How to audit your hotel's inquiry form to maximize valuable requests
Wording, required fields and form placement matter
With all the constant, fast-paced changes to both paid and organic search engine optimization, and now the need to monitor your GEO (generative engine optimization), there’s no dou...
Proper training helps frontline associates meet luxury standards without sounding robotic
Convoluted standards get in the way of desired objectives
Not only do hotel leaders in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments of the lodging industry need to deliver the hospitality and service style that their real-world guests expect, but...
Personalized proposals promote more hotel sales
Eliminate overused email templates to illustrate your seriousness in chasing potential business
When you ask sales leaders what’s most important about replying to inbound requests for proposal and inquiries, the majority will mention some version of “responding promptly.”
Train your team to deliver EPIC hospitality
These social skills can help deliver the experiences guests want from their stays
The word “epic” has found its place in the vernacular of our daily lives. It’s the name of so many “epic” things, such as an Orlando theme park, an international ski pass, a compan...
10 tips to secure more direct voice reservations
The voice booking channel is alive and well, so make it work for your hotel
Despite the predictions of its demise, the voice reservations channel is alive and well. For decades now, pundits have predicted the death of voice as a booking channel. Yet the ph...
Hospitality is the fluff
It's the extra bit that makes a hotel experience memorable
Throughout my career as a hotel trainer and conference speaker, I have often had some version of this conversation when I meet new people in casual social settings when a polite co...
Meaningful micro encounters matter the most
A little goes a long way when interacting with guests, staff or vendors
Despite how technology continues to replace the need for routine human conversations during a guest’s “cycle of service,” we as hoteliers still have plenty of opportunities to have...
Generational bias of marketing leaders is restricting voice channel success in hotels
Questions from callers can and do lead to reservation confirmations
“The only people who still call to book a reservation are older folks who are not good with technology.”
Capture more catering and event sales revenue with a personalized approach
Emotionally important events require more than an automated reply
Although the jobs of catering & event (wedding) sales manager and hotel group sales manager are often thought of as similar, the real-world skills needed are quite different.
Hotel reservations reconfirmation calls present opportunities to build the brand, upsell and cross-sell
Much of a guest's booking process is automated, so use phone calls to show hospitality
As online bookings increase, the number of reservations inquiry calls decreases over time.
How to be a lightning rod and truly 'ground' guest negativity
Not every guest interaction will be positive, so be prepared to diffuse tense situations
As part of our pre-training preparations, I get to look at the various service recovery training that our clients have in place, and I find they nearly always focus on showing empa...
Only true hospitality encounters create Kama Muta
Do your hotel employees deliver that warm, fuzzy feeling?
As my frequent readers know, I have often encouraged hotel industry leaders to train their frontline staff on the differences between “guest service” and “hospitality.”
Customer Hospitality Is Bigger Than Guest Service
Colleagues, Suppliers Are Vital Customers Too
In the lodging industry, we tend to think of our customers as “guests,” reflecting the foundational concept of, “treat our guests as you would those visiting your own home.” Howeve...
Are Guests Getting More Difficult These Days? Or Is It Just Rosy Retrospection?
Training Should Focus on Empathy, Putting Encounters Into Perspective
As I make the rounds as a conference speaker and lodging industry trainer — and monitor lodging industry groups on social media — I often hear and read people commenting that today...
The Characteristics of a Truly Punctilious Hotel
Attention to Detail Is a Hallmark of Hospitality
One thing I love about reading online these days is how you can just touch a word to find the definition.
What Personalized Hospitality Is and What It Isn't
Acknowledgements From Hotel Employees Mean Much More Than Technology Solutions
As a hotel conference speaker and opinion writer, I always try to stay up on the very latest innovations and tech solutions, and so I start each day by reading at least a half doze...
It's Time To Eliminate Generationalism in the Hotel Workplace
Myth of Generational Differences Has Been Busted by Research
As my frequent readers know, I have been bemoaning the myths that are thrown out as facts at conferences, by podcasts and in books and blogs that at best mislead hospitality leader...
Don’t Let Voice Be the Forgotten Distribution Channel at Your Hotel
It's Not Just the Older Guests Who Want To Call To Book a Hotel Room
Everyone knows that online hotel bookings have grown significantly in recent years. Voice reservations have declined, but there are still significant opportunities for all hotels r...
Train Your Team To Deliver ‘Ordinarily Extraordinary’ Guest Service
Empower Front-Line Workers To Enhance Experience
As a conference speaker and hotel trainer, whenever I see the title of an article, book or blog post that has anything to do with guest service, hospitality or customer service in ...
The Tricycle: A Perfect Model To Represent the Components of Guest Excellence
People Represent the Front Wheel, Which Drives All Hospitality
As anyone who has ever attended a convention or taken a class knows, conference speakers and hospitality trainers such as me often use tangible, physical objects to represent intan...