Hospitality vs. Customer Service: Why You Need Both
These are common terms in the service industry, but weighing hospitality vs. customer service isn’t the best way to run your business. The reason? They are two different, yet important, concepts.
Whether you work in a restaurant or hotel, our definitions and comparison will help you. You’ll better understand the difference between hospitality and customer service and how each contributes to meeting your customers’ needs.
What Is Hospitality?
Hospitality taps into customers’ feelings and memories, even after they have left your establishment. It encompasses a wide range of elements.
It all begins with making guests feel welcome, but it doesn’t stop there. Hospitality affects a guest’s overall experience in many ways. It starts with the warmth of your decor, the attitude and tone of voice of your staff members. Even the decadent smell of foods being prepared in the kitchen can make guests feel welcome.
Examples of this type of service include:
- Offering a warm greeting upon arrival
- Escorting guests to a table or room
- Providing complementary bonuses to make them feel cared for
- Checking in to ensure the experience is going well
- Asking if there is anything else your establishment can do for guests
- Wishing them farewell and expressing hope that they will return
Ultimately, hospitality is about creating lasting, positive impressions that go beyond a simple transaction. It’s the thoughtful details and personal touches that turn a routine visit into a memorable experience.
When guests leave feeling valued, cared for, and eager to return, you’ve truly embraced the essence of hospitality. The key is to consistently anticipate needs and exceed expectations. This will make every guest feel like a cherished part of your establishment’s story.
What Is Customer Service?
While the quality of customer service is important, the clear difference is it’s the basic tasks you do to accommodate your customers. Providing great customer service requires hiring and training well-qualified employees.
To have a functional, profitable restaurant, you must have an attractive menu and fair prices based on the value of your product/service, and you must serve customers quickly and attentively every time. A clean establishment is important as well.
Part of your customer service should be creating a cleaning schedule. This helps ensure customers have a pleasant experience. Customer service is really just a set of actions. It sets the norm about what your business provides.
Satisfactory service doesn’t necessarily stand out, good or bad, but poor customer service does create a negative experience, reducing the chances of a dissatisfied patron ever returning.
Examples of good customer service include:
- Greeting customers promptly upon arrival
- Providing menus and taking orders efficiently
- Addressing special requests or dietary needs with care
- Ensuring timely food and drink delivery
- Responding to any issues or complaints with patience and professionalism
- Offering quick and accurate billing
- Thanking customers for their patronage and inviting them to return
While customer service sets the foundation for how your business functions, it’s essential to maintain consistent quality across every interaction. When executed properly, it ensures guests receive the attention and care they expect, leading to smooth, reliable service and repeat business.
What’s the Difference?
Customer service is providing people with what they need. If a customer comes to your restaurant to eat, they’re served an order and then presented with a bill. They have few expectations if there’s a sign for self-seating in the window.
Hospitality, on the other hand, creates an experience that leaves the customer wanting to return. It taps into their emotions and memories by providing a positive experience. The patron genuinely feels accepted in your environment.
So, what is the difference between customer service and hospitality? Customer service fulfills basic needs, while hospitality goes beyond, offering a warm and welcoming atmosphere that enhances the guest’s overall experience.
In the service vs. hospitality debate, hospitality adds that personal touch, leaving guests feeling valued. Understanding what is the difference between service and hospitality can help businesses create more memorable and lasting impressions.
How to Improve Your Hospitality and Customer Service
Your staff may only be available during business hours, but you don’t have to weigh both customer service and hospitality or sacrifice one over the other. To really serve customers’ needs, you must have both.
AnswerMTI can help with our 24-hour answering service. Our receptionists can answer calls, transfer callers, provide information, take messages, make reservations, and more. Unlimited call scripting enables them to perform as if they are part of your business.
To learn more, set up a free 7-day trial or call 844-798-1027 for help setting up a customized plan.
