We all know that good communication is crucial in every team – but when it comes to the hospitality industry, the reasons for this can be even more specific. If you run a hotel, then you’ll know that getting this side of things right can mean the difference between a return booking and a negative review and between a high staff turnover and a loyal team.
We explore below the four key reasons that you need to ensure that every element of your comms processes are up to standard and some easy ways to improve things if your communications systems need a boost.
Benefits Guests
The most important reason that you need to optimize communication in your hotel, guest house, or other establishment is that it will ensure every single one of your guests has the best experience possible.
From making sure that messages get passed along promptly and are dealt with effectively to finding ways to give your guests the information they need without bombarding them with texts and emails, figuring out how to best manage your channels and lines of communication is vital, and can uplevel every element of the guest experience.
A guest communication platform can help significantly with this: as well as giving you a direct line of communication with your guests before they even arrive at your doors; these platforms act as communication hubs and can be used by your staff to streamline comms between both individuals and departments. They resolve the potential problem of, for example, a message from a guest requesting extra towels in their room going astray; or of a member of staff at the front desk finding it difficult to pass on details of a guest’s allergy to the kitchen.
Makes the Most of Staff Time
One of the happy consequences of streamlining your back-office administrative processes is that you’ll free up staff time, giving your team more time and space to get on with the most important job of all: making sure every guest is enjoying a fabulous stay. This could be in the form of providing personalized service to following up on guest requests quicker than was previously possible.
Staff time spent on resolving issues arising due to miscommunication, duplicating work unnecessarily, or having to deal with complaints from guests who haven’t been communicated with properly can seriously eat into the amount of time your team has available at work.
Better communication processes mean that even short-term staff shortages can be absorbed without having a negative impact on the all-important guest experience.
Prevents Easily Avoidable Mistakes
This flows naturally from the last point: a poorly communicated management directive regarding, for example, a new staff rota system could leave you with insufficient cover at breakfast or with too many staff members booked on holiday at the same time. Similarly, if you don’t have a robust comms process that allows the message that a guest will be arriving earlier than expected to consistently get through, this guest may well arrive to find that their room isn’t yet ready for them.
Both of these scenarios are easily avoidable with a proper communication system in place that covers everything from how information is disseminated to staff members to how guest requests, queries, and messages are actioned.
Builds a Positive Brand Image
To build a positive brand image, consistency is king. This means ensuring the same high-level hospitality and provision of services are given to every single guest and taking every step possible to guard against anything falling through the cracks.
Using a guest communication platform, as mentioned above, can help with this by giving staff a direct means to communicate both internally to guests and externally to keep everything on track and information going where it needs to go. For example, letting your guests know about car parking provisions or that they can check in remotely will both save time at the front desk and make your visitors’ stay more seamless. Giving you a better chance of that all-important five-star online review.
How to Improve Communication
Staff Training
Adequate staff training is one of the best ways to improve communication in your hotel. This should start even before a new hire’s first day on the job: before they begin work, consider sending them information about your establishment, their role, and any important basic information.
Introducing a buddy system is a great idea and will give your new recruit a chance to learn the ropes properly, including your comms and other systems. You may also want to look into ongoing staff training or workshops to ensure, going forward, that communication within the team and with guests remains as high-quality as possible.
Assess Your Processes
Have a thorough, honest audit of all the systems you currently have in place, with a view to how these could be optimized. For example, is there a different way to get information out to staff – if memos aren’t proving very effective, could a weekly newsletter be a better alternative?
Think outside the box: are there any tech solutions that you’ve not tried that could be worth testing out – or how about asking your team members the solutions and ideas they have for optimizing communication?
Building a Stronger Team
A team that’s closely connected will work better together, so it may pay dividends to invest some time and money in team-building sessions or for a monthly lunch out together. You may be surprised at the difference it makes when you have a team that gets on well and in which everyone is better aligned.
Making Your Comms Systems Work for You and Your Guests
Taking the time to assess your current comms processes and how they’re working will enable you to make the tweaks needed to create an enhanced guest experience and ensure your staff is working optimally and in a streamlined fashion.
Upleveling your comms systems can also help you offer tailored offers, upgrades, and services to your guests, which means it can result in a happier bottom line, too!
