By
Doug Kennedy
September 14, 2011
If you are like most hoteliers, chances are
that your
property is having one of its best years in recent memory.
Yet with the recent stall in the economic
recovery, it is important not to assume that next year will
automatically be
just as profitable. Even if the overall
economy continues to rebound, it is important to continuously raise the
bar as
we set new goals for 2012 and beyond. In
the hotel business as in life, we must always reach for higher goals,
lest we
become complacent and satisfied with what we have already achieved.
As your executive committee plans its budget
for its next
annual cycle, remember that what ends up in (or out) of that budget
reflects
your organization belief systems regarding how training and development
can
impact hotel profitability. The way in
which your organization plans for and budgets for ongoing sales and
guest
service training definitely reflects its belief in how much the staff
can add to
or detract from the bottom line. Although
captivating websites and coming up top of the
first page on
Google searches is mission number one for your marketing and revenue
team, it
is the performance of your frontline sales and service staff in
converting
inquiry calls, along with providing memorable experiences that result
in
positive online guest reviews and social media postings that are going
to be
keys to future growth.
Rather than picking a random dollar amount
to budget for
training, or just going with the same amount as last year, why not try
a new
approach? Start by envisioning the
results you would like your team to achieve. Be
more specific than “increase sales” or “improve guest
service
scores.” Instead, the right way to
budget for training is to start by visioning what the potential is for
your
sales and guest service staff to improve profits. Before
you put into print a dollar amount,
why not start by calculating the potential ROI of improved guest
service or
sales effectiveness?
A good starting place is to look at the huge
impact that
even the smallest incremental improvements can have on revenues by
running
these numbers for your hotel or lodging company. How
much more revenue could your team generate
if:
- The entire front desk and/or reservations staff converted
just one more reservation inquiry each day? (Multiply your
transient average stay by your transient average rate, then multiply
the result by 365 days in a year.)
- The front desk team captured just one more walk-in per
week? (Again multiply the transient average stay times the
transient average rate, then multiply by 52 weeks.)
- The front desk and reservations team convinced just one
“rate double-checker” each week who was just about to book your
hotel through an OTA to book directly right here, right now.
(Calculate the average OTA commission paid per booking by 52 weeks.)
- The front of the house guest contact staff provided such
great service that an otherwise indifferent guest posted a positive
online guest review, which was later read by a “fence sitting”
undecided guest who decided to book based on that review? What if
this happened just once per week? (Use above formula.)
- The hotel sales department did such a great job of
out-servicing the competition, in terms of response time and also the
quality/personalization of the response, that they were able to
convince just one additional group per quarter to use the hotel?
(Multiply the average revenue per group booking times four.<>)
If you make the effort to do this exercise and to run even
the most conservative ROI numbers on the results of training, it
becomes
obvious that the training budget should be viewed more like a marketing
investment
used to generate new business rather than as an operational line item
expense.
The reality is that the above
numbers are conservative, especially if your hotel or lodging company
has not
yet had a strong, consistent focus on training and development.
Given recent trends, such as the ever
increasing
transparency of the guest service experience due to online guest
reviews and
social media postings, the potential ROI on hospitality excellence
training is
greater than ever before, just as the potential for positive
word-of-mouth
advertising has expanded into “viral marketing.”
The same is true on the sales side, as our
ever efficient revenue managers have used the ever-more-effective
demand and
pace trending resources so that most hotels are priced comparably
within their
market segments; when the price is virtually the same, the sales
responsiveness
is more vital than ever.
If your organization truly believes that
hotel training can
have a positive impact, then now is a great opportunity to get a head
start on
the competition for 2012 and beyond, as many hotel operators are now
satisfied
and happy after a great year to the point that they just might become
complacent. Here are some factors to consider when budgeting for future
training:
- Assess your current in-house training. Does the staff
receive at least one training reinforcement session per
quarter? Or is the only training that is provided basically
“On The Job” training from a co-worker? Do you have a qualified
in-house trainer, or a manager who has the training skills? Do
you need to secure resources such as train-the-trainer coaching or
packaged training programs?
- Review outside training support that is available from the
hotel’s brand or membership group. Reach out in advance to
find out what training they will be offering in the coming year.
- When in-house and brand or management company training
resources are limited, or have already been used for your staff,
consider outside training support from companies like ours (KTN) and
others that come up in an Internet search. Select a company
that specializes in hotel industry training not one that teaches
generic sales or service programs.
- Where possible, coordinate plans for training with sister
properties. For outside training support this will help bring
down the costs, as most companies allow sister hotels to share the
fees. For in-house training this is also a great approach, as
there may be managers or trainers from the other hotel(s) that can
bring a new perspective.
- Encourage your local hotel association, visitor’s bureau,
or other destination marketing organization to organize area-wide
training sessions for the member hotels. Again this is a great
way to reduce the costs as fees can be shared by all the hotels that
participate.
- Don’t skip training when it is busier than expected and
it’s “too busy to schedule training. Similarly, don’t cancel
training when it is revenues are lower than expected , remembering that
training helps to bring in more business.
- Factor-in time for instructional design, especially if you
have tasked your in-house managers with creating program content on
their own.
- Budget for resources to measure the training. (Examples
include in-house call monitoring, outside telephone mystery shopping,
on-site mystery shopping, guest satisfaction surveys, and
post-departure guest surveys.
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Doug Kennedy is
President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading
provider of customized training programs and telephone mystery shopping
services for the lodging and hospitality industry.
Doug continues to be a fixture on the
industry’s conference circuit for hotel companies, brands and
associations, as
he been for over two decades. Visit KTN
at: www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com Read his travel blog at
ontheroad.kennedytrainingnetwork
or email him directly: [email protected]
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