Siegel Sez: Not Your Father’s Power Socket
September 3rd, 2021
The Most Important Hotel “Salesperson” Right Now Is Working Behind Your Front Desk
Doug Kennedy | July 22nd, 2020
How to Manage Your Employees and Clients Through the Pandemic
GBTA | September 2, 2020
This week, GBTA Interim-Executive Director Dave Hilfman hosted well-respected travel industry human resources leader Patti Huska to share how to best get your organization and employees through this turbulent time. Huska is American Express Global Business Travel’s (GBT) Chief People Officer and also serves on GBTA’s WINiT Strategic Advisory Board. Attendees of the webinar received actionable tips and ideas from Huska and Hilfman including: Break situations down into manageable pieces. “We separated our pandemic response into three segments: ‘Respond,’ which was working through the immediate needs; ‘Reset,’ where we addres...
Enjoy the Journey as Well as the Destination
Robert Rauch | September 2, 2020
By Robert Rauch Our 10-step Method to 2021 Business Planning Every year during late August and early September, we embark on business planning for the following year. This year has been highly unusual to say the least. So, despite the low revenues, difficult operating environment, stress and anxiety and disastrous cash flow, try to breathe and enjoy the journey. It will make the transition to the other side more enjoyable and likely more successful. Here are 10 items to put on your “to-do” list that will get you there and keep you focused! 1) Complete your research. Business plans for 2021 must be clear, concise and simple a...
What Are You Grateful For?
Shep Hyken | August 26, 2020
By Shep Hyken I depart from my typical customer service articles to write something that falls into the motivational category. I was on a Zoom meeting with some of my colleagues in the speaking profession. All of these people are brilliant and hearing how they have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic has been fascinating. In our group, we have a TV celebrity, the president of a major university, one of the top futurists in the world, a digital marketing expert, a retired, high-ranking military officer and more. Some of these people run large businesses and organizations. One of the questions we were asked was, “What are you grateful ...
The Profession of Hotel Sales Is at a Fork in the Road: Which Path Will You Follow?
Doug Kennedy | August 25, 2020
By Doug Kennedy Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every type of industry to one degree or another, and in different ways. While some industries such as the tech sector flourish, others such as retail, restaurant, hotel, and tourism languish. Yet one thing the pandemic economy has done for virtually all industries is to accelerate the pace of changes long underway. There are so many examples. Telemedicine has been around for a decade now, yet only now are patients and providers embracing it on a large scale. Distance learning became the latest thing in education over two decades ago, yet only now is it being deployed o...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: What Everyone Needs to Know About Hotel Financial Skills 1-10
David Lund | August 24, 2020
By David Lund On the eve of starting my financial leadership course for the third year with Royal Roads University it occurs to me that most people have it somewhat wrong when it comes to how they think about the financials inside the hotel business. It’s almost like they think that a mechanic is the only person who can drive a car. On that note many great drivers possess great knowledge about how the car works but they’re not mechanics; it’s not a requirement to be a great driver. You would never take your Ferrari to the driver for a repair, but man can they drive it. The exact same goes for financial skills and understanding. You ...
Be a Professional
Shep Hyken | August 19, 2020
What is a professional? Is it the opposite of an amateur? In the sports world, professional athletes are paid, while amateurs are not. In my business, the title “professional keynote speaker” implies that I’m paid to speak in front of audiences. So, does being a professional simply mean you’re paid to do whatever it is you are doing? I’ll answer that with a resounding, “No!” It’s definitely more than whether or not you are paid. I’ll argue that “professional” can also refer to the way you conduct yourself. In other words, do you behave in a manner that others would perceive as professional? My friend Paul Reil...
Quality Hotel Supply Is the Key to Developing Fledgling Tourist Destinations
Mandeep S. Lamba | August 17, 2020
By Mandeep Lamba, Dipti Mohan India is one of the fastest growing travel & tourism (T&T) economies in the world thanks to its diverse landscape, rich heritage and cultural diversity, which attracts tourists from across the country and the world. Recognizing the importance of the T&T sector in economic growth, the Government of India (GoI) has introduced several initiatives to promote the sector including strengthening of road, rail and air connectivity to tourist destinations in the past couple of decades. For instance, the number of operational airports in the country have increased significantly from 50 in 2000 to 137 in 2019...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – Premier Action
David Lund | August 17, 2020
By David Lund Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you. ― Pericles Every year in my home country the provincial premiers get together to eat lobster and drink cheap wine. Meanwhile some political work is being done. I remember two such conferences. I have a story about both. The first one was in the summer of 1997. It’s always a big deal when the premieres and their staff and the media descend on your hotel. This meeting was particularly memorable for the media’s work and my firsthand experience of how it all really works. When these big conferences happen the hote...
