Do you want to attract new customers, retain existing ones and grow your hotel business? If YES, here are 50 best hotel management tips for managers & owners.
A hotel business takes a lot of hard work to run effectively because it mostly deals with people. This business has to do with the comfort and ever changing needs of people. It takes a person who is given to the minutest of details to manage a business like this successfully.
One of the most difficult things to achieve is the sincere satisfaction of people; you have so many people with different tastes, desires and expectations coming into your hotel.
There are going to be things some guests prefer that other guests may find repulsive, how then does one please every single person that comes through their doors, knowing that one negative review of your establishment from a reputable critique can produce catastrophic events for you business?
So it is important to know the tips and tricks that would help you satisfy all your customers no matter their age or social class. The general idea should be that if someone comes to lodge at your hotel, then they should have one of the best experiences there is.
In order to achieve this, you need to look into the various things that will make this a reality. One of these is your work force; the people who the guests meet on a regular basis are representatives of your establishment. Another place to look into is the general operation of the business; you have to make sure that every unit is working as they should in order to make the lodging experience one that guests will talk about for a long time.
Other things to do in order to make your hotel experience positive for your guests are described below, be sure to read through, paying attention to the ones that will definitely be of advantage to you. However all of them are great.
Best Hotel Management Tips and Tricks
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HIRE EXCELLENT WORKERS
You can only go as far as the people around you, or the people you work with. So if you want your hotel to work excellently you must hire the best people for the job. You have to pay attention to certain details as not everything about a person is clearly written on their faces.
After receiving their application, you could develop some type of assumption as to how the person might fit into the work force you are developing.
But usually it’s at the interview stage you would have to make your decision. If you can help it, be part of the recruitment process; sit with those who are reviewing the employees and pay attention to the details that matter. Every person you hire is like a building block, and the building is only as strong as its weakest link.
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MAKE SATISFACTION UTMOST FOR YOUR GUESTS
Customer satisfaction is key to the success of any business, making sure your customers are happy with the services you provide will go a long way in making them give a positive review. This means you would have to have staff members that pay attention to the complaints and general needs of the guests.
Encouraging your staff on this may turn the entire atmosphere of your hotel around. Everyone likes to feel wanted and appreciated and hotel guests are no different. Treating each guest as an individual will go a long way in making them feel welcome and at home in your hotel.
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UTILIZE HOTEL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Software has been invented for a great number of things and a great number of endeavors in life. There are apps now that can help you manage your hotel a lot better. These software are able to review reports, do certain forecasts, even keep track of inventory.
It will help you so much to have such assistance at your finger tip. You may not be a tech savvy person, but it is difficult to achieve any level of success in this day and age without getting into some type of technology. Technology is the new interesting thing in the world of business as we now have technology that can totally replace certain offices. This software will help you keep things in line as your go ahead on your job.
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ENJOY YOUR WORK
If you do not enjoy what you do, it will soon become evident to everyone, and then eventually your guests will pick up the vibe. The constant negative energy you bring to work every day would translate into your work force, because you are the leader.
If you don’t enjoy what you do, you will transfer the hostile energy to your work force and your customers are the ones who get the bitter end of the deal.
It’s like flowing water, the negativity starts from you to your work force, then your work force in turn will begin to neglect their duties. There is no longer any encouragement for them to do things at their best, because even they too do not enjoy what they are doing because of you. Things begin to be left undone, people quit all the time, customers complain a lot.
Not enjoying your work will cause more damages to your hotel than anything else, so find creative ways to maintain your enthusiasm for the work and then transfer such enthusiasm to your work force.
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DELEGATE PROPERLY
There are duties and tasks that must be delegated; you cannot do everything by yourself. You would need to empower your work force with the right kinds of skills. Delegate tasks to them, spread your work force between all the major units of the hotel, or if necessary create new departments to deal with certain specific needs.
But before you delegate, make sure the person or persons you are going to hand over the job to is already prepared for the position you want to give him. Develop a proper delegation system where a worker that is about to receive a new assignment goes through a training period depending on the level of importance of the position.
This will help the person prepare their minds for the coming work at hand. And if there is some other person already handling that particular work, let the new person understudy the one they are about to relieve for about two weeks or so.
When you have a great system of delegation, transitioning positions would be more effective and would not cause a problem for the organization.
