Meet and Greet Services (5 Sources Of Failure)
What are Meet and Greet Services?
Meet and greet services typically refer to services that are provided to individuals, often travelers or VIPs, to help them navigate an unfamiliar environment, such as an airport or hotel. These services are typically provided by a third-party company, and can include a range of different services depending on the specific needs of the individual.
The more businesses continue to grow on a global scale, the more the demand for labor, specific kinds of project related expertise, skills, technical workshops, seminars, and industry-based conferences continue to rise across the globe.
This trend has resulted in the movement of people of diverse cultural and professional backgrounds to all parts of the world, thus giving rise to the need to professionally manage them from arrival to departure.
As important as it is to manage people professionally through Meet and Greet Services, so also is the need for attention to the minutest detail because the following can go wrong and lead to service failure:
1) Change of Flight Schedule:
Flight delays or reschedule can affect the logistics of Meet and Greet negatively – especially when accommodation, security, and shuttle agreements have been made with third-parties for the originally scheduled day or time and resources committed to it.
This can be time-consuming and costly. The solution to this would be to anticipate the potential risk and consequences in the event of flight cancellation; communicate this possibility to all stakeholders.
This gives room for plan B and C and strategies for effectively managing or cushioning the effect of potential flight delays, outright cancellations and reschedule.
2) Cultural Orientation of Guests:
Meet and Greet primarily requires some acceptable exchange of pleasantries including handshakes or a hug after confirming the identity of your guest but things can go off the beam if your guest finds your gesture culturally or religiously offensive.
Women of certain cultural background would find it very offensive when a man who is not her husband offers her a handshake or a playful smile, while it can be perceived as normal by others. For the French, they’ll prefer a quick and light handshake and if they’re close you can give them a peck on both cheeks. For a Chinese, grip slightly and bow slightly, while you maintain very modest eye contact. For a Brazilians, it is normal to give a firm and long handshake; strong eye contact and kiss on both cheek – even for a lady.
3) Language Barrier:
One of the major challenges of managing clients of diverse nationalities when rendering Meet and Greet service is a language barrier.
If a guest does not speak or understand your language of communication, this can make communication very difficult. Though English is the most learned language in the world today, most professionals who travel all over the world are encouraged to learn and understand one or two other international languages.
That way if your guest speaks only German, French, Spanish, Chinese or Arabic, it’s easy to find an interpreter. Ultimately when this sort of situation arises, find an interpreter, translate documents – even before they arrive and apply the right sign languages to bridge the communication gap occasioned by the language barrier.
4) Limited Knowledge of Your Guest:
In situations where one is getting to meet with guests for the first time, it is important that some profiling should be done to even have a basic understanding of the visiting guest’s personality type, likes and put-offs, as well as the appropriate body language, eye contact, facial expression, and the general gestures, to adopt for each person or group per time.
No one expects a Protocol Officer to have a perfect knowledge of every single guest or visiting group, but one must carefully observe these important details in the process of managing immigrants from arrival to departure.
5) Security:
Protocol Managers must be at their best in making all the security arrangements to protect their guests from arrival to in-country transportation or offshore. The absence of fortified security escort can lead to loss of luggage, expose the crew to the danger of extortion, robbery, and kidnapping.
Since seamless problem-solving capability and effective communication are key criteria for selecting a protocol service provider, sound knowledge of international affairs and cross-cultural behaviors are equally important considerations for engaging a Meet and Greet service provider. Another key selection criterion is 0% error rate in service delivery and most importantly getting it done (even when under intense pressure) within designated timelines.
In case, you have read this article and you’re still wondering, who, why and when you should engage a strategic protocol partner in Nigeria? Ponder no more! Fortune Global is that partner of choice. Fortune Global renders VIP Protocol Services to diverse classes of clients in all sectors – including the Oil & Gas sector. We also manage high profile business professionals, diplomats, corporate executives, and individuals who may need extra travel assistance to and from Nigeria because we understand the intricacies and legal requirements of managing multinational guests from arrival to departure.
