Under the influence of technological change, the relationship between customers and companies that sell goods and services has changed dramatically. Now that customers have more information than ever at their disposal, and their choices in shopping do not depend on the middlemen, we are seeing a new kind of effort to ensure that customers are satisfied with the merchandise or services they paid for.
Client services, customer satisfaction services, and hospitality professionals aim to ensure customer satisfaction with the quality of products and services on offer, and to entire customers to return to the same point of purchase (e.g., bookseller, shoe store, or clothing store), or the same service provider (e.g., hotel, restaurant, gym, bar, hair salon). In this respect, this line of work requires the same kind of people skills and communication skills that go into advertising and public relations, in addition to good organization and planning.
Stefan Seecharran (2011) works as a Promotions Coordinator for the Butter Group which owns nightclubs and restaurants.
Stefan Seecharan, Promotions/Hospitality
What is your job?
My job as a Promotions Coordinator is to make sure that promoters are completing their jobs to the best of their ability with as much help as I can offer. Promotions is publicity. Our marketing group comes up with creative ways to advertise the experiences one can have at our properties, and we push those messages out through promoters, those individuals our company has identified as trendsetters.
What is the broader field of industry in which this work exists?
Butter Group is in the hospitality industry.
What, in general, do you do as part of this job?
Schedule promoters for venues accordingly, making sure that we have content they could always push to their friends and clientele.
What are the pros and cons of this kind of job?
Constantly meeting new and interesting people is a huge thumbs up. I have yet to experience any cons.
What skills did you learn as an English major that you use in this job?
Speech skills are huge when meeting people; and knowledge of texts that I’ve studied as an undergrad still come up whilst meeting up with friends.
How have you learned to do this job?
I learned how to do this job by taking on multiple roles and tasks while being an intern.
How did you get this job?
I got this job by simply applying for an internship and working my way up over time.
For current students interested in this line of work, do you have any recommendations on what they can do now to start directing their career path?
If you want to be in the hospitality industry, look into specialized programs for it. Also meeting people within the industry is great, it’s a very tight community.
