The manager of a hotel is the person who pulls the strings behind the scenes of any successful lodging establishment. They are the one that everyone (be it staff, guests, or vendors) turns to when in need of answers or when faced with a dilemma.
A hotel manager’s duties are extensive, ranging from overseeing staff coordination to setting budgets and resolving any occurring issues in a timely manner.
The hospitality industry comes with the very unique challenges of being a fusion product of different business environments, each with their separate requirements and problems.
Mixing together travel, entertainment, event planning, lodging, dining, and relaxation in order to create a functional business is one of the key responsibilities of the hotel manager. To successfully achieve this they focus on the following:
1. Guest Experience & Customer Relations
Guest experience is increasingly overtaking as the new standard by which we judge the quality of a hotel. A guest's opinion of their stay is now top value data which could be used to help improve the overall hospitality experience of an establishment.
Hotel managers now prioritise the collection of such data in the form of a guest experience survey, in order to keep in touch with customer demand and look for new ways to improve their services.
This feedback has paved a path for technological advancements such as the hotel kiosk, which came to be as a response to customers’ demand for a more timely and effective check-in service.
The kiosk itself reflects hotel guests’ need for independence from the formalities of checking in and out of an establishment. Self-check-in eliminates all of the frustration involving the time of arrival and dealing with lines at the reception desk. Instead, the guest is given the option of completing the process through a device that is as easy to use as their own phone.
The hotel kiosk further gives managers the opportunity to upsell the client and to help customise their experience by offering them to select their own room from a gallery of options, as well as reminding them of the other services available at their disposal.
Check-in kiosk is just one of the many examples of how management can improve their future guests’ stay and even guarantee customer loyalty by listening to their guests’ concerns and requests. This response helps foster a long-term customer relationship which has become crucial to revenue optimisation strategies nowadays.
With the hospitality industry more populous than ever, in order for a business to thrive, they must focus on customer retainment and most importantly, they must stand out.
2. Reputation Management
Social media has forever changed the way brand marketing is conducted. Management strategies have adapted to reflect the need for a more review-oriented advertisement. By encouraging customer feedback via a host of platforms, managers are effectively building up their hotel’s brand, generating exposure and securing new streams of revenue.
Hotel online reputation management relies heavily on establishing effective communication with the guests. In order for a hotel manager to build a successful reputation management strategy, they must first put their efforts towards generating interest through online campaigns and promotions.
Reviews are a crucial aid in this process as potential guests value other guests’ opinions above all other ratings when it comes time to choose whether to proceed with a booking or not. A courteous and timely response to both complaints and praise makes the guest feel valued and further encourages them to repeat their stay.
3. Revenue and Budget Management
Hotel revenue management requires an avid understanding of the issues which arise in the hospitality industry. There is no fixed formula that would guarantee that a business will function at optimal revenue capacity each season of the year, which is why software companies have developed revenue management solutions like Clock PMS+ which aid hotel managers in maximising their revenue.
Automated revenue management relies heavily on studying big data and setting room rates based on what is optimal for the particular day. The goal is no longer to book as many rooms as possible, as being booked full does not guarantee a good revenue margin.
Instead, revenue management is now focused on hotel effectiveness, i.e. listing rooms at a price that reflects location, demand and availability while ensuring that all resources spend on hospitality have been utilised properly.
Hotel lead management can use this data to navigate booking dry spells as well as the busy seasons, making sure that they always have the right number of staff on call, while meeting their budget requirements.
4. Focus on the Latest Technologies
Hotel managers need to bring their best foot forward if they wish to stay competitive in the current hospitality industry. This involves using the most advanced software for hotels available on the market, such as a hotel property management system (PMS).
A hotel PMS is the most effective channel management tool at a manager’s disposal. It contains an integrated channel manager which can automatically update rates and relist cancelled bookings across all distribution channels.
Achieving such synchronisation manually would require the full-time attention of at least one staff member, but by automating the process the workload and resources used to manage it are cut down significantly. A cloud PMS would further guarantee the safety of the business’ and the guests’ information.
A manager with a good intuition would also invest in a reservation system such as a hotel booking engine which would allow the business to keep a hundred per cent of the revenue made from bookings done directly through their website.
5. Developing Star Performers
The ones who benefit the most from these improvements tend to be the hotel personel themselves. It is one of the hotel manager’s core duties to help improve their staff’s performance by presenting them with new tools and aids which can increase performance efficiency.
Take for instance the mobile housekeeping solution which allows housekeeping personnel to communicate the state of each room more effectively with the front desk. This can help minimise miscommunication between departments and increase the overall productivity of the establishment.
Focusing on technology as a way to bring forward the best qualities of a team, so that they may in turn rise to new levels, is after all how hotel managers adapt to the ever-changing state of hospitality.