Empathizing With 5 Star Hotel Managers

I recently read a post by an Egyptian hotel executive requesting assistance from fellow hoteliers on LinkedIn to help him identify a “good” hotel CRM software product, and this got me thinking... I am not a hotelier, but I have been fortunate to serve hotel and resort executives through my hotel-mystery-shopping company BIA over the past twelve years in the Middle East. Consequently, I have come to empathize with hotel managers for what I consider to be the “constant battle” that they face. Permit me to explain:

1. This is the age of the “empowered hotel guest”, the internet and social media have made it so, and this phenomenon will grow and further dominate the “art of doing business” in the foreseeable future. Recent research into customer (read: guest) satisfaction indicates the following:

• An unsatisfied guest is 3 times more likely to share their “negative experience” with a service or product than a positive one.

• It takes “12 positive reviews” to offset the damage resulting from one negative review.

• 59% of consumers state that they would be willing to try a new brand (read: different hotel) to get better customer service (read: hotel experience).

• Customers whose issues (read: problems) are resolved are likely to tell 4 to 6 people about their positive experience.

So, it’s no wonder that managers in the highly competitive hotel industry are seeking out, and being bombarded with, software solutions to help manage the impactful issue of “online guest reviews”.

2. At the five star hotels in the Middle East, there are rarely more than a handful of managers (less than 10) that are charged with managing 350+ hotel staff that are dispersed over all areas of large business hotel properties, and even larger resorts.

3. The demands of the financial management demands of hotels (i.e. the Finance Department and the Property Owner) apply considerable pressures to keep the hotel operation costs down. This invariably results in low-paid staff at the lower areas of the employment ladder – consisting of persons with lesser education levels, and low financial incentive to perform their duties as required, much less “smile” at every hotel guest every time they encounter them. There is no $7.50 per hour minimum wage in this part of the world, yet the general hotel management policies for managing these persons are made and designed in countries that provide a minimum wage law and other safety mechanisms protecting the hotel employee, and employees in general.

Certainly, the function of the hotel manager (to train, motivate, etc.) is well documented and hotel managers receive respectable salaries, bonuses and perquisites. But is it realistic to expect them to deliver a 90%+ performance by their staff, each and every time? No, it isn’t. Will CRM software solve the problem on its own? No, it won’t. CRM needs to work as one aspect of a comprehensive guest satisfaction policy – which at its core emphasizes the basic traditional hotel management policies regarding issues of ‘cleanliness and condition’, ‘service efficiency and service empathy’, ‘service scape’ and ‘hotel security’.

“Plus ca change, plus ca reste la meme chose”: Ensuring the traditional basics must surely be the winning strategy. And when hotel managers require an “extra hand”, BIA’s Guest Experience Audit programs can provide the independent and professional assessment necessary to help highlight the areas requiring management’s attention. For more information on this and other BIA services, go to http://ynlqndr.wix.com/hotel-mystery-shop.

Inal Quandour is the CEO of Brand Integrity Auditors.