Hotel Quality Lab: Exploring Service Excellence
August 13, 2020
Against the backdrop of relentlessly evolving consumer demands and technological disruption, what does service quality mean today? What is required to maintain the prerequisite momentum? And how can hoteliers reconcile brand standards with the varying needs and expectations of guests from around the world? Helping us find the answers to these questions and more, Richard Leuenberger, Managing Director of Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz, joins us on a journey of discovery through service excellence. Service excellence credentials The success of Leuenberger’s approach to service quality speaks for itself. Under his stewardship, Badrutt’...
Handling Online Hotel Reviews in COVID-19
Susan Barry | August 10, 2020
By Susan Barry “Safety precautions and staff wearing PPE made me feel like everyone there had leprosy.” “They didn’t have valet parking, supposedly because of COVID. I don’t recommend you stay there.” “Hotel went overboard on COVID preparedness. Pool is closed for no apparent reason.” These are some of the more extreme examples of online reviews that have been written about hotels since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Even if your hotel hasn’t been put on blast for following local mandates, you have probably noticed an uptick in negative reviews and complaints. Pandemic-Specific Online Hotel Review Dynamics at Pl...
NOW Is the Time to Tap Top Talent in Hospitality
David Berger | August 6, 2020
Unemployment continues to jostle up and down across the U.S. and hotels looking to improve service can hire workers at the top of their game By David Berger Success in hospitality has always focused on finding talented workers with a hospitality mindset and a desire to pursue personal growth. These workers thrive in a hotel environment, where they can tap into the industry’s nearly limitless opportunities for growth potential. The trouble is, where to find them? With roughly half of American workers still out of work, now is the time to acquire and cultivate top talent within your property to assume a more impactful position when th...
How to Avoid Roadblocks to Great Customer Service
Shep Hyken | August 5, 2020
By Shep Hyken What gets in the way of creating a great customer service experience for you and/or your organization? Is it a process that is clunky, inconvenient and difficult for the customer? Is it people who aren’t properly trained or don’t have the right people skills? It’s easy to ask yourself these questions and self-diagnose your organization, but have you ever asked your people? That’s exactly what my friend and client, Diane Kniowski, did. Diane is president and regional general manager at Univision. As she moved into this role, she realized the opportunities that would come from providing a better customer experienc...
The Impact of Cleaning Protocols on the Hospitality Industry
Pierre Verbeke | July 30, 2020
By Pierre Verbeke Big hotel names such as Hilton, Marriott, Accor and Kempinsky have issued new initiatives concerning hotel cleaning and hygiene. While they are bringing safety and peace of mind to customers and staff alike, they also are also giving the impression of putting forward short-term answers to the COVID-19 problem. How will Covid-19 measures affect your hotel experience? Be ready to perform a lot more pre-arrival and arrival activities on your own devises. Contactless will be favored and the use of apps intensified. App functions already in use today include: Opening your room door Replacing the TV remote control ...
A Boring Customer Service Experience—That’s What Our Customers Want
Shep Hyken | July 29, 2020
Call me boring, but I want the same thing every time—at least when it comes to customer experience. I want it to be good. I want it to be consistent. I want to predict the experience I’m going to have with the people and places I do business with. If you ask the CEO of a big company or the owner of a small business, I bet they would say the same. We want our customers to always have a good experience with us—one they can count on always happening every time they do business with us. We want them to find that our people are always knowledgeable, always helpful, always friendly and always respond quickly. We want our products to alw...
Take Charge of Your Capital: You May Think You Are, But This May Not Be the Case
Alex Sogno | July 28, 2020
By Alex Sogno As you’re reading this, regardless of where in the capital stack you sit, you probably have a stronger than usual desire to know exactly what’s going on with the underlying asset, the cash flow, the promised CapEx program, the debt covenant compliance, and how badly you mispriced your risk (you’re not alone). Your focus is likely on re-balancing your risk/return proposition the best you can, by either 1) increase your return or 2) decrease your risk. During these Corona days, the most likely strategy to succeed would be the latter. Or is it? Given the right agreements with the right parties, and a shared understandin...
