Customer Service greatness stays ahead of the latest trends in technology! Click To TweetThe digitalisation of society and the continuous growth of technology is constantly changing and impacting the way we work, communicate and live our lives. Especially in the Hotel industry, clear changes can be detected that are directly caused by the changes in modern day technology.
To keep ahead of competition in this ever changing market, it is vital to stay on top of these changes and know how to implement and deal with potentially new challenges. Providing you or your team with tailor made training, especially for your set up and needs, will keep your business up to date in these every changing times and keep the guests coming!
So what are the changes in the hotel industry?
Changes in the hotel industry has been a widely discussed topic within the industry for many years, but what changes have we seen?
- The Shift to Online
Everything and everyone is online now. What used to be for the younger generation has now shifted to all people from all sorts of backgrounds, and your business needs to be adapted to this. Your online presence is extremely important now and this is the time to invest in online Marketing and SEO to make sure your hotel is found by everyone – even people who did not know they were looking for it. Having a very solid online booking system integrated into your website for mobile and computer devices is essential to increasing accessibility and user friendliness. - Data Resources
Gathering new business and reaching new guests might be challenging – but you might not realise you have a lot of opportunities already in your systems. Use the data you have on your systems to entice people to book. Think of packages, discounts, personalised special deals, recommendations – the list is endless. Make sure you are on top of the Data Protection Legislation, and you will be good to go for using your existing data to gather new business. - The Mobile Shift
Utilise the fact that everyone carries a smartphone and offer services specifically for this. Absolutely vital is having a strong wifi connection in all parts of the hotel. But you can also take things further and consider options such as developing an app for your brand. This could contain an easy and straight forward booking system, but you can even link this to hotel services – ordering room service via the app, seeing an interactive map of activities in the local area, an overview of in-house services, contactless payment via app or phone – the options are endless. - Feedback and Reviews
Recent years have seen an enormous surge in online reviews, and with the anonymity that leaving online reviews brings, unfortunately one can detect a surge of negative reviews being left. This can be challenging for you and your staff to deal with. You need to make sure you and your staff are ready and prepared, and you have the right support in place too. Make sure you have a strategy for monitoring reviews, and how to get back to people, as communication is key. Everything can be said online and once something is published it will not disappear! So make sure you have a system in place to deal with these situations. - Keep All Options Open
When looking into how to become more ‘digital’ – it can be tempting to get overexcited and move everything online. Do bear in mind that some guests would not like to book via their mobile phone, for example. Yes, make sure your online presence and technology is up to date and present, but make sue there is still room for people who want to do things the ‘old fashioned way’, booking via a travel agency or over the phone. It is vital to provide the services to everyone, and make all accessible.
How training can help your staff adapt
Dealing with change can be difficult for any team, therefore training will provide structure for your team to focus on. It also gives you the opportunity to introduce new working methods or a new focus – and rather than having to implement this straight away, the team will have time to go over things during training, get used to new visions and try things out. Training is a perfect opportunity to make mistakes – and learn from them, so that all will go smoothly during actual client interaction.
Training will also shapes a team, brings it closer together and gives them the opportunity to bond more. Finally, providing your team with training will make them value you as an employer more, it will make them feel valued by you and to feel important. A dedicated, happy staff will make a successful hotel!
Why choose Polo & Tweed to train your Hotel Staff
At Polo & Tweed we only work with the best trainers in the industry who have long standing, real experience working in many different hotel and hospitality settings. Our trainers know the industry inside out and will use all their knowledge from a longstanding career in the sector.
At Polo & Tweed we take our time to get to know you, your hotel and what you are trying to achieve. We will find out exactly what the issues are you are facing, and match this with training solutions. We have a long list of specified modules we provide, and all these can be mixed and matched to create your tailor made training package solely focused on your business and your situation.
At Polo & Tweed we care for you and your brand, and can make the experience personalised and as easy for you as you like. We can arrange meetings, shadowing days and surveillance bookings for us to establish and advice on what type of training is needed, and create a tailor made proposal from there. We often organise return visits too, to make sure all training and changes are implemented correctly, and update staff on missed skills where needs be. All this so you do not have to worry at all. From initial inquiry to final day, you can rest assured we are keeping your team up to date on skills, attitude and work ethic.
We would love to hear from you regarding your Hotel or hospitality business, and how our trainers could make a difference to your ratings, guest experiences and overall business. Do get in touch here and we look forward to bringing your hotel to the next level!