Nestore's blog

Whether it's retail or hospitality, the problem is the same: customer relations! This is based on two founding pillars: competent, attentive, motivated sales staff , and a powerful CRM tool .

At the Plaza Athénée, the first step in our customer relationship management was to invest in a powerful CRM tool tailored to our industry. And once the investment was made, we fed it upstream, when our customers booked —or, for retail, ordered— to update their profiles. This is the heart of our entire business: to be attentive to detail and ultra-personalized, we require extremely in-depth knowledge.

The pillars of customer relations

A customer relationship that is developed upstream and in the field

Customer knowledge is therefore the first building block of a lasting relationship. In the hotel industry, upstream “profiling” is used to determine who we are addressing, and can serve as a basis for conversation for an initial approach. However, we don't stop at a simple hello when the customer arrives at our place. Today, a customer expects much more .

THE click & collect is a good way to prepare for the customer. Depending on their online purchase, it is possible to offer additional products in the corresponding size upon arrival in the store. This is also a time to discuss with the customer: how they discovered this product (social media, directly on the site, specific search), if it is a gift, etc.

In the field, when teams have little or no knowledge of the customer, each interaction is a real source of information. Based on a few key characteristics that we observe about the person or that they reveal to us, we can adapt our message. Without falling into cliché, a customer who wears eco-friendly sneakers will surely be sensitive to ethical products. During the conversation with the customer, we will be able to validate this information, or not, and it will be integrated into the CRM afterwards.

But above all, the guest must feel listened to. In the hotel industry, there are concierges who are both proactive and available to guests for any request. They are aware of their plans during their stay.

While not as involved as a concierge, the customer's contact in a store must be curious about them. We can be informed about a few things about their day. If they're out shopping, we can offer to store their bags in the store so they don't get cluttered. Anticipating customer requests before they've even thought about them demonstrates the salesperson's availability and attentiveness.

The data already stored thanks to the first interactions with the customer will be supplemented by new information collected during the journey.

Segment your customer base and adapt

Ultra-personalization is possible, but how? Obviously, tracking each customer individually, collecting and storing enough information to create unique experiences, is impossible. Even with a high-performance CRM tool! That's why it's important to segment your consumers .

It will then be necessary to identify the potential spokespersons for the brand . Firstly, those who have the power to harm its image and who can lead to the loss of other potential customers. They are also those who have an influence on the media , all media combined. This is why it is necessary to succeed in identifying the brand's prescribers who can subsequently become ambassadors .

Finally, you need to nurture the customers who hold the brand dear to their hearts, the loyal customers who return often. Affection will develop toward these customers; you need to know how to reward them, and therefore be attentive to their visit. And above all, never take them for granted.

However, not all customers appreciate the same attention. Some will be in a hurry and will want fast service. In this case, it will be necessary to put aside all the frills and respond to their requests quickly. This is ultra-personalization , the tailor-made product. However, there is a balance to be found. The brand's imprint must not completely disappear in favor of the customer's identity. The cursor of this balance is achieved through analysis.

The importance of team mobilization

Every contact between a customer and a team member influences whether they'll return or not. Everyone in the company is involved in the customer experience. “ Customer service shouldn't be a separate department; it should permeate the entire company, ” says Tony Hsieh, co-founder of Zappos. It's important to create an organization that exudes this obsession with the perfect experience .

This begins with an incentive system. We encourage staff to do good deeds, to create memorable gestures that will make a difference to the customer during their experience. We record the various actions and select the best ones, receiving praise from the manager.

This also, and above all, involves communication . There are a lot of briefings to take a step back and build bridges between each department. Professionals in the hotel and catering industry are busy with their hectic daily lives, which sometimes leads to a lack of inter-departmental communication. They therefore miss essential information that could improve the service they provide. Since we must be attentive to customers, to avoid losing any information and repetitive requests, we strive to communicate and store information in a centralized tool so that everyone has access to it.

The perfect experience is when the guest is unaware of the entire team working behind them to make their stay memorable. There must be a seamless use of the information collected so that each service is coordinated without it being obvious.

And it's the same thing in a store or online. Asking customers for their size multiple times, their contact information at the checkout... All this information that has already been provided once. We can also create a link with multi-brand stores like Sézane and Octobre or Les Petits Raffineurs and Les Raffineurs, which could link customer files to avoid asking for the same information.

And there is still a lot of progress to be made to have digital tools that fully meet these different needs.

Create a lasting customer relationship

Managing friction points

Every customer journey, and the hotel industry is no exception, involves "friction points" that hinder the relationship. Take arrival at a hotel, check-in, and checkout—how can these points of tension be eliminated?

First, there is internal work to eliminate this very formal vocabulary. For example, we have transformed “ check-in ” into “ customer arrival .”

Then, we all know that moment when customers are asked for a whole bunch of information: their email address, their postal code, their loyalty card, the famous "it won't be a card?"... All cheerfully typed on a computer. These are elements that degrade the user experience and slow down the customer journey.

The Hôtel de Crillon has transformed the traditional reception desk into an office layout, giving the impression that you're actually talking to a receptionist rather than going to the checkout.

Transforming the checkout experience into a moment of friendly interaction in a store is possible. We're seeing "lounge" areas popping up in stores; why not use them to interact with customers and process payments? This is also one of the challenges of boutique apartments. A recent phenomenon, these spaces are designed for living, but here, everything is for sale. A truly immersive experience, boutique apartments readily eliminate points of friction.

The Sézane Conciergerie is a great example of friction point management. Rather than picking up your cardboard package in a click & collect format, with no difference compared to a Mondial Relay, Sezane offers a store-like experience. The product is in a shopping bag, and the Conciergerie offers other services (mailing, phone top-ups, coffee, a quick visit to the store, etc.).

Seize every opportunity to get to know your customer better, aka handle the complaint

A customer complaint related to dissatisfaction during the purchasing process is common in every industry. In the hospitality industry, we see incidents as opportunities to deepen customer relationships:

1. It is first of all a way of understanding the person and knowing their expectations.
2. It is also one of the ways to adapt the level of customization that the customer needs.
3. Complaining also allows you to connect with customers you haven't had time to talk to. It's another way to approach customers, take the time to listen, and get more feedback.
   

The key is knowing how to close these incidents . It's important to ask the customer at the end of their stay if the resolution of their problem met their expectations. This is a form of follow-up that the customer appreciates.

If a package is returned due to a malfunction, we can easily ensure in a personalized email that the customer is happy with the solution we provided.

And in the event of a major dispute, don't hesitate to offer a suitable gift. This can be an additional accessory to the outfit to transform dissatisfaction into thanks. The consumer will certainly not forget the dispute, but the effort and apologies from the brand allow you to put an end to a negative experience and start again on a good footing .

Conclusion

We must not forget that the customer relationship does not end with the purchasing process; the connection is maintained afterward by marking key moments . This can obviously be birthdays, but not only. During the lockdown, for example, we took the time to check in on our customers on various media. Not just communicating about the company and its employees, but asking for news from our customers and prospects.

Some loyal customers even have our phone number so they can contact us whenever they want for specific requests. Luxury hotels always favor a lasting relationship with a single contact, their “referent,” to foster a stronger bond with the customer. The referent varies from customer to customer, but must always be the one with whom there has been a good understanding, regardless of their hierarchy. This obviously raises the question of human resources, and the longevity of employees in teams. Don't we say that a brand's first customers are its employees? Something to think about...