React Mobile Talks With Miami Beach GM About ‘Employee Safety in the Epicenter of COVID-19’
React Mobile | July 28, 2020
In Episode 3 of its ‘Employee Safety Culture’ Webcast Series, Robb Monkman and The Gale South Beach General Manager Kevin Waldstein discuss what the hotel is doing while closed to ensure the safest possible environment for employees when they return Seattle, July 28, 2020 — Hoteliers in Miami Beach are riding a roller coaster of uncertainty thanks to recent spikes in COVID-19. A planned June reopening was pushed back to July 31, but now that the city is being called the “Epicenter of the Epicenter,” reopening is delayed even further, this time to October 1. How is all this indecision impacting employee morale? Robb Monkman, CEO...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Chapter 9 – The Offer
David Lund | July 27, 2020
By David Lund The chapter below is an excerpt from my new book. It’s fiction but some of the characters and story lines are based on people I have worked with and events that have taken place in the hotels I have worked in. The book is a fable about a hotel manager who has some very bad habits. He must change in order to survive and the book takes him and you through the lessons needed to be a great hospitality financial leader. I’m writing ahead each month so I’m not sure how the book will end. I hope you enjoy it and if you missed any earlier chapters you can find them on my website blog tab. My drive to the hotel today feel...
Would You Fight to Make Your Customers Happy?
Shep Hyken | July 23, 2020
By Shep Hyken These are the kind of people—and the kind of company—you want to do business with. First, a little background. I was having a conversation with a colleague and came up with the idea that you shouldn’t have to fight with a company to get your problem resolved or for them to make you happy. They should want to make you happy. Just a couple days later I saw this idea in action, but with a twist. I was on a customer support call with a software company and their rep said, “I’ll need to talk to my manager. I’m on your side, and I’ll fight to make you happy.” Did he just say he would fight his manager to ma...
The Most Important Hotel “Salesperson” Right Now Is Working Behind Your Front Desk
Doug Kennedy | July 22, 2020
By Doug Kennedy As my frequent readers know, I have long advocated for hoteliers to view the front desk as a revenue- generating position, not an operational expense. In previous posts I have provided training tips for upselling at registration, converting “property-direct” voice inquiries, converting those who booked via third parties to booking directly next time, and perhaps most importantly, sourcing leads that can be passed along for follow-up by the hotel sales team. In recent years so many hotel salespeople have forgotten about this “channel,” as there was always a steady stream of leads flowing in from digital sources su...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: 3-Way Match
David Lund | July 20, 2020
By David Lund Internal controls in your hotel are critical and they need to be designed to keep your assets safe and your money where it belongs – with you and not in someone else’s pockets. I have seen this go wrong way too many times and I also talk to many hoteliers that are oblivious to this level of control or they just don’t see the importance of it. In this piece I am going to lay out the requirements for a three-way match in your purchasing and accounts payable area. Put this in place and you will never pay a bill twice again and you will never pay for something that you didn’t actually receive. I have lived through both...
‘Employee Safety’ Webcast Series Is LIVE!
React Mobile | July 14, 2020
Seattle, July 14, 2020 — The “New World, New Employee Safety Culture” webcast series is LIVE! Hosted by React Mobile CEO Rob Monkman, the fast-paced online resource provides answers to some of hoteliers’ most pressing questions about employee safety post pandemic and amidst civil unrest. Questions posed include: What does the new employee safety culture look like today as we roll into recovery? How is technology helping to define hospitality’s new normal post pandemic? Which contactless technologies are being implemented to protect front-line workers? What can technologists do to help hoteliers implement new operating procedures? Wh...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: The Paper Can’t Talk
David Lund | July 13, 2020
By David Lund In the hotel business, we have three equal pillars. The guest, the colleague and the money. We need to realize that the third pillar—the money, the owner, the P&L, the paperwork, whatever you want to call it—needs a proper voice. The right voice, a voice that speaks to the leadership and the highest purpose that a cornerstone of our business warrants. Far too often the voice of the money is scary stingy or downright mean. If the paper is going to have a voice, we want to ensure it’s the proper one. The voice that will get and give equity to all our constituents. You’re probably thinking that the director of fin...
Would You Please Leave a Review About Your Experience?
Shep Hyken | July 8, 2020
By Shep Hyken Getting customers to review their experience with you is powerful. Before they make a purchase, go to a restaurant, stay at a hotel and more, many customers do online research, which leads them to reviews that help form their opinion of products or services they want to buy—or even the company they want to buy it from. Nothing new there. How do you get reviews? Well, the easy way is to ask for them. By the way, I recently interviewed Rupesh Patel on Amazing Business Radio, and he shared the “secret sauce” on how he gets amazing guest reviews for his hotels—and his recipe can work for any business. I suggest gi...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Pay to Play
David Lund | July 6, 2020
By David Lund I have learned a few things since starting my own business nearly seven years ago. Here is a short list of accomplishments: I have managed to survive as my own systems manager which also means looking after Johanne’s stuff which is no small feat for an older guy like me. I also have learned how to navigate our own health care plans which really means there is no plan at all, I live in America after all. Lastly, I have come to understand the hospitality world and the pay-to-play landscape. You can have anything if you’re willing to pay. Really, this is true and in the hotel communication and event world it’...
