The hospitality is notoriously difficult to find success in and a lot of new businesses fail to overcome competition from already established companies. There are a million different reasons why they might fail; it could be that the location is bad, or the staff aren’t giving good customers service. But more often than not, there is one thing that people fail to do effectively and that’s communicate. The secret to running a successful hospitality business is good communication. This is why it’s important and how you can make sure you’re getting it right.
Why Is It Important?
In a hotel, you’ve got staff members spread out all over the place and each one is a vital cog in the overall machine of the hotel. Getting them to work together as one unit is the key to efficient service that will keep guests coming back time and time again. Cleaning staff need to know as soon as somebody has checked out so they can get in there and clean the room before the next arrival. Kitchen staff need to get orders as quickly as possible to avoid excessive wait times and the management need to be made aware of any problems right away so they can solve them quickly. If communication breaks down amongst you and your staff, the well-oiled machine will quickly collapse and you’ll have a load of staff members running around like headless chickens and your customers will be unhappy because you aren’t giving a good service.
As well as communicating with one another, it’s important that your staff understand how to communicate with your customers in an appropriate way. Guests will expect to be treated in a certain way and if your staff are rude, or too informal with them, they won’t like it. The way that you should communicate with guests often depends on the type of establishment you’re running; if it’s a high end, expensive hotel, they’ll expect all of the formalities. But you don’t need to bother with that at a cheaper place, as long as you’re polite and friendly.
So, that’s why it’s so important. The next question is, how do you encourage good communication in your hotel?
Radios
It’s important that you’ve got a direct line of communication between all staff members at all times. The easiest way to do this, and the way that most hotels do it, is by using two-way radios. Give a radio to each staff member and encourage them to use it as much as