The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations

By The Proven Principles PodcastBusiness

The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations episodes

October 24, 2019 #12: Elizabeth Baizer Raines - On Branding and Creating (or Clarifying) Your Story
On this episode we talk to Elizabeth Raines, Creative Director at EBR Graphic Design about branding.
This often misunderstood subject can be a huge challenge for businesses, with many not knowing where to start or how to clean up a poorly executed project.
We dive deep and discuss what people truly need to know when branding a business and common pitfalls that result in bad design, why it’s best to seek out the help of a dedicated designer rather than trying to do it in house and the value proposition that an outside designer brings when developing a logo or other company collateral. We also talked about what to look for when trying to find the right person to guide a company through the branding process and how organizations large and small can tell their story through well thought out branding and design.
About branding a business? (6:42)
What types of collateral should be considered (9:45)
What are you buying when you outsource branding and design? (14:53)
What makes for good/bad branding and design? (16:25)
What is the typical process for developing a brand story? (18:02)
How can companies ensure continuity of messaging, especially with multiple locations? (20:46)
What are “Brand Guidelines”? (23:00)
Book Recommendation
Designing Brand Identify by Alina Wheeler
A little more about Elizabeth
Elizabeth Baizer Raines is a graphic designer by trade and creative director for her business, EBR Graphic Design, a strategic creative design firm, with emphasis on holding true to what she considers “good design values.” With a start at Rhode Island School of Design, she has practiced for over 20 years in both her home city of San Francisco and her current home: Dallas, Texas. Throughout her career, she’s had a variety of significant and meaningful projects including those for boutique hotels, luxury retailers (such as Neiman Marcus), beauty retailers (such as Sephora and Mary Kay), and nonprofits (projects for world-class museums and highly sought-after civic projects, such as Dallas’ Trinity River brand, logo, and wayfinding). Her expertise in graphic design includes branding, corporate identity, advertising design, digital & traditional media, and environmental graphic design (including: signage and wayfinding).
Website: www.ebrgraphicdesign.com/
Instagram: @ebrgraphicdesign/
LinkedIn: @elizabethbaizerraines/
34 min
October 10, 2019 #11: Theresa Ito - On Leadership and Building a Culture of Training and Development
In this fantastic and info packed episode with Theresa Ito, Principal at Blue Mountain Solutions shares how to create a thriving internal culture of support and training, the importance of self-driven professional development, setting new leaders up for success, what successful companies do to drive an organizational culture of development and how to keep it alive when the “culture keepers” move on.
It’s filled with tactical and actionable steps you can take today to make a difference in the organizational culture of your company.
A little about Theresa Ito, Principle at Blue Mountain Solutions:
Theresa Ito is passionate about people, having worked in hospitality internationally for over 30 years, she loves nothing better than being part of people’s growth. And that is why she has been successful with her company Blue Mountain Solutions, developing leaders and teams.During her illustrious career in hospitality, Theresa has successfully led teams in iconic brands including Fairmont Hotels, Le Meridien, Sandals Resorts and Hilton International. Theresa is a qualified certified facilitator for "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and was an instructor at Royal Roads University. Now based in beautiful Vancouver Island, she enjoys servicing a host of local and international clientele, assisting them to thrive in hospitality. Theresa is energetic and her training is always filled with industry best practices, useful anecdotes and a dose of humor
44 min
August 27, 2019 #10: David Lund - On Financial Leadership and the Career Benefits of Financial Acumen
Financial acumen and financial leadership are critical to anyone trying to advance in their career. On this episode, David Lund, The Hotel Financial Coach, takes us through the details of financial leadership, the importance of creating an environment that celebrates learning and growing financial skills and how financial acumen benefits all aspects of life. He also makes a generous offer to our listeners at the end of the show…
A LITTLE ABOUT DAVID LUND, THE HOTEL FINANCIAL COACH:
David Lund is a hospitality financial leadership pioneer who has branded himself “The Hotel Financial Coach.” Just as any great hotel is true to their brand, so is David. His client commitment is about exceptional service. And his #1 focus is to help his clients be more prosperous as individuals or teams. David’s background includes over 30 years as a Regional Controller, Corporate Financial Director, Hotel Manager and Controller throughout North America at multiple locations. His services include Financial Leadership Workshops, Personalized 1:1 Financial Leadership Coaching, Professional Speaking, Financial Statement Design, Financial System Design, Policy Manual Creation and Hotel Financial Consulting.
David has a weekly blog that he publishes on his website https://hotelfinancialcoach.com as well as an online training course at https://www.ahla.ca/financial-leadership-david-lund/
Check out his blog and media pages for more: https://hotelfinancialcoach.com/blog/ or email him at [email protected]

