October marks the tenth anniversary of the coining of the phrase, “amenity creep.” With all of this new “stuff” for our guests, you would expect to see guest satisfaction scores increase. But the North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study by J.D. Power and Associates showed that overall guest satisfaction has been declining over the past several years.
The key to success isn’t adding more amenities; it is adding more authenticity to your hospitality.
The most successful operators are differentiating themselves by providing authentic hospitality through Systems of Truth and Honest Leadership.
Systems of truth
You can’t put a line in your new hire orientation that says, “give authentic hospitality,” and expect it to happen. It happens as the result of systems and processes that you put into place, which I call Systems of Truth. Two that work in any hotel are:
- Active vs. passive service—Stop asking guests to “call if you need anything,” and start asking them what you can do for them. Don’t wait for the guests to come to you because statistics show they won’t. Solve problems on the spot.
- After action review—Common in the military, this post-event meeting is structured to give honest feedback. Gather employees and let everyone speak as equals. This allows continuous improvement in every aspect of the guest’s path.
Honest leadership
Great operators know that even with exceptional talent, the key to producing results is leadership. Good leadership comes down to one thing: trust. Some suggestions on bringing honesty into leadership:
- 100 percent rule—Tell the whole truth. We have a responsibility to let associates know all of the information, especially the “why.”
- Care to confront—It’s important to be willing as honest leaders to confront even our best associates about their performance. This feedback leads to a long-term trust that can’t be faked.
Our business is all about relationships—the relationships your staff has with your guests and the relationship you have with your staff. That is authentic hospitality.
hwn@questex.com
