Hospitality Property School

Operating a hospitality property is a never-ending journey that requires your constant and continuous attention.
I am going to highlight 10 productivity traits that waste time and ways to correct them.

Just like guest services and your colleagues, your productivity will never be perfect, but you can always benefit from taking a breath and determining what is working, what is not and how to improve moving forward.

#10 – Being a perfectionist
Perfection is a great thing if you want to cut diamonds, perform open-heart surgery or defuse a bomb. Not so much in your hospitality property.
Being a perfectionist can drive all your employees crazy and be a waste of time. Shooting for very good is the sweet spot you want to strive for because it is efficient and quite suitable for almost everyone.

#9 – Not having a routine
Everyone can benefit from a routine to be more productive. In your property, the key is making sure you have an up-to-date operations manual and you are leading the way by modelling the proper procedures. A goal would be to work on one job at a time and to do it right. Multitasking rarely works.

Continue watching or reading and I’ll share 8 more productivity traits that waste time...

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/10-productivity-traits-that-waste-time-283

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A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

As a hotel-resort-bed & breakfast etc. owner/manager, your goals are to operate at a profit and keep your guests and employees happy and safe.

To achieve the last goal, it is imperative to boost security at your hospitality property.

Trying to make sure your guests have an enjoyable and worry-free stay at your property comes with its own share of challenges. From making sure it’s safe from viruses to hiring great employees to help operate it, to verifying that the breakfast buffet will be ready on time, you regularly have your work cut out for you.
One issue that often arises for many hotel-resort-bed and breakfast etc. owners and managers is the question of security. It’s a common misconception that only lower-star properties labour with these types of issues, but this could not be further from the truth.

Even higher-end properties can encounter problems like petty theft, unpleasant parties lurking outdoors, and rowdy guests getting into trouble.

If you want to improve the safety and security of your property without alarming your guests or invest in methods that don’t work, then these seven measures can help you gain the peace of mind you deserve.

Compassion Matters
One of the most effective ways to help bolster the security at your hospitality property is by spreading a little bit of human compassion.

This works in two ways.

For starters, one of the biggest security issues many property owners and managers face is employee theft. It’s very easy for an unhappy employee to pocket things that aren’t theirs, or to lie on their reported hours during a work shift. By treating your staff with compassion, you can help reduce the chance that they’ll steal from you and your property.

And your guests. It’s no secret that providing an exceptional experience is the cornerstone to making sure they want to return. However, this very same customer service also allows your staff to keep tabs on your guests as they come and go. This sends a subtle message that “we’re aware of you and your activities,” and gives your employees the ability to identify any odd behaviours.

Continue watching or reading and I’ll share 6 more verified techniques to boost security at your hospitality property…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/7-verified-techniques-to-boost-security-at-your-hospitality-propert-282

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https://youtu.be/-YpyiqWg3DI

A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

Uniforms Are an Important Aspect of Branding
We will be talking uniforms with Jim Snediker of Stock Mfg.

Our interview this month is going to be with Jim Snediker, co-founder and CEO of Stock Mfg, a company that creates custom uniform programs for some of the greatest establishments, restaurants and hotels in the world.

Continue watching or reading and I’ll share 17 more amenity ideas…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/jim-snediker-ceo-of-stock-mfg-hotel-restaurant-uniforms-281

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https://youtu.be/g-xjjogGTaE


A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

No two hospitality property guests are identical.

Each will arrive with their own opinions, expectations, & hopes. Due to these differences, you need the right amenities to cater to their unique needs.

Here are 30 amenity ideas.

The last thing you want to do is inadvertently alienate a guest, no matter what type of property you have.

What better way is there to draw the right kind of guests to your property than by offering them the exact type of amenities that would best resonate with them.

30 amenity ideas
The basics
1. Toiletries (e.g. Shampoo, lotion, etc.)
2. Personal care (combs, shaving cream, razor, shower cap, hairdryer)
3. Coffee Kit (maker, coffee and creamer)
4. Tissue box

For Business Travellers
5. High-speed internet
6. Plenty of wall outlets so they can easily plugin and charge their gadgets at night
7. A full-sized desk

For Honeymooners
8. To help set the right ambiance and mood for these guests, you want a more romantic and intimate vibe.
9. An on-site spa for a couples’ massage
10. Plush bathrobes
11. A jacuzzi tub in the bedroom
12. A bottle of champagne upon arrival
13. Turndown service complete with fancy chocolates on their pillows.

Continue listening or reading and I’ll share 17 more amenity ideas…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/33-amenity-ideas-you-need-to-consider-now-280

Post COVID-19 Action Plan
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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
keystonehpd.com/hospitality-property-school-podcasts


YouTube
https://youtu.be/C5qp8posaSs


A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

While the relaxing of restrictions in some regions of the world has been a good thing for cash-strapped property owners, an alarming and unprecedented drop in guest satisfaction has emerged.

What caused this guest satisfaction crunch? I’ll tell you.


Why has guest satisfaction dropped?

