Page 17 - ARUBA TODAY

locAl Monday 23 october 2017
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Hotel Hustle

Column by: ShanellaPantophlet

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is” is a popular idiom, that to me relates to com-
placency, which is something hospitality professionals cannot afford to be.
Our industry is constantly evolving and moving forward with better ways to
provide customer service, improved technology to make processes more ef-
ficient and more tools to reach a broader audience. If we remain compla-
cent we will stay behind and lose out to our progressing competition.

In the timeshare sector it can be very easy to fall into a pattern of compla-
cency. We see the same guests year in and year out for over 40+ years, we
know exactly what their requests are going to be before they ask. In my time
working, it’s become so commonplace for me to see a last name and auto-
matically associate it with a specific request. The problem is though, that we
have become comfortable with our members and that tends to lend itself to
us not paying attention to the advances going on around us, which leads to
missed opportunities for growth.

A few months ago my team and I started a customer service training program and I know some of them may have been slightly offended at
the notion of it. After all they’ve been in the industry for decades, what could they possibly learn from this course that they don’t already know?
Needless to say, that session and the ones that followed, were very insightful and awakened them to the fact that although we are providing
good customer service, we have a lot of room for improvement going forward. It’s been great to see everyone getting engaged and taking
an active role again in the customer service experience, before check in, during the guest stay and after they’ve checked out.

The result of shaking off that rust has led to increased positive feedback from both long time members and newcomers alike. The positive feed-
back through reviews in customer feedback cards or through online reviews, leads to greater pride amongst the staff, which then encourages
them to continue to look for opportunities not only to improve customer service across the board, but also make processes as efficient as pos-
sible so our guests have the best vacations they’ve had to date.

Slowly but surely the Aruban timeshare industry, which is celebrating 40 years on Aruba, is catching up and modernizing. We are updating the
40 year old websites, getting onto social media, hiring people to manage that social media and embracing review sites. The changes we are
making put us in a better position going forward to continually appeal to a broader market share.

Ultimately the lesson should be, “even if it isn’t broke” we should still take it apart, see how it works and what can be improved. This practice of
constant adaptation is important for the growth and longevity of our business. The results when we put everything back together will be worth
the time and effort we have spent on making the necessary changes.

Aruban born and bred ShanellaPantophlet is passionate
about tourism. That is the world she studied and works in, so
we might as well call her a specialist. Luckily for Aruba Today
Shanella also loves to write. And together with the fact that
the majority of our readers are tourists, we found ourselves a
perfect combination for a column: Hotel Hustle.