s multiple mistakes?
The same can be said for the WC industry. As with this article, the outstanding services providers are noted, but the deficient service providers are remembered much longer and in greater detail.
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