A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Is the customer king?

Lesson code: VBLH-D7UA-RANL UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Warm-up
What was the last hotel you stayed in? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?

2 Adjectives for describing customer service

Which of the following adjectives describe good customer service, and which describe bad customer
service?

businesslike child-friendly cold efficient honest

impersonal indifferent inefficient laid-back personal
smooth transactional unobtrusive unprofessional warm

Good service Bad service

Choose two adjectives which describe a service that is:

1. relaxed and doesn't interfere with the customer: and .

2. very professional and fast: and .
3. not interested in the customer as an individual: and .
4. interested in the customer as an individual: and .

Can you add any other adjectives to the table above?

Now read the article and tick the adjectives that are mentioned.
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 Is the customer king?
A A A A
Is the customer king?
Where in the world can you expect the best from staff at hotels and restaurants?
1 Good service is serious stuff - it's often what we
remember most from our travels and it makes us
come back for more. Ask a frequent traveller for
their opinion on the subject and they barely pause
for thought.
2 "In my experience, the best service is in the Far
East and Middle Eastern countries - they really try
to please the clients and if you are travelling with
your family it's genuinely child-friendly," says
Marjan Farhad, a London-based knitwear buyer.
Farhad thinks the US has a good grasp of what it's
all about as well - she travels to New York several
times a year: "they still realise the customer is
everything".
3 Other frequent travellers have very similar
opinions. The level of service in the international
hotels in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is
"among the best in the world" according to music
company executive Richard Piercy who lived in
Singapore for three years. "It's very good; it's very
personal and very intensive. There's a human
touch to it, there's a lot of warmth, and it's not just
transactional. The Asians do it very well because
they are very personable and very charming."
However, Piercy, who is now based in London,
says when it comes to bars and restaurants it's
the Americans who win hands down precisely
because of their system of tipping. "The staff have
a strong incentive to give good service so they
largely rely on their tips and if you do tip quite well
then you do get very good service."
4 Management consultant John Erik Ellingsen
believes as a business traveller you can be well
protected from bad service. Choose the brand
names and you get what you pay for. Ellingsen's
job takes him on a regular basis to major cities in
India, the US and Europe: Barcelona, Amsterdam
and Paris. At all these destinations he stays in
business hotels. "They're efficient and
businesslike, you're not pampered but you do feel
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BUSINESS ISSUES
they work. You know exactly what to expect. In
many ways they're interchangeable you feel you
could be in any major city. But when you're
making short, brief, visits for meetings, it's what
you want: everything functions well and things
happen when they're meant to".
5 And if you don't get the service you feel you're
entitled to you should let it be known says
Ellingsen. He did, to great effect, on a recent trip
from London to Mumbai. "I landed at midnight and
got to my hotel around one. Crucially I was in time
for the second half of a match between
Manchester United and AC Milan. Despite the fact
that my room had been booked two months in
advance the receptionist told me the hotel was full
and they were relocating me to another one. I
never usually get angry but I insisted I was not
moving. Within minutes they found a room for me
and I was in time to see a fantastic late goal from
Rooney."
6 Of course many would argue it's all very
subjective: if you're in a good mood, if work is
going well, you might not even notice the effort
being put into making your trip a smooth one. It's
only when things go wrong, or you're finding the
journey a chore, that you're aware of what's going
on around you. "On a long a busy trip even the
smallest issues get magnified," says Scott
Thomson, a brand creation manager. "A card
rejection, the buzz from the almost silent
air-conditioning, a room key not working, the mini
bar missing the peanuts. I hardly ever notice the
things that go well and the service that is good or
even great."
7 Ironically publishing executive Ian Bartley actually
believes the best service is unobtrusive and
unseen: "My vote goes to Amsterdam for the most
natural, laid-back and invisible service - how it
should be."
Adapted from The Independent, 25 June 2007
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 Is the customer king?
A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

3 Predict the answers

Decide which of the statements below are true or false according to the business travellers' opinions,
and correct the false statements with the information in the article.

1. Hotels in the Middle East are among the best in the world.
2. Bars in the US provide good customer service because the staff are very friendly.
3. The customer service in business hotels is very unpredictable.
4. Complaining about bad service doesn't help.
5. If you are in a good mood, you are less aware of bad service.
6. You do not notice customer service in hotels in Amsterdam.

