Peak season in customer service – hot weather, crowds of people around, sometimes a customer gets angry and you still have to smile. Working in customer service is tough.
Is it? It depends! It depends especially on your professional competences and your attitude.
But, how to be a better customer service professional? What is the best way to handle difficult situations and customers’ complaints? And how to deal with your own stress at work?
Within the SeasonREADY project, we developed a methodology of training on-the-job adaptable to the specific needs of seasonal staff training in the field of tourism and hospitality. Secondly, we developed a set of training materials dedicated to training and self-study of employees in front-office, gastronomy and housekeeping.
Three modules deal with transversal competences useful in the sector of tourism and hospitality:
- Module 1: Customer Service
- Module 2: Communication
- Module 3: Professional and Personal Development
Other three modules are occupation-specific:
- Module 4: Front Office
- Module 5: Food & Beverages Serving
- Module 6: Housekeeping
In spring 2019, project partners piloted the methodology guide and training materials with local enterprises and their staff. CESIE and Confesercenti Palermo run the piloting in May providing a series of free training activities for (1) employers and in-house trainers and (2) seasonal workers.
The programme was designed to provide employers from SMEs with the tools they need to properly implement in-house training and to enhance the professional skills of seasonal workers with a special focus on communication with customers or managing difficult situations and complaints.
We discussed the importance of positive attitude in customer service, the rules of etiquette and courtesy for welcoming guests and communication. Furthermore, we presented approaches and methods for calming unsatisfied customers and resolving their complaints. In the course of each face-to-face session, participants were invited to take part in role-playing activities, case study analysing, interactive exercises and discussions.
Sul progetto
SeasonReady – Work-based learning for seasonal hospitality workers is a two and a half year project co-financed by Erasmus+ programme of the European Union carried out by six partners:
Partners
The partnership holds together 6 organisation:
- Institute for Tourism (Croatia, coordinator);
- Chamber of Trades and Crafts (Croatia);
- Olympic training & consulting Ltd (Greece);
- Peloponnese Tourism Organization (Greece);
- Confesercenti Provinciale di Palermo (Italy);
- CESIE (Italy).
For further information
Read more about SeasonReady.
If you are interested in SeasonReady project and training, please contact adult@cesie.org
