Eliza Bordin, Front Office Supervisor, Hides Hotel – Originating from Northern NSW,  Eliza worked in the hospitality industry before moving up to Cairns and taking on her role as Front Office Supervisor with Hides Hotel, a 108 room hotel in the heart of Cairns city. Her nomination stated that the customer felt “nothing was too much trouble for Eliza, who always remained courteous and professional”.

May CRTA customer service in tourism and hospitality award finalists.

Fiona Moloney, Owner/Operator, Blondies Kuts & Kurls Salons – After starting her hairdressing apprenticeship at just 15 years of age, Fiona worked as a hairdresser for some time before having a break and working in tourism, including a period as Resident Unit Manager of the Rainbow Southside.  After deciding to go back into hairdressing, Fiona followed her dream of opening her own salon, Blondies Kuts & Kurls. She has since added another salon, and has 15 staff with 6 apprentices. Her nomination stated that “Fiona’s excellent customer service skills have been passed on to her staff as well, meaning that every time you enter a Blondies salon, you feel like part of the family”.

Scott Smith, Owner/Operator, Down & Dirty Quad Bikes – Originally from Sydney, Scott and his family opened the Down & Dirty Quad Bike Tours 2 years ago, and currently has 4 staff members.  Scott prides himself on his customer service skills, and this certainly shows with his nomination stating that the customer would happily recommend Scott to anyone wanting to do Quad bike riding, as the customer had an absolutely fantastic time, made all the better by Scott’s customer service.  As the customer so succinctly finished their nomination “Scott Rules!”.

Linzi Desmond, Tour Guide, Paronella Park – Linzi is originally from Orange in NSW, and had many years experience in the hospitality industry in both WA and NSW, before following her heart to Mena Creek, and the beautiful Paronella Park. Linzi is one of the senior tour guides at Paronella Park, and conducts both day and night time tours, along with training and development of new staff members. Linzi’s nomination expressed how much she went above and beyond the call of duty for a customer, even staying on after she finished her shift for the day and collecting the customer from the lower gardens of Paronella Park in the 4WD, as the customer was disabled and unable to walk back up the Grand Staircase.

So…we understand the need to meet and where possible exceed expectations, we know we have to treat our customers with respect and we have to make sure we pay attention to the little things that make all the difference. But for some reason, many businesses that offer excellent face to face service seem to forget all of the rules when it comes to dealing with customers online.

What are the biggest complaints when it comes to poor online service?

1. Sending an email request for follow up and never hearing back from the company
2. An overly complicated site that is impossible to navigate
3. Impossible to find contact details apart from an email contact form
4. Overly complicated forms, that can’t be saved
5. Guarantees of response times that are ignored
6. Overly complicated animations and video footage that loads slowly
7. Shopping carts that have poor functionality (like a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel)
8. Requesting too much private information for a purchase that doesn’t warrant collecting so much information

We can take this feedback and compare it to our own online customer service philosophy. Do you have key performance indicators, like minimum response times, follow up procedures or customer complaint processes?

Any business that offers exceptional service online and offline has a major competitive advantage over one that does not get it right.  It can make all difference between a happy customer turning up ready to enjoy your face to face customer service and hospitality or someone who is already only half impressed, putting you immediately on the back foot.

One of the easiest ways to get more business online is to offer exceptional online service. Simple as that.  Customers that book online are also likely to be more social media, review and forum savvy – meaning they have the ability to spread both positive and not so positive feedback to a larger audience.

Hosted by Sunlover Reef Cruises onboard Tropic Sunseeker

TUESDAY 8th May 2012
Boarding at ‘A Finger’ Marlin Marina, Cairns at 6.30pm
Please RSVP below.
FREE for members. $5 for non-members.

Congratulations to the worthy finalists in this month’s Customer Service Excellence Awards:
Scott Smith – Down and Dirty Quad Bike tours Cairns
Fiona Moloney – Blondie’s Kuts & Kurls
Linzi Desmond – Paronella Park
Eliza Bordin – Hides Hotel

Congratulations to all finalists!

The special mention award was taken out by Daphne Tin from Cairns Travel Centre

Well done to Laura Deegan from Tropic Days Backpackers,  and  Toni Bancroft from Trek North Safaris. We all think that you are winners to be finalists out of such a large selection of nominations. .

We would like to thank Pesci’s for providing such delicious canape’s and hosting our monthly event, Thank you Lou for your continued support of the CRTA.

To see the full gallery of images click here.

Place:  Passion’s of Paradise
Cost $40.00 pp

Date: Friday May the 18th
Time: 6.15pm for 6.30pm (Boat leaves wharf 6.30 pm sharp )

LUCKY DOOR PRIZES, raffles and plenty of fun.

Tickets must be booked and prepaid. Limited tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Contact:  Jan Corcoran, 0439705798 or janjan@bigpond.net.au