By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca)
Most hoteliers intrinsically understand the concept of a sense of arrival. Broadly defined, this is that glorious moment (or what’s intended to be glorious) when a guest arrives at the threshold of your establishment. The goal of this ‘sense of place’ is to quite literally bedazzle your arriving guest from the get-go to reaffirm their hotel selection.
I am confident that most of you reading this have spent hours in planning committee meetings discussing this very topic. Your doormen are attired with distinctive uniforms designed to create a point of differentiation from the very moment a guest arrives. Operational funds are budgeted to continually refresh incredible floral displays in your lobby. Training for front desk staff includes exhaustive evaluation on welcoming, creating eye contact and ensuring a smile. And I am sure that you personally have walked through your front door with eyes as a guest to ensure that everything is just right.
A sense of arrival is critical, as it sets a tone for the guest’s upcoming visit. Done well, guests are reassured and excited about their stay. All of their preemptive doubts regarding their retreats have been alleviated. Your arrival routine may have even included an up-sell routine to a better room type. All of this is well-documented, analyzed and already part of your operational code.
But what about developing a sense of departure?
Most properties are excellent at reviewing the invoice, neatly folding it (after duly stapling the credit card form to the receipt) and inserting the folio into a beautiful, soon-to-be-discarded envelope. But front desk clerks who just land you the folio are losing an opportunity for sales.
I am not advocating hawking a T-shirt or some other sort of paraphernalia, unless of course, you are a Hard Rock Café or a comparable brand where the wardrobe is part of the experience. Rather, here is a chance to muster some very positive one-on-one dialogue with the guest. For example, this could include stays in other properties within the chain, or if you’re an independent hotel, learning more so that you could secure a repeat customer.
A lot of time is spent encouraging the guest to diarize their stays in social media (for example, becoming a Facebook fan or writing a stellar review on TripAdvisor). My feeling is that a guest prompted to do this out of habit will do so without direct encouragement. Those individuals who do not regularly contribute to the social media mayhem will not change their course through your requests.
In any event, give the concept of a sense of departure some thought for your property. Think of it this way: creating the sense of arrival is about the upcoming stay. It is micro-focused on the short period that the guest will be with you. The sense of departure is about the future. It is macro-focused on your chain and future expectations.
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