Riviera Pebbles Blog: Be our Guest…

Posted on 19th May 2014 in Pebbles Properties

French based team

We’ve always known at Pebbles that good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. It is why we’re proud of our statistics that over 30% of our guests are repeat guests, and some guests have stayed with us over ten times already.

Whilst all businesses can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in new guests, it’s not the Pebbles way. Making sure that when guests board the plane for home, they will be spreading the world about Pebbles, telling their friends and family how we helped them create special memories for many years to come is our main aim.

Behind the scenes at Pebbles, a lot of work and cogs goes into delivering high quality, consistent customer service. We have our designated offices for guests to drop in and see us if there is a problem or a concern, a designated free luggage store for guests when we can’t accommodate early check-ins or late checkouts. We know this makes our guest feel valued and that that if there is an issue, they won’t be alone. Exclusively managing every single property on our books means that our “on the ground” staff (not contractors) are knowledgeable about all Pebbles properties. To keep our standards up, and try to improve, we have our Secret Guests, our Pebbles Representatives and an investment in customer service training across the board. All this means we’re happy to be judged on what we do rather than what we say. Whilst we can’t legislate for every eventuality when staying with us, we do try and ensure that we deliver on our promises, and where something unexpected happens, we’ll do our best to put it right.

This month saw our Nice team involved in a special event: personalised customer service training carried out by Eric. Now, Eric first became part of Pebbles back in 2008 when Nice Pebbles Sales found him, and his partner Hans, a perfect, within budget cute one bedroom apartment, with a balcony and sea view. Pebbles has had their apartment Rialto on our rental books ever since. As a customer service trainer and flight attendant, Eric became the obvious choice for us to deliver a two day training seminar to our team. He knows our business from an Owner's point of view, and as a guest, and working with one of the leading airlines, he knows his customer service. It turns out he’s also a good actor too – Alice, our receptionist, who joined us in 2012 told us that he “certainly put the fear in everyone when conducting the role plays! The course was a great refresher for myself and I think everyone.”

At training

The feedback we received from our salaried staff was lovely. Lianne, one of our Pebbles Reps, felt the training went further than making sure we respected and looked after our guests, but that team playing also has a role. “The first thing I noticed when joining Pebbles was the amazing team spirit within the office, you really feel that you are never alone. But of course we are a very busy bunch of people and sometimes I think we all forget to take a few minutes for each other. Our relationships within the team are so important and affect our overall work ethic, so this is something that Eric helped me to realise and I for sure will find a few minutes for my team mates in the future”.

Our Nice Managers, Michelle, Flora and Emily felt the training was extremely informative. Emily, speaking for the three of them said “it was great to have an outside perspective of our management and customer service skills – which was luckily all good! We all left feeling enthused and pumped for the summer!”

A huge thank you to Eric for delivering the training, and thanks to everyone for taking part so enthusiastically. Eric said he enjoyed doing the training and it gave him, as an Owner, a better appreciation for how it all works. He said “ I have to say you have at this moment a wonderful staff. They all very motivated and willing to learn. I’m sure we’re all going to have a great summer”. Here’s to that.