Customers, Products and Services

Serving every kind of customer

Hospitality is a people business, and the people it serves are all different. A family with young children, a business traveller, a tour group, a guest who uses a wheelchair, a guest who speaks little English, a guest with a religious or dietary requirement: each arrives with different needs, and good hospitality anticipates and meets them. It helps to separate two things a business provides. A product is a physical thing the customer receives, such as food, a drink or a room. A service is something done for the customer, such as serving a meal, cleaning a room or running an event. Great hospitality fits both the products and the services to the customer in front of it, and treats every customer with respect. This module covers the range of customers and their needs, the difference between products and services, and how to meet those needs well.

Customer and service words

Learn these terms before the customers are matched to their needs. They name who is served and what is provided.

Match each customer to a need

Products against services

A hospitality business provides both, and knowing which is which helps you describe what it offers.

Product or service?

In a hotel, which of these is a service rather than a product?

• Housekeeping cleaning the room
• The breakfast itself
• The bed in the room
• The bottle of water

Meet the customer where they are

Great hospitality starts from a simple idea: every customer is different, and good service anticipates what this particular customer requires. A family looks for different things from a business traveller; a guest who uses a wheelchair looks for step-free access; a guest who speaks little English looks for clear signs and patience; a guest with a religious or dietary requirement looks for it to be respected without fuss. None of this is about treating people as a category; it is about noticing the real requirement in front of you and meeting it with courtesy. When you plan a service, ask who the customers are, what each of them requires to have a good experience, and how the products and services on offer can be arranged to provide it. Treating every customer with respect is the foundation the rest is built on.

Pick the hospitality products

Select everything that is a product rather than a service.

• A plate of food
• A drink
• A hotel room
• Cleaning the room
• Serving at the table

Order how to meet a customer need

Put the steps of meeting a customer need in a sensible order.

• Find out who the customer is and what they require
• Check what products and services can meet it
• Communicate clearly and respectfully with the customer
• Provide the product or service as needed
• Check that the customer is satisfied

Complete the customer-service facts

A physical thing provided, such as food or a room, is a _____. Something done for the customer, such as housekeeping, is a _____. What a particular customer requires is their _____. Making a service usable by people with disabilities is _____.

Tap the two hospitality services

Tap the TWO options that are services rather than products.

• serving food at the table
• cleaning a guest room
• a plate of food
• a bottle of water

A tailor fitting a suit

A good tailor does not sell one suit in one size to everyone. They measure the person in front of them, ask how it will be worn, and adjust it until it fits that individual. Hospitality works in much the same way. The same welcome, the same room and the same menu can be a fine experience or a poor one depending on how well they are fitted to the actual customer: their age, the language they speak, whether they must have step-free access, what their culture or beliefs call for. So do not offer a one-size welcome and hope. Measure the customer, in the sense of noticing what they require, and adjust what you provide until it fits them. Something that fits the customer is what turns a first-time visitor into a returning guest.

The customer-service run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Serve each customer well

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A guest who speaks little English arrives at the desk. What is the best approach?
• A family with young children books a table. What product or service helps?
• A guest has a dietary requirement for religious reasons. What should the staff do?

Build a customer-service sentence

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about hospitality.

Explain how to meet customer needs

A friend starting work in hospitality thinks every customer should be treated in exactly the same way. Using what you have learned, explain how to meet the needs of different customers.

• Explain the difference between a product and a service
• Explain how customers can differ and why their needs differ
• Explain how to meet the needs of a guest who uses a wheelchair or speaks little English
• Explain why respecting cultural and religious requirements matters
• Explain why meeting customer needs is good for a hospitality business