Hospitality in the context of the hotel industry is centred on the experience as a whole. There isn’t just one thing that a customer is looking or. Yes, they want a happy, welcoming and helpful reception desk, they desire a comfortable night’s sleep and a clean bathroom, and other guests want a great breakfast and dining services. There are so many aspects to a stay in a hotel that help define that something special, the experience.
The Audit Process
It is difficult to investigate and survey your own hotel however, you are too close to the action, and it serves the process better to outsource to auditing companies with the expertise to follow your instruction and survey either all aspects of your hotel or specific aspects that you wish to test out.
Before setting out on an audit, speak to the professionals and agree the exact detail that you want them to look at and how the audit will work. Usually a hotel audit will consist on management meetings to ascertain the processes in play and how effective they are, a sample of how transactions work and of course risk and compliance checks. Each audit will detail the findings as well as recommended actions for each process. If you are looking how best to improve efficiency in certain aspects of the running of your hotel, an outsourced hospitality audit is the way to go.
Increase Guest Loyalty and Word of Mouth
One poor movement on the part of a hotel service and a guest can concentrate on the negative small experience, clouding what otherwise might be the perfect experience in terms of hospitality. Measuring the product of customer service in a hotel, over many different facets and at regular intervals is the only way to truly understand the nuances of your hotel and how to maximise and maintain levels of customer service.
An audit can discover the topics and issues that your customers care about. It explores how the hotel has improved in the past and whether that approach has been a successful one in the eyes of the guests and added value to their stay. From here it can make accurate assessments, diagnostics and a potential path forward to engage with customers in a way that exceeds their expectations and implores them to not only come stay with you again, but also to spread the word and enhance your reputation in the process.
Bring the Emotion to the Fore
Staying in a hotel is an emotional experience, bringing together a whole host of services in one large package. It demands comfort, excess, pleasure and rest in one location, and each service must be attended to with a smile, professionalism and courtesy to ensure your guests feel cherished. Auditing your hotel can help you realise how to raise expectations and meet them in terms of customer service across all aspects of your hotel, from the front desk, to laundry, kitchen staff and porters.
