Excellent Customer Service For Your RV Park

Excellent customer service leaves an impact. Whether it was the clerk who was extra helpful or the hotel staff who went above and beyond, we’ve all experienced it. Unfortunately, though, the bad customer service is almost always more memorable.

In the pursuit of excellent customer service, campgrounds and RV parks should take note of these dos and don’ts.

Do: Anticipate Customer Needs and Wants

Instead of merely listening to your customer’s needs, understand their unexpressed wishes and anticipate their next actions Staying one step ahead of them and giving them what they didn’t know they needed is how you will stand out from your competitors. This anticipation builds exceptional rapport with your customer and makes them feel like you really, truly value their business (Forbes). Happy and fulfilled visitors will want to come back, and what’s more, they’ll tell their friends all about your customer service.

Do: Show Genuine Interest in Your Customers

Fact: customers want to feel appreciated and they value an honest-to-goodness relationship. If your campground or RV park staff can build, nourish, and manage relationships with your visitors, then you’re set! Listen to them grumble, show sympathy, laugh when they laugh, and don’t be afraid to get personal (Inc.com). Something as simple as memorizing the name of their granddaughter or asking about their last trip to Hawaii will help solidify your relationship.

Digitally speaking, doing this well means using social media to engage in conversation and be open and transparent online! Your online customer service is as important, if not more so than the face-to-face interactions. After all, the customer wants to feel that they’re spending their hard-earned dollar on a campground or RV park that cares about them!

Do: Have the Answers and Deliver

While it’s up for debate on whether customers are always right, the fact of the matter is, you, and not your customer, are the expert. You should always have the answers and be able to deliver. That is why product and service knowledge is the most vital skill a customer service representative can possess (Digitalist).

If you don’t have the answer, try your best to find it out or direct the customer to someone who can answer it. It at all cost, avoid saying the phrase, “I don’t know”. Having the answers and delivering them promptly and respectively will build trust and confidence in your campground or RV park.

Don’t: Restrict the Customer

Customers hate to hear the word, “no”. Though it’s not always possible to say, “yes,” best practice dictates you should be as flexible and accommodating as possible for your customers  (Customer Service Manager).

If there’s one thing a customer hates to hear more than, “no,” it’s, “it’s company policy”. Why? First of all, the customer likely doesn’t care what your campground or RV park policy is. Secondly, they don’t see you as a customer service provider following policy, but rather as the company as an entity, restricting them from what they want. Another reason this is such a big no-no is that it’s like putting a big roadblock in the conversation. With both you and the customer at a loss for what to say, the interaction (and possibly the relationship) is subsequently squelched.

Don’t: Make Things Overly Complicated

A good rule of thumb to follow is that acquiring service should not be more painful than the problem itself. Behold! The wonders of an FAQ page! For more complex or unusual questions, the next step is to make your customer service staff incredibly accessible. You know what they say: a quickly diffused customer service issue keeps the bad reviews away. Right?

Speaking of which…

Don’t: Ignore Feedback or Complaints

Feedback, no matter its form, is always a plus. Who better to hear from than the customers who are the lifeblood of your campground or RV park?

Embracing the good, the bad and the ego-deflating will ultimately help you to thrive in the long run, we promise. You’ll be able to understand your customer better, identify and solve your pitfalls and grow bigger and better (MinuteHack)! So, the next time a customer wants to give you their feedback, don’t brush it off, but rather see it as an opportunity to improve your campground or RV park.

Good customer service will always be an essential part of a business. It’s your customer’s first point of contact with you and it allows them to connect and build trust with your campground or RV park. In today’s world, delivering excellent customer service is sometimes more effective than any advertisement could be!

Follow these customer service dos and don’ts so people talk about your campground or RV park for the right reasons.