4 Find the words

Find a word or phrase in the text which means..

1. stop to think about something (phrase, P1)

2. pleasant and likeable (formal adj., P3)
3. win very easily (idiom, P3)
4. something that encourages or motivates someone to do something (noun, P3)
5. treated in a special way by being given anything you want and made to feel as comfortable as
possible (adj., P4)
6. an unpleasant task (noun, P6)

5 Expressions for describing customer service

Look at the following expressions from the text and match them to the comments below:

There's a human touch to it.

They have a good grasp of what it's all about.
You get what you pay for.
You know exactly what to expect.
They realise the customer is everything.
It's not just transactional.

1. They did everything they could to please me.

2. It was a cheap hotel and the service wasn't very good.
3. You feel that they take care of you not only because you pay them to.
4. They take care of you as an individual person.
5. They understand what they need to do to provide good customer service.
6. You can always rely on the service in this hotel, wherever you are in the world. There are no
unpleasant suprises.
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 Is the customer king?
A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

6 Grammar - Tenses for describing a past experience

Read the following passage from the text. Study the underlined structures and put them into the correct
categories below. Which tense is used in each category?

"I landed at midnight and got to my hotel around one. Crucially I was in time for the second half of a match
between Manchester United and AC Milan. Despite the fact that my room had been booked two months in
advance the receptionist told me the hotel was full and they were relocating me to another one. I never
usually get angry but I insisted I was not moving. Within minutes they found a room for me and I was in
time to see a fantastic late goal from Rooney."

1. completed events in the past

2. something that happened before a completed event in the past
3. a general, habitual activity in the present 4. a reported unfinished activity in the past
Now complete the sentences below putting the verbs in brackets in the correct form:

1. When I (arrive) at the reception desk, my host (wait) to greet me.

2. When we (call) the potential customer, we (find out) that they
(already/sign) a contract with another supplier.
3. I usually (drive) to work, but yesterday I (take) the train because my
car (break down).
4. I (not/understand) a word he (talk) about, so I (leave)
in a hurry.
5. While we (have) a chat, a strange old man (come) up to us and
(ask) us if we (see) his pet dog.
6. I (give) a Power Point presentation when suddenly my laptop (crash).
It seems the service centre (not/repair) it properly the week before.
7. When Anne (hear) that her colleague (lose) his job because the
company (downsize), she (become) worried.
8. We usually (go out) on Friday evenings, but it (pour down) last night
so we (decide) to stay in instead.

7 Talking point
Have you experienced the type of customer service described in the article? Talk about a good or bad
customer service experience (in any sector) that you have had. Try to use vocabulary from this lesson.
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 Is the customer king? - Key
A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

2- Adjectives for describing customer service

Good service: laid-back, personal, unobtrusive, businesslike, efficient, warm, smooth, child-
friendly, honest
Bad service: transactional, impersonal, inefficient, unprofessional, cold, indifferent

Possible answers:
1. laid-back and unobtrusive 2. efficient and businesslike
3. cold and impersonal 4. warm and personal

Adjectives mentioned in the article: child-friendly, personal, transactional, efficient, businesslike,

unobstrusive, laid-back

3- Predict the answers

1. True
2. False - Bars in the US provide good customer service because of tips.
3. False - With business hotels, you know exactly what to expect.
4. False - You should let it be know if you don't get the service you're entitle to.
5. True
6. True

4- Find the words

1. pause for thought 2. personable 3. win hands down

4. incentive 5. pampered 6. chore

5- Expressions for describing customer service

1. They realise the customer is everything.

2. You get what you pay for.
3. It's not just transactional.
4. There's a human touch to it.
5. They have a good grasp of what it's all about.
6. You know exactly what to expect.

6- Grammar - Tenses for describing a past experience

1. completed events in the past (past simple): landed, got, told, insisted, found
2. something that happened before a completed event in the past (past perfect): had been booked
3. a general, habitual activity in the present (present simple): get
4. a reported unfinished activity in the past (past continuous): were relocating, was not moving

1. arrived; was waiting 2. called; found out; had already signed

3. drive; took; had broken down 4. didn't understand; was talking; left
5. were having; came; asked; had seen 6. was giving; crashed; hadn't repaired
7. heard; had lost; was downsizing; became 8. go out; was pouring down; decided
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