THE ART OF COMMUNICATION

Sara Sandroni, Giulietta Caracciolo and Giulia Giari

Module 2 Unit 1

Today’s program Types of communication in tourism (*)

Behaviour and appearance at work and how to speakto customers (*)

The efficient way to «communicate» to the customerswithout words.

(*) a brief review

1)Different types of communication

We can say that tourism is an industry that sells

products which customers cannot see,

compare or try out before deciding to buy them. This situation

may create uncertainty for the customers, therefore the pre-

purchase information must be…

reliable and

clear.

Communication in tourism can be of…

DIFFERENT TYPES

VIRTUALThrough the

Internet.

WRITTENIn e-mail,

faxes,

messages

and signs.

PICTORIALThrough

illustrations,

diagrams and

photographs.FACE TO

FACEWith

customers.

2)Making a good impression

If you work in a travel agency, information office

or hotel you are in the public eye, and it’s very

important to know exactly how to deal with

customers. You must be able to speak foreign languages, you must

speak politely and you have to show the right

attitude.

DO NOT

• Be too informal

• Use bad language

• Contradict the customer

• Show impatience

• Interrupt a conversation with a customer to answer the office phone

• Chew a gum, eat, smoke or drink while you are speaking to a customer.

About your behaviourDO

• Be friendly

• Show you are interestedin what the customer isrequesting

• Look at him/her directly.

About your appearence

• A appropriate to your position and role. It’s important to look tidy and efficient and to don’t look shabby and provocative.

• Hair and nails always be clean and tidy.

• Don’t wear showy make up.

WARNINGAny resemblance to real events and/or real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Conversation number one

E.: Good morning. How do you do? My name is Bridget White. Please take a seat.C.: Good morning. I am Lydia and I would like to book a trip in Greece for me and my family. We would like to travel in September.E.: Fine. How many days would you like to stay in Greece?C: Well, I would like to stay there four or five days.E.: How many are you?C.: We are five.E.: Perfect. I will check the flight availability. Just a moment.

*5 seconds later*

E.: Yes, fine. Can you give me your full name please?

C.: Lydia McLaughlin.

E.: Would you mind spelling your full surname, please?

C.: M-C-L-A-U-G-H-L-I-N.

E.: What is your permanent address, please?

C.: 30, Harrods Street, London.

E.: And could you leave me a daytime phone number, please?

C.: Yes, my mobile number is 53467498763.

E.: Fine. Thank you.

C.: Thank you. Goodbye.

E.: Good evening, welcome to Jenna's Hotel, how can I help you?

C.: Good Evening. I’ve waited one hour for the hotel's shuttle but it never arrived so I had to pay for a taxi to get here. The shuttle was included in the package why did it not arrive?

E.: I am very sorry to hear that, we had no idea that the service didn't arrive!

C.: I had a 9 hours flight, I am very tired. I've made a reservation for a room.

*The customer gives the documents*

E.: I understand how deeply upsetting this must have been. Sure, I'll check you in, in a moment.

Conversation number two

*The employee takes the documents and searches on the computer*

E.: Your reservation does not appear in our system.

C.: What? How is it possible? The agency told me there were no problems!

E.: I’m sure it’s just a little mistake, don't worry, I'll figure it out. I will call the agency for a confirm, please, wait here.

*2 minutes later*

E.: All right, I've solved the problem. I'm truly sorry for these inconveniences.

C.: But now is it all okay?

E.: Yes Miss, your keys are here, have a good stay.

C.: Okay, thank you.

Get it right!

Pardon me WhatSorryExcuse me

It’s used to attract

somebody’s attention.

It also used when you

interrupt someone and

when you need to leave

your clients alone for a

moment. You might

also use excuse me as

a question when you

want someone to

repeat something that

person has said

because you could not

hear it.

It’s used to say that

you wish you had

not done what you

have done;

especially when you

want to be polite to

someone you have

done something

bad to.

(Formal: I beg your

pardon)

It’s used to say that

you are sorry for

doing something

wrong or for being

rude.

Don’t say both

«What?» and

«What have you

said?» because

they are impolite

and rude forms.

3)Communicating through…

DIAGRAMS AND

PICTURES

What?

A symbolic

representation of

information.

How?

It stresses the

meaning of oral

messages and

simplifies complex

process. In

addiction it can be

extended to a great

number of people at

the same time.

Be always polite with customers

Speak clearly

Customer satisfaction is your first

Visual communication is very helpful

Thanks for watching!