***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
31 min
August 09, 2019#9: How To Train Employees For Emotionally Engaging Service
Whether it’s to drive customer loyalty, increase sales or improve online reviews, connecting with customers on a more personal level is something that most businesses strive for but most don’t know how or where to start when elevating their service levels. This show gets in to the weeds and pulls out actionable and sustainable practices you can use right away to train your staff and optimize your operation for better service.
In the show we discuss:
Understanding emotional triggers along your customer journey

Focusing employee training on being curious about your customer

Empathy

Having a higher level self awareness

How to optimize the workday for each position so nothing falls through the cracks Visit us at theprovenprinciples.com for more

***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
12 min
April 24, 2019 #8: Why You Should Have an Online Review Strategy
How do you manage online reviews? If you’re not being proactive in asking for and responding to reviews or if you don’t internalize and rework your operation based on customer feedback, you need to update your customer review strategy! Understanding how your customers interact with and experience your business is vital to your success. This is why reviews are so useful… because they give you intel you may not normally have.
***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
12 min
April 18, 2019 #7: How To Inspect for Cleanliness
Cleanliness is arguably the most important aspect of running a successful hotel or restaurant - Beautiful properties can be hugely diminished if they’re dirty and the reverse is true… older, unrenovated properties can be enhanced if they are kept sparkling clean - Cleanliness accounts for an overwhelmingly large portion of customer perception of your business and you’ve got to have an eye for detail to do it well - If detail isn’t a strength for you then you’ve got to be especially present during the task and take your time when inspecting - Well maintained properties can forgive shortcomings in service delivery or exacerbate small service missteps.
***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
14 min
April 04, 2019#6: Why You Should Define a Common Goal
In this episode we discuss how and why it’s important to have everyone contributing to the same goal and how to develop better communication throughout your operation.
Highlights from the episode:
There is a “guest first” mentality throughout the property

High levels of teamwork between departments

Good communication between departments

All departments attend broader morning and afternoon line ups and share info with their team through their own preshift meetings members

Addressing the “it’s not my job” mentality

Staff trying to help even if the request isn’t from their immediate area of responsibility

Employees own requests and problems, ensuring full resolution all the way to the end

Staff follow up with customers after the fact to ensure satisfaction

There is rarely any semblance of employees saying “no” without offering alternative solutions
***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
10 min
March 27, 2019#5: 10 Tips To Immediately Improve Service
In this episode shares 10 simple practices that you can use right away to improve service in your operation.
5/10 rule

Ending employee conversations when guests are present

Acknowledging guests when you pass them in the hall

Opening doors

Walking guests part way when they ask for directions

Using time of day greetings

Avoiding jargon or language that is too casual

Be the first to offer assistance

Empowerment

Tailor your delivery to the level that your guest wants to receive

***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
13 min
March 09, 2019 #4: Handling Difficult Customer Requests
Customers will make requests that are difficult to accommodate but there is a right way and a wrong way to say no. In this episode we discuss how to respond to those requests and why never saying no without offering an alternative will set you and your team up for success. Highlights from the show: - Removing “well intentioned” internal roadblocks - Overcoming the “it’s not my job” excuse - Why communication and broader training of your staff gives them the tools they need to respond effectively - Giving team members the confidence to make decisions without always seeking manager approval - Steps you can take to implement this concept right away.

***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
10 min
February 28, 2019 #3: How To Hold Effective Pre-Shift Meetings
Every employee should get a short briefing before starting their shift. These first five minutes are crucial for setting your team up for success. In this episode we discuss what to cover in a pre-shift meeting, how to do it effectively and why you should put a lot of care and attention on this part of the day.
***
Proven Principles is a hospitality operations consulting and coaching company built on the best practices of the luxury hotel industry.
We help customer-service focused businesses and vacation rental property owners drive better performance, productivity and profitability with best-in-class operations strategy, employee training and project management.
Visit Proven Principles: https://www.theprovenprinciples.com
Follow Adam:
Twitter: twitter.com/adamknight
Instagram: instagram.com/adamknight
Facebook: facebook.com/TheProvenPrinciples
10 min

About The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations

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Hospitality operations, customer service best practices, leadership and building successful teams.

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The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations

The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations episodes

About The Proven Principles Podcast | Strategic Hospitality Operations