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DELEGATE SOME OF YOUR TASKS
Yes you are the manager or the boss of the place; there are certain things you must do by yourself because you occupy that office. But some of those tasks you can delegate them to give you more room to handle the more pressing tasks.
We’ve looked at delegating properly in the previous point, now we are simply saying; your own personal work load may become overwhelming at some point. There’s nothing wrong in hiring a personal assistant or two, maybe even three to assist you in executing your functions as a boss.
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VALUE YOUR WORK FORCE
When people know that they are valued they perform better, it’s general human psychology. Pay attention to your workers to identify some of their different qualities, their strengths and weaknesses. Don’t put them down because of their weaknesses, but look for ways to make them improve on it or work around it.
Show your work force that you care about them, when they feel this sincere care and respect coming from you, they would love to do their jobs better, even going the extra mile to get on your good side.
They would value their jobs, because they know you value them, and who do you think this will reflect on? It will reflect on your customers of course, because they would do their jobs better, and it will speak good of the hotel, which will speak good for you and then finally it will speak good in your bank account.
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KEEP YOUR EQUIPMENT UP TO STANDARD
Maintenance is one of the most important parts of running a business. You would have to make sure that all the equipment you use are up to standard, so as to continue to satisfy the needs of your guests. This means that you would have to pay attention to the equipment you have in the facility.
Even if you would have to hire somebody to do this job exclusively, it will pay off. When your guests compare the standard of your equipment to other hotels, you should be viewed in a positive light.
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IMPROVE ON CUSTOMER CARE
When a guest feels cared for, their emotions are attached to the establishment in a positive way. One of the ways you show your guests that your care for them is by offering proper courtesy. Even when some of your guests may be very rude, you should speak to all your workers not to ever respond in a rude manner.
All workers should always maintain a pleasant demeanor in the face of even the most hostile of guests. Stress this and it will help in making customer experience better.
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GIVE YOUR GUESTS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE WITH YOU
When people receive more than the basic hotel services, they tend to spread the word around. Make their experiences more than just a place to lodge, make your hotel experience more by adding entertainment value to your restaurants, or pool areas. Creating various entertaining activities guests can participate in will go a long way in producing the “wow” experience.
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ENCOURAGE GUESTS TO WRITE REVIEWS
When guests at your hotel give reviews about their experience at your hotel, it makes you know exactly what they think about your services. This tells you what you need to improve on, what you need to maintain and what you need to throw out of the window.
Of course, there are certain things that must remain the same because they may be part of the corporate culture of your hotel, but if quite a number of guests are complaining about such thing, it would be wise to change it to soothe them. So you don’t lose profits on the count of tradition.
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ADDRESS POSITIVE COMMENTS FROM TIME TO TIME
From time to time people would make certain comments or reviews about your hotel on the internet, blog, website or social media.
From time to time, take out some minutes to actually respond to the positive comments people make about your hotel. A “thank you, we always do our best to satisfy our guests” or “The comfort of our guests is one of our main priorities Daniel”. It makes your guests feel a certain connection with you and your hotel.
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ADDRESS NEGATIVE COMMENTS WHEN POSSIBLE
Nothing like a bad review or comment to start a nasty impression about your hotel. From time to time, create space in your schedule to look at the negative comments made about your hotel and address them, don’t let the nasty impression stick.
You may not defend the hotel, but you can simply respond in a way that is diplomatic and mature. But if the review or comment is targeted at defaming the good image of your hotel, then you can take up legal action. Pay attention to the comments and reviews that can ultimately damage the good work you are doing.
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ACCOMPLISH SALES TARGETS
It’s important to set sales targets for your hotel, in order to achieve the level of profitability every business needs to stay afloat. Push yourself as much as you can, and drive your entire work force in achieving these things, it will go a long way to make your hotel progressive.
If you do not develop this type of drive in your work force, they can become complacent and this will eventually lead into mediocrity.
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SHOWCASE YOUR PLAN FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS PUBLICLY
Let the guests know the plans you have for them in case of an emergency, it would be nice to have cards with safety measures creatively designed and placed on the bed or hung on the door of the rooms, so guests know what to do in case of an emergency. Your staff too should be informed on what to do too, emergency personnel should also be part of your workforce.
