What I Learned About Guest Communication From A Nightclub - Parijat Gupta, Coast Hotels
Parijat Gupta leads online reputation and social media management for Coast Hotels, and in this episode, you'll hear about how a role earlier in her career helped shape how she views communicating with people digitally today.
I want you to hear this because we're heading into some of the biggest technology tradeshows in the hospitality industry over the next few weeks, and as we do that I encourage you to think about people and the guest experience first.
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And he said you're going to be the guest relations executive for FNB And I'm like how is it different from being a hostess ? So he's like we are planning to convert the restaurant into a nightclub And on all Fridays and Saturdays and weekends after 9 PM it's going to be a club . I was like OK , what I need to do ? He's like no , you have to work into guest relations . First of all , you have to create a database for food and beverage of the hotel , so any guest who's walking in , they will have the reservation . But you might want to go , speak to them and take their email IDs and then connect with them And then probably , once you connect , you're going to take an approach of asking them to write a review for us and then also adding them to a database . So if we have any cooking classes or we are doing any special brunches , you want to send them the promos and make sure they reserve with us . Ok , i can do that . And he's like you need to go , speak to everyone And if there's any issue , you have to mitigate the situation or you have to tell the restaurant manager then and there to speak to the guest So these people don't go online and write negative reviews . So I was like , ok , i can do that . And then what about nightclub ? He's like we want to create a database for our nightclub . So every time we have a great international BJ or any artist , we want to segregate this database . Where we have regular diners , we have families , then we have a separate database for people who are looking for clubbing and nightlife . So this is the demographic . I was like , ok .
Speaker 1And then , eventually , what happened ? Once the nightclub started , i somehow became the face of the restaurant . Instead of bouncers , which you see when you go to a nightclub . What do you expect ? Long queue and two bouncers and people asking you to stay or give entry . And my director , fnb , was too smart . He made a women stand instead of two huge men . So now what was happening ? There was a queue , but a woman was handling everyone , so there were no fights . People were very soft spoken to me . They respected me And if I told them no stag entries or only couple entries , or this is how much you have to pay , they won't get angry , because I gave them a very soft touch approach . I spoke to them . I saw how I can handle them . If I can't give them a club entry , maybe they can get another entry to the restaurant , they can enjoy the music , but they cannot be down . So it was a very smart move .
Speaker 1And what happened in all that process ? I started knowing people . So now I know who comes every Friday . I know who comes every Saturday , who comes with their friends , who comes with their partners , what they are looking for . There were some guests who would come only after 12 PM . There were some guests who will only come at 2 AM . We were open until 4 in the morning . So now I started knowing people . And people would not call hotel . They had taken my number and they would just text me or WhatsApp be here , can you put me on the guest list ? Or if they had any issue in their previous visit , they would just text me . Hey , this didn't go well . So now what was happening ? We were getting positive reviews . We had a database streamlined And I had made a very personal connection with the guest , where these people had now become part of my WhatsApp groups or my Instagram or my LinkedIn . I had become somehow , the face of the restaurant .
Speaker 2I appreciate that story because there's something about what you did to get to know these people . You were out there every night . You were there , You were face to face with people , You were texting people And it's so cool because I think sometimes people look at these guest interactions as just somebody on Twitter or somebody on TripAdvisor or Yelp And from your experience you know this from that experience . But also since then , these are people And it's just another way that we're communicating . Absolutely We can't lose sight of that .
Speaker 1Yeah , absolutely . And I was not just communicating to them just to get business . I would just say , hey , it's your birthday tomorrow . What are your plans ? Why don't you just come for a brunch ? And if they would come , i would make sure I speak to the chef . I get a cake for them . We have a little celebration . I get my whole staff there .
Speaker 1And these were everything which came down from the department head . So this is how my director F and V visualized it that this restaurant should become the talk of the town . People should make sure that if there is anything special happening in their lives , it should happen in that restaurant . And , indirectly , i was there who was handling all these queries . I remember I used to get crazy queries I want to propose my girl , i want to have a very surprise proposal And we used to seriously , as a team , sit down And we used to visualize And we used to plan everything . This is how the champagne comes , this is when it comes . As soon as the proposal happens , this is when the confetti goes . Everybody stands up and claps . So it was very planned , it was very theater style And even today I think I've never had that kind of experience , and even when I'm in Canada . I'm telling you I'm in touch with most of the people back home .
