Hospitality Property School

How can you find out what your customers want? Using surveys (the right way!) can lead to more bookings. I am going to share the right questions to ask.Today, I am going to look at the right survey questions to ask and how to write them.The first thing is you have to know how well you really know your target market.Their pains...Their problems...Their motivations...•Are you marketing your hospitality property online and feel like your message is falling flat? •Do people understand what you have to offer?•Do you know your target market?Today, I will look at how using surveys (the right way!) can lead to more bookings.I will share the right questions to ask, how to ask them so you’ll get people to actually fill out your survey, the recommended software and most importantly, how to correctly understand the answers you receive.The hospitality property industry is always developing, and surveys are a powerful way to stay on top with your market.In a book by Ryan Levesque called “Ask” https://amzn.to/2XxDSjU he tal

Investing in renewable & eco-friendly resources for hospitality properties used to be a luxury, but is now, not only is it necessary, it can help you improve your properties overall profit and patronage. I will share with you ways you can utilise green technology.Hospitality properties have often demonstrated their role as first movers for green technology.Every property is unique and has different requirements and it is important that hotels, resorts, inns and bed and breakfasts identify and realize solutions according to specific needs. For windsurfing or kitesurfing resorts, new wind technologies might be more interesting than solar. For a desert resort, vice versa. For some island properties, wave energy might be the preferred option. Investing in renewable & eco-friendly resources can help improve your hospitality properties overall profit margin. Today, many travellers prefer to accommodations that are environmental-friendly rather than an ordinary hospitality property room. With climate change

Are you looking for a way to make your life as a hotelier/innkeeper easier, increase your bookings and improve your bottom line? Well then don’t go anywhere because I have the answer for you.There are here! I am proud to introduce the newly updated series of hospitality property books for you, hospitality property owners and managers.They include:“How to Open & Operate a Bed & Breakfast”“Strategies to Increase Your Bed & Breakfasts Bookings & Profit”“How to Open & Operate a Hotel, Resort or Inn”“Hotel, Resorts or Inns - Strategies to Increase Your Bookings & Profit”And if you’re looking for an in-depth handbook to help direct your day-to-day operation, we have “Your Full Guide to Owning & Operating a Hospitality Property-Successfully”To find out more about these books and how you can get your own copies at a huge discount visit the Keystone HDC Resource Library at…https://keystonehospitalitydevelopment.com/keystone-hdc-resource-library/

A successful front office manager requires a perfect mixture of skilful hospitality & tight organizational skills, never settling for less than A +.I going to show you what you have to do to be a successful front desk manager.In any hospitality property, first impressions are everything. The way your front desk staff greets and attends to guests can make or break the image of your property. And just to make things clear, if you operate a small B & B or inn and you are a one-person operation – you are the front office manages.Like the best leaders, a front office manager, with the right knowledge training, and attitude leads by example and from the front. If your personality is a perfect mixture of skilful hospitality and tight organizational skills, then working as a front office manager at a hospitality property might be an invigorating and fulfilling career path. Success as a hospitality property front office manager, as with many other careers, requires constant improvement and self-evaluation. A s

Knowing your market is imperative to a successful hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfast but research can be expensive. Here are ways you can do on your own and without much money or training. When hospitality properties develop an idea, whether it's a new service or a redesigned website, marketing research is often the first thing cut due to time or financial limitations. That can make sense. Working with marketing research firms can be very expensive and time-consuming. If you haven't done research before, it is very tempting to skip it and jump right into the development stage.Hold on before you take that next step. There's a lot of research you can do on your own and without much money or training. Here are some low-budget ways to do some research and give your service, idea, or designs a better chance. 1) Interview Potential and Current GuestsNothing is freer or more valuable than a conversation. You might be pleasantly surprised at how willing and forthcoming people will be when prompted by some ques

Are you utilizing a Property Management System? If not, you’re costing yourself time and money.I have been getting questions lately about choosing the right PMS or Property Management Systems and I felt it was time to replay a very popular episode I recorded last year on this topic.Your property management system or PMS, also known as a front desk system, is the heart of any hospitality property. It is the systematized mechanism that oversees and coordinates the relationship between the customer and your services. Without one, a hospitality property will labour to professionally manage all of their daily operational tasks.What are the benefits of a property management system? In choosing the variety of options available to you, it’s important to think about what features would best suit your hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfast. Here are the top features you should consider when making your selection.1. A system that streamlines your front-desk managementYour PMS should give you all the tools you need to

Do you have a restaurant on your property? Is it bringing in an extra stream of revenue? If no, why not? I am going to share how you can increase your restaurants potential.If you have a restaurant and you’re only catering to your hotel guests, then you’re leaving money on the table. You might believe you have a very good restaurant, in fact, you might believe you have a great restaurant but without good local patronage how would you know for sure. Hotel restaurants are normally not on the radar of potential customers were looking for a place to eat. Traditionally, hotel restaurants have a difficult time attracting locals. So what can you do to improve your chances? I’m going to share some ideas that have worked with many hospitality properties. 1.Consider trying a new name, identity and theme for your restaurant, and promote it to the local market separately from the hotel. 2.Use social media and the local press to market your restaurant. You can contact journalists from local publications and invite them

Employee turnover is costing you money. Here is what you need to do to stop losing great employees and throwing money out the window.Turnover rates in the hospitality industry have grown in past years, in some sectors up to 70% and this includes the hospitality property sector.Turnover can impact everything from staff morale to a property’s ability to deliver consistent guest experiences, to budget and overall profit margins. While there are many factors that contribute to an employee’s decision to leave, it’s up to properties owners and managers to take corrective action. Research has shown that owners, managers and executives polled believe an improved employee experience is important, only 22% reported that their properties excel in making this a priority.What can you do in making a happier, more engaged team? I’ll look at three strategies that have shown to immediately improve your employee's experience, productivity, and a brand’s bottom line.•Connect with your employees the right way•Empower employees w