Even though demand levels have returned to near pre-pandemic levels, the travel purpose, trip locations and segment mix are different.
Given this, there are seven possible reasons why satisfaction has declined:


Hospitality property type

Travellers are selecting different properties that might have lower satisfaction scores in general, so the hospitality property type drove the satisfaction decline.


Traveller type

The travellers themselves have changed or the trip purpose has changed to one that tends to have lower satisfaction in general, so the traveller type drove the satisfaction decline.

While there was a spike in family travel during the return to travel period, the satisfaction declines held across family travel, couples travel and business travel—with business travellers experiencing the highest satisfaction decline.


Continue reading and I’ll share 5 more reasons guest satisfaction has dropped, right after a word from our sponsor…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/7-reasons-guest-satisfaction-has-dropped-279

Post COVID-19 Action Plan
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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
keystonehpd.com/hospitality-property-school-podcasts


YouTube
https://youtu.be/RMs155tAvLc


A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

The Great Resignation. The Big Quit. Whatever you want to call it, it’s here, it’s real and the hospitality industry has been hit harder than just about any other industry.

I’m going to share 6 strategies for dealing with labour shortages.
When it comes to a turnover crisis, one would be hard-pressed to find a sector in more trouble than the hospitality industry.

With COVID-19 as the spur, and other factors adding energy — like relief funding, additional virtual training opportunities, and uncertainty for employees, the hospitality industry is facing extraordinary labour shortages.

In the early days of the pandemic, layoffs and furloughs became commonplace as stay-at-home orders were in effect and the government restricted travel. However, as the world begins to reopen and travel is top-of-mind, the industry is struggling to re-hire or even retain the employees they have.

This is especially true for hospitality properties from bed and breakfasts and small boutique hotels all the way up to chain brands.

Properties are grappling to hire as years of low pay, long hours, and poor benefits catch up with them leaving many hospitality property’s short of staff.

Even before the pandemic, the hospitality industry had a reputation problem.
According to a 2018 UK YouGov study, the number one reason people choose to work in hospitality is that it’s the last option.

That says a lot, don’t you think? Envision hiring someone who really doesn’t want to work for you, but you’re the only option in town.

So, what can you do to hire and retain great employees? Given the cost of losing an employee can be between 0.5X and 1.5X their salary, it’s pretty clear that hospitality property’s need to make employee retention a strategic priority.

Continue listening or reading and I’ll share 6 strategies for dealing with labour shortages…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/6-strategies-for-dealing-with-labour-shortages-in-the-hospitality-property-industry-278

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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
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https://youtu.be/d-QtuKDe1KM

A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

Hospitality property marketing teams have to become masters of data.

Leveraging a deeper understanding of data flows and ensuring that it’s being captured cleanly, shared seamlessly and parsed profitably will drive results.

Here’s how to turn data into bookings.

Data is the fuel that powers the marketing engine, but this fuel requires more refining and care than ever before.

Looking ahead to 2022, the most impactful trends in hospitality marketing fall into three groups: the advancement of privacy, the marketing operations manual and enhancing the guest experience.

Here are a few key trends that shape both high-level strategy and ground-level tactics that will help turn data into bookings.


The marketing manual

While marketing has long been the domain of imagination and ingenuity, it’s now also a requirement to have a firm grasp on marketing operations. With data driving so many decisions and swaying the effectiveness of a given marketing campaign, property marketers now have to be one part imagination, one part ingenuity and one part data master.


The impact of Apple’s privacy changes

With the update of Apple iOS 15, email marketing has changed. Hospitality properties will no longer be able to see when a subscriber opens their emails and must adjust to a new privacy concept.

Properties will now be completely reliant on the data that they can gather themselves, meaning the technology they use to manage and make sense of this data will be vital. How well they can manage their data will determine how successful their marketing and success will be.

As data streams into a hospitality property's website, booking engine, newsletters, surveys, etc., the data gathered can provide high-quality figures to power guest communications, services, and personalized marketing. All this while having a detailed account of where that data came from and ensuring the ability to meet global privacy regulations.

This will allow properties to evaluate guests’ RFM value (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary). Segment audiences for marketing campaigns, and target guests with personalized messaging.


Third-party data is coming to an end

Even though it has been pushed to 2023, the end of cookies is going to happen. This has given hospitality property marketers more time to adapt to a world without cross-site behavioural tracking.

The upcoming end of third-party data is the perfect moment to pivot to first-party data. As already mentioned, these are data sources collected directly from your property also including, website clicks, booking patterns, search behaviour, and everything captured in your rich guest profiles. All of that data can be used to optimize, personalize and enhance your efforts and initiatives across other tools and platforms.


Continue reading and I’ll share 5 more ways that will help turn data into bookings…


⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/guaranteed-ways-to-make-your-hospitality-property-memorable-ep-275

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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
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YouTube
https://youtu.be/ENT3FZbpj_o

A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

Over the past few years, internet integration has had a major impact on hospitality property operations and the guest experience. Here is how 5G is changing the hospitality property industry.