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MAKE YOUR WEBSITE ATTRACTIVE
Today, the first place people will meet you is on the internet, and first impression really matters. Make sure your website is one of the most attractive things the average person has ever seen. It should speak to comfort, serenity and security; it should make the visitor want to book with your hotel.
Make it very easy for visitors to navigate to where they make bookings or reservations. You website should have pictures of the various areas and rooms you have available, basically sell your business on your website.
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ANTICIPATE INVENTORY NEEDS
You should be able to pay attention to your inventory, never let anything run out, you can’t afford to run out of any item. Your guests should not have to suffer for a moment because your hotel is out of tissue paper or something like that. So pay attention to your inventory, good thing there are software to help with this too.
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MAKE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Your hotel may already be doing very well, and there’s a saying that, if it’s not broken don’t fix it. But there should always be room for improvement, there’s always something you can do better, something you can improve upon. Staying in the place where you think everything is perfect will eventually take you backwards in the industry.
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REPLY COMMENTS WITH A PERSONAL TONE
Whenever a noteworthy comment comes up, or a review of your hotel shows up on the digital space, when you respond to it don’t use an official voice or tone. Add a personal touch to it, make those who read it feel like they are talking to you the person, not a distant entity.
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STIMULATE INDEPENDENCE
Your work force should be able to work without your personal supervision. They should be able to carry out their tasks excellently without your constant looking over their shoulders. This way, you can be rest assured that if you are not available for any reason, the hotel can still run successfully.
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MANAGE YOUR ONLINE INFORMATION
As a serious business person, you should have already listed your hotel on certain sites or directories where people can easily go and see information about your business. Update that information from time to time, add certain things that may not have been there before to colour your feature.
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MANAGE COMMENTS PROACTIVELY
These comments and reviews about you are very important when it comes to maintaining a proper image in the sight of your guests. It will be wise to constantly manage what has been said about you and even what you have been saying about yourself, to keep the information in line with your brand.
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MANAGE YOUR MISTAKES
If someone points out to you something you did wrong and makes such an issue public in a review site, don’t simply let the information stay there without addressing it. Letting the public know that it was a mistake from the hotel and that measures are being taken to fix it, will give your prospects confidence about your ability to fine-tune things to their taste.
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PAY ATTENTION TO GUEST’S OPINION
When guests give opinion about how they think services should be done at your hotel, don’t shrug it off and act as though they are not professionals in hotel management and so their opinion does not matter. Endeavour to make adjustments according to their suggestions when it is necessary.
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STIMULATE POSITIVE MORALE
The morale of your staff matters, make sure they are enthusiastic about working for you, grant various incentives, organize workers’ hang out or social outings, reward and celebrate workers openly, this will definitely keep them in their best behavior and the guests will like the pleasant attitude of workers in your hotel.
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IMPROVE THE SKILL SET OF YOUR STAFF
Make sure you constantly organize programs to help your staff improve on their skills in the various areas they serve. Invite motivational speakers or teachers to help them learn more skills and receive better ideas on how to do their jobs. This will definitely improve the quality of service your hotel provides.
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CREATE A GREAT WORKFORCE
When hiring workers, pay attention to hiring people who you anticipate will work well together. Pay attention to personality traits that will advance the units as body. You should have an idea, maybe not a detailed information on who could work best with the other, but if at any time you notice that a set of people are not working well together, then you can always switch them up.
The truth is that you only know people who work well together after they have started working together. Feel free to change members of units till you find the best teams.
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MAKE YOUR WORK FORCE RESULT ORIENTED
If there is no clear cut goal, the work force will not have anything to work towards. This may result to a sluggish work force. So make the objectives of every quota clear, motivate every team lead to inspire their unit for increased achievement of hotel objectives.
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ENSURE THE WORK FORCE IS PROPERLY TRAINED
It is one thing to improve the on their skills, it’s another thing for them to be well trained in the first place. Ensure that while recruiting your staff members, they go through a special training program. This should be compulsory whether the person has a college degree or not. This would make sure that they are properly trained to represent your brand as a hotel.
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LEARN FROM OTHERS
Don’t make yourself an island, make out time to constantly review trending information about your industry, read blogs, magazines and internet items that informs you on the current in’s and out’s of the hotel and hospitality business. This will give you the necessary information you need to improve yourself.
