Tourism in Dundee and Angus: How to improve customer experience to attract new customers

As a growing business involved in the Tourism and leisure industry, you’ll want to create a memorable experience that your customers will rave about. In order to do this, you need to ensure that you are providing the best customer experience possible, average doesn’t tend to cut it when looking for reviews - it needs to be outstanding!

With issues such as high staff turnover on the rise, tourism businesses are finding it harder now more than ever to guarantee the quality of their service.

Below we’ve highlighted the impact that great customer service can make on your business and some steps you could take to make improvements in your business with the aim of attracting new customers.

What are the benefits of good customer service?

Having good customer service can create a bond of trust between a customer and a business. According to a study by Salesforce Research, 91% of customers say a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to make a further purchase.

In the tourism industry, customer service is a large part of the service offering, people tend to visit because they want to learn or experience something new. Knowledge and engagement with visitors is therefore king in transforming customer service.

Perhaps your visitor experience is self-guided at the moment; have you ever considered adding a tour-guided option, where people can listen to an expert but also ask questions along the way?

Suggested course: Touring and Tour Guiding.

Excellent customer service has the opportunity to turn customers into raving fans who will speak highly of your business to their friends and family through word of mouth or social media, helping you to stand out in a crowded market.

The power of word-of-mouth marketing is huge! Potential customers who have never purchased from you or booked your services will always look to see what other people’s experiences have been. Think how often you look at reviews and photos on TripAdvisor when planning your holiday, it can have a huge influence on your decision.

Tourism is all about creating memorable and enjoyable experiences. What do your customers currently say about you?

Have a look on TripAdvisor to see.

Four ways to improve customer service and attract customer-created content into your tourist-based business

Whether you’re working in a customer-facing role, managing a team, or looking to improve customer experience on a company-wide level, this list is sure to help you deliver the best customer service:

1. Train Your Team

When onboarding new recruits, it is easy to often overlook the basics of customer service in the rush to get them active on the job.

Ensuring that your staff are fully trained and knowledgeable enough to provide the best customer experience possible is one of the most beneficial ways to improve your service.

Upskilling your staff can make them feel valued and create a positive and motivating working
environment that they will want to stay and thrive in. This in turn creates a better experience for your customers leading to business success.

D&A College provides courses tailored for businesses in the Tourism industry. Learn more here.

Courses Include:

• An Introduction to Local Tourism Attractions Duration: 1.5 days suitable for any business with tourist footfall
• Touring and Tour Guiding Duration: 3 days suitable for those already working in a visitor attraction and those looking to diversify their business to offer tours.
• Creating a Great Visitor Experience Duration: 2 days suitable for any business wishing to create a great visitor experience

Did you know that your business could benefit from the Flexible Workforce Fund, which could result in all your training being fully funded? >> speak to the Business Partnerships Team.

2. Marketing

The role of marketing is to remove all doubt, so that customers feel confident in their purchase, enjoy the service provided and rave about the experience to others. Here are some ways you could use marketing to impact the customer experience.

Pre-Arrival Marketing

When it comes to online marketing, demonstrating your knowledge on your website and social media channels can show your level of professionalism and the experience your staff can deliver. Videos can showcase what they might expect upon arrival, and how they can make the most of the experience.

You can share information online like what’s the best way to tour the facility, how to get there using public transport, what else there is to do in the area, places to eat and drink etc. All of this content will help make you appear like an expert in your field, resulting in the customer feeling confident of their visit and positive about your service offering before even stepping foot in the building.

Signage

In terms of physical and in person marketing, using clear signage and having a friendly and welcoming environment can make all the difference when it comes to providing a great customer experience. People feel safer and more confident when they know where to go, they are willing to engage more in the experience, and feel less conscious of themselves in their surroundings.

Photo opportunities

People love to take photos and videos of their experiences and share them online. Helping your visitors identify the best photo spots can be a thoughtful touch, and also generate social media tags for you and shares to help build awareness of your business online.

3. Aftercare

There’s nothing better than a nice thank you email after a customer's visit, providing them with a surprise discount for a return visit or a referral for a friend. Lean into that moment of delight and ask them to leave you a review - with a link to TripAdvisor or Google Reviews. The results can provide you with a great indicator on whether your customer service provision is improving.

Not only that, but you’re also encouraging some easy repeat sales, turning that customer into an advocate of your business who will promote on your behalf to their friends and family.

Need to improve your team's digital skills? Did you know we offer a selection of digital skills courses - Speak to the Business Partnerships Team today.

4. Facilities

First impressions count. A clean, welcoming, comfortable venue that considers all of your customers' needs will benefit from a far higher review rating than one that looks tired, where the staff aren’t interested, and the disabled lift is broken.

Having a robust cleaning and maintenance routine which is clearly understood by staff and management will avoid bad reviews that could damage your business in the long term.

Investing in equipment and facilities for the disabled, elderly and additional support needs can also be a way of ensuring that everyone feels included and welcome when visiting.

Improving Your Customer Service offering - Key Measurements

Taking the time to engage your team from top to bottom can help to understand how everyone plays a role in maintaining customer satisfaction ratings from the welcome desk, to marketing, cleaning, tour guides and everyone in between.

Sharing results can be a great way to maintain staff engagement. If it’s good feedback - great, everyone loves to hear praise; but don’t shy away from sharing where there is room for improvement- it means they will value the success when change is made.

Ways to measure improvements in your customer service:

• Send out follow up questionnaires by email
• Monitoring your TripAdvisor, Google or Trustpilot reviews.
• Give customers the opportunity to provide online reviews through your website or social media platforms.
• Encourage customers to create shareable content via social media.
• Personally ask customers their views after they have used your product or service. For example, by phone, face to face or in writing.

What next?

If you are interested in learning more about how to deliver excellent customer service, local tourism and/or staff training via upskilling, we have developed a helpful eBook catered to businesses in the tourism industry where we discuss what D&A Business has to offer.
View our Tourism eBook.

Did you know?

Did you know that we offer a free skills analysis to businesses who are unsure about their training needs? Get in touch with our Business Partnerships Team for a free Training Needs Analysis and to learn more about how D&A Business can help you and your business needs.

You also may be eligible for funding to train your staff. Please click here to learn more about funding for your business such as the flexible workforce development fund which you can register for here.