How Valet Parking Can Improve Your Customer Reviews

5 Star Customer reviews

The increase in technology in recent years has led to the availability of significantly more information available to prospective visitors. Whether you’re a hotel, restaurant, entertainment destination, or even a residential property, people have never had more information at their literal fingertips when it comes to finding out about other people’s experiences.

Valet parking can play a positive (or negative) role in helping to improve your customer reviews, by most importantly providing visitors with a uniquely great experience that goes above and beyond their expectations. A few ways your valet parking team can contribute to this goal include:

  • Name usage: Most valet parking technologies provide the vehicle owner’s name when returning to a hotel, permitted garage, or residential property. People love the personal touch of being greeted by their first name. It provides a sense of comfort and community.
  • Welcome back: Just like name usage, showing that you recognize the individual (even because of their vehicle) shows that valet staff is paying attention and again provides the parker with that personal touch and a feeling of appreciation through a simple “Welcome Back” greeting.
  • Stick to the Script: While you don’t want your valet staff to sound robotic or be unable to engage in unique conversations with their regular patrons, it’s important to also encourage them to follow a standard pattern from greeting to departure to make sure the parker gets all the important information they need for their trip to your facility.
  • Ladies First: Just like our parents taught us, ladies are first when opening doors. Keep this in mind when vehicles are arriving and departing. Smile, make eye contact, and while opening the ladies’ door first, place your other hand behind you on your lower back. Proper etiquette goes a long way, especially in the customer service role. You are on stage, similar to a performer acting in a play. Kindness, respect, and admiration are shown in body language much more than in verbal language.
  • Give Your Team Time: By integrating technologies that allow parkers to call for their vehicle before they arrive back to the site for their departure, your staff will have plenty of time to retrieve the vehicle, reducing the amount of time customers must wait, and improving overall satisfaction.
  • Survey and Act: Hopefully, most reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but often you won’t know how you can improve your operation unless you ask. Providing a survey to your patrons after they visit your facility will provide them the opportunity to bring any issues to your attention so you can resolve the situation with them personally and take any corrective action moving forward.
  • Check your Work – TEST and Survey your team. Formulate a checklist scorecard based on Forbes arrival and departure expectations. This is a minimum standard. Check out the Forbes Travel Guide Standards for more information.

Customer reviews can make or break a business and have a direct result on the bottom line. Help your valet staff understand the important role they play by providing the first and last experience visitors will have at your destination.