Maintaining fast, reliable Wi-Fi and a consistent connection have become one of the leading goals for hospitality properties looking to improve guest loyalty.

With more and more guests signing into hospitality property networks and business operations shifting to the cloud, the call for a solid internet infrastructure has become crucial, stretching some properties to the edge of their abilities.

Introducing 5G.

While this technology has slowly been rolling since 2019, it is estimated that 40 percent of the world will be using 5G networks by 2024, accounting for a quarter of all mobile traffic data and the biggest benefit - speed.

Using 5G, data delivery speeds will reach an estimated 2.5 gigabytes per second, outstripping 4G’s current potential reach of 12.5 megabytes per second. While the benefits are clear for the guest-facing side of hospitality, these speeds will also allow business owners to attain unprecedented levels of connectivity for back-of-house operations.

To reach this point, a lot of preparation has to be accomplished first.

Continue reading and I’ll share the facts about 5G and the benefits to hospitality properties, right after a word from our sponsor…

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:
https://keystonehpd.com/how-5g-is-changing-the-hospitality-property-industry-ep-276

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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
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YouTube
https://youtu.be/44OajwpyScc


A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

Standing out Post COVID-19 is going to be challenging.

Independent hotels, resorts, inns and bed & breakfasts will need to use different methods to make an impression on their guests and here are some methods for you to try.

What do I mean by memorable?

We have all visited properties that have friendly staff, nice rooms, a good view, and an enjoyable breakfast. There is nothing wrong with this hospitality property and you feel satisfied paying.

You get what you paid for.

Does this make this hospitality property memorable?

I am sorry to tell you, nope!

Now, what I have just stated should be the minimum standards every property would strive for, understanding the fact that sometimes a good view might not be possible.

What can you do to go the extra step, to make your hospitality property memorable?

The possibilities are endless but let’s look at a few.

Start from when your guests arrive - make sure your hospitality property is inviting and to do this you need to look at your property from your guest’s perspective:

Is your entrance is well lit; with a welcoming, attractive company sign is posted.

Is it easy for your guests to park and get to the front door without getting soaked if it’s raining?

Is it easy to get luggage through the front door?

Are your guests welcomed with a smiling face and help if necessary?

Are your guests treated the way you would want your parents or grandparents to be treated?

Are there specialties in your region that could be unique to your hotel that guests can take home or share with others? e.g. fruits, maple sugar, woodcarvings, wine glasses with the properties name etched into them. These are items that could be available to sample or buy?

Ensure you have a simple and seamless registration system.

Tell an interesting story. What makes your hospitality property unique? Is there a historical or family store you can share? This can be done in the form of a small booklet or a postcard your guests can take with them.

Encourage your guests to send the photographs they have taken during their stay and if suitable, post them on your website's gallery.

Send personalized follow-up thank you cards a few days after your guest’s departure. I know this may seem like a lot of work but if you calculate the revenue from return business against the time it takes to write the cards, you will soon find that is more than worth it.

Continue watching or reading for more ways to make your hospitality property memorable...

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/guaranteed-ways-to-make-your-hospitality-property-memorable-ep-275

Post COVID-19 Action Plan
https://KeystoneHPD.com/PostCovid19ActionPlan


Get Your INNsider Tips
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Say hi on social
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Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
keystonehpd.com/hospitality-property-school-podcasts


YouTube
https://youtu.be/5Ua4ZRx3NKQ

A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development

Have you ever landed on a hospitality property website and felt confused?

This terrible user experience is the result of a poor branding strategy.

There are things you can do so this doesn’t happen to your website and I’ll explain.

Why is branding strategy for your hospitality property important?

One of the easiest ways to build a relationship between your hospitality property and customer is with a convincing brand. But what does it take to create a brand that creates trust?

A hospitality property should be more than a place to sleep. A hospitality property is an integral factor of the travel experience, one that can make or break the entire trip. This is why your hospitality property must start sharing its unique experiences from the very beginning – way before the customer chooses your hospitality property and checks in.

You can do this by making branding a priority in your hospitality properties' marketing strategy. The key to branding is to have a very clear and distinctive selling proposition that will appeal to your target audience.

If potential guests only see that you're offering the same experiences as your competition, the only thing left to set you apart is price, which can be a risky precedent, as there’s always someone out there willing to undercut you.

Continue watching or reading and I'll tell you the benefits of appropriate branding...

⇒ TO READ OR LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON KEYSTONE HOSPITALITY PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT:

https://keystonehpd.com/branding-strategy-cheat-sheet-hotels-resorts-bed-and-breakfasts-ep-274

Post COVID-19 Action Plan
https://KeystoneHPD.com/PostCovid19ActionPlan


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Say hi on social
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-hospitality-development


Listen to The Hospitality Property School PODCAST here
keystonehpd.com/hospitality-property-school-podcasts


YouTube
https://youtu.be/OHl2WY6rZYM

A Division of Keystone Hospitality Property Development