Operating a hospitality property can be fun, fulfilling, rewarding and stressful. I am going to share with you symptoms of stress and what you can do about them.Let me ask you a couple of questions. •Are you feeling stressed? •Does it look like there are constant obstructions in your way?•Does it seem like you have so much to do that you can’t keep them straight?•Do you feel like some insane existence is sabotaging you by preventing your progress?In this podcast, I am going to share some things to look for. Before I start I want to encourage anyone who is feeling extremely stressed to check with their doctor. What is it like when you feel stressed? You can’t keep your thoughts together, every problem is huge, and you feel overwhelmed, anxious and have trouble sleeping. You might feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Being stressed can affect you deeply in both mind and emotion. There is a really good chance that you would be hard-pressed to find someone in your life — including you — t

The future of video marketing is here and if you are not using it in your marketing strategy, you’re losing bookings. If you own or manage a hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfast, stay with me to find out why you need video and how you can get your own.Welcome to another edition of hospitality property school. I am your instructor, Gerry MacPherson.Today, I am going to talk about Video and Your Hospitality Property.Okay, I want you to use your imagination. Imagine you want to get away, to unwind, to a hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfast.Okay, I want you to use your imagination. Imagine you want to get away, to unwind, to a hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfast.You go to your favourite hospitality property booking engine to search for a property. You find a location and a property that looks promising. You go through the booking procedure only to find out the hotel is full for those dates you have available.You like the area and find another property just down the street and want to do a little m

Have you ever had a guest standing in front of you complaining and not sure how to handle it?I’m going to share with you the type of quests that make them and 18 of the most common complaints.We all have our own personalities, motivations and quirks. The same can be said for the unhappy person standing in front of you and if you can determine the type of person that is, the chances of you handling the complaint successfully will increase dramatically.Another reason it is important to handle complaints effectively is that it is easier and less expensive to win back the customer that had a negative experience then try to attract new customers.•Up to 95% of customers will give you a second chance if you handle their complaint successfully and in a timely manner.•Resolve a complaint in the customer’s favour and they will do business with you again 70% of the time.Now keep in mind, you won’t be able to satisfy every unhappy customer who contacts you, but the financial returns to your business from turning a disple

Asking for referrals can be hard! I’m going to share how to make it not only easier but a natural part of your life as a hotelier/innkeeper.As an independent hotel, resort, inn or bed and breakfast, a very effective way to grow your business is through referrals. Unfortunately, referrals do not happen effortlessly. Yes, you might get the odd referral, but if you want your business to grow you have to both earn and ask for them. Let's begin by talking about how you can earn great referrals from your guests. "You can start by giving them an experience they will remember, you want to WOW your guests" Here some ways you can amaze or wow your guests: 1. Show your interest by really listening to them Ask the right questions during the check-in, in your restaurant, at the bar and listen to the answers but don't make it obvious. Why? All these answers can be recorded in your guest's profile to be used later. 2. Have the Appropriate Software System Ensure your guests 2nd, 3rd or 100th visit is as good as th

Hotel Customer Questionnaire and Surveys | Ep. #160"Why do I need surveys, I know what my guests like."I would like to say I've never heard that before but you might be shocked at the number of hospitality property owners I have met have said just that or something similar. I’m going to explain why you need surveys. I'm going to give you four very important reasons why your hospitality property should be conducting surveys. 1.To find out what's going on. If your customers are given a non-threatening method, they will tell you what's important to them. 2.A survey can shed light on items or problems that you might not have been aware of that could be a symptom of a larger problem. 3.When making decisions about your property, you do not always have to go with your gut feelings but instead make your choices with sound data-driven information. 4.Surveys provide you with a snapshot of your target guests and their attitudes. This will help you establish a baseline from which you can compare other times and dete

Would you like the ability to tell everyone every day, week, month, who checks out your property how great you are?You can do this and I’m going to explain how.I am going to be talking about emails and guest list building. I have heard independent hotel, resort, inn and bed & breakfast owners say "I'm just a small property owner, not an international internet marketer, why would I need an email list?" The usage of the internet, tablets and smartphones is the norm for most people and for you to be successful as or more successful than your competitors, you have to be online, in front of your customers. You may be active in the world of online marketing, and email and guest list building is an aspect that you should be utilized to increase business and your online presence. I have mentioned many times before, it is imperative to build trust and establish a relationship with your customers. People typically choose businesses and in your case, return to properties they feel they can trust. Email

You’re losing money if you have a bad online presence.In this post, I will share just how important your online presence is and how a good one can be the difference between a hugely successful property and one that is struggling. I will be looking at;•Internet and the hospitality property industry•Why Does ORM Matter?•Online Reputation Management Best Practices•Can You Do Online Reputation Management Yourself?

Are new customers knocking down your door to stay at your property? If not, I’m going to share a proven method to increase your bookings.I look at,•Make your guests experience a priority•Offer incentives for referrals•Set yourself up for reoccurring growth•How to keep an eye on quality control

After spending decades with hospitality property owners and managers I have heard similar stories to the one I am going to share with you. Can you relate?

In lieu of a post this week, I just want to give you a heads up on something coming that we at Keystone HDC, are very excited about.The release of the brand new“Your FULL Guide to Owning & Operating a Hospitality Property – Successfully” Book 

Do you like getting things for free?Well, today is your lucky day, I’m giving away free copies of our new ebooks.

Efficiently managing rates and availability while watching on all the different key performance markers takes training and talent.You need to understand revenue management and I’m here to guide you.