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PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON TEAMWORK
As you have effectively made known the objectives of the hotel at a particular time, it would be wise to provide constant feedback for your team leads. Follow them up for feedback too, as you all gravitate towards the unified goal, encourage this type of communication within the entire hotel as a unit.
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MAKE COMMUNICATION WITH WORK FORCE KEY
Before making any major change that will affect the entire operation, you need to inform your work force. If such changes show up out of the blue, it may come as a surprise or even shock to the workers. And when guests ask about the changes the workers would not be able to answer.
Every person working for you is a representative of the hotel as whole, so the answers they give the guests have to be the right one.
33. YOUR AMBIANCE SHOULD BE VERY ATTRACTIVE
The appearance of your hotel to those who come in for the first time must be very breathtaking, that is if you can afford that. But if you can’t achieve breathtaking, you can at least make it as attractive as you can.
34. ASSIST GUESTS
Your staff and general work force should learn to assist guests with different things at different times even if it is not their “Job”. It will ring well if the guests know that the staff of your hotel are very friendly and helpful, one could see a customer struggling with luggage and help him, even if he wasn’t the bell boy, or help the guest call the bell boy, it goes a long way.
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RESOLVE CONFLICT IMMEDIATELY
When a group of people come together to work, from time to time there will be conflict, personalities clash a lot in the workplace, and it is your duty to ensure that such events are handled with the highest level of tact. Conflict resolutions are one of the many things that will help your hotel function like a well-oiled machine.
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PROVIDE PROPER SUPPORT
You can’t expect your workforce to achieve their objectives if they do not have the necessary resources to make a success out of your tasks. Make sure you support them by giving them all they need to accomplish their tasks. That way they would not have excuses for missing the mark.
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BUILD BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
Go out of your way to visit businesses around where your hotel is established to foster relationships with them. Let them know you are in town and that you could be suggesting to your guests to come around for some of the services they provide.
For example if you do not yet have a barber shop in your facility, and there is a reputable barber shop on the street where the hotel is, you could suggest to your guests that they could cut their hair at your neighbor’s place. This will in turn make these businesses to advertise your hotel to their customers.
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MANAGE YOUR TIME WELL
There’s a saying, “all work and no play makes jack a dull boy”. Manage your time well, don’t make your entire life about work, you wouldn’t be happy this way. Make out time for your family, your children, your friends; you need all these people in your life in order to have a happy life. The only way this can be possible is if you are a proper manager of time.
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THE GUEST ALWAYS COMES FIRST
Yes it’s an old time quote but it is true, the guests at your hotel will always come first, when it comes to this type of business, never forget that. Treat them well because they are the true boss of the entire operation.
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USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Every business now has a social media presence and so should you, use your social media accounts to effectively communicate with your guests. You can use your social media handles to correct any wrong information that may be out there concerning your hotel, give correct information and do proper public relations work.
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OPTIMIZE YOUR SEARCH ENGINE ACCESSIBILITY
Search engine optimization is used to ensure that your site is one of the top ten when people search for possible places to lodge. You could speak to your Information Technology personnel to make your website up to date.
42. DO PROPER MARKETING
I think this goes without saying, any business that will do well must do proper marketing. There are no two ways about it. Proper marketing and advertising will help attract more guests.
43. ENGAGE IN DIGITAL OUTREACH
Ensure that you are reaching out to prospective clients through their social media platforms. Informing them of the services you provide as a hotel and how they can take advantage of all the various packages your hotel has to offer.
44. PLAN AHEAD
Make sure you are able to see the future of the entire operation, where is the hotel and hospitality industry going to? Make your plans accordingly to ensure that you are not left behind by any trends.
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IMPRESSIVE FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER
Make sure that the first impression people have when they come to lodge with you is very positive. No matter what, treat each day as if it were the first time someone is coming into your hotel, because it pretty much is.
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BUILD A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SUPPLIERS
It is important to have a good relationship with your suppliers, so that you can begin to bargain on discounts and various other packages that can make your hotel not to lose much money.
In conclusion
Whether you are just starting out, starting up, running a luxury hotel, motel or just an average hotel, the tips listed here are proven to help in making your operation what you dream of it to be. Having fantastic feedback from guests time and time again is the benchmark for growth, expansion and prosperity.
You can make your hotel business stand out from the crowd by making just a few or a lot of adjustments according to what was discussed, it all depends on your present situation and what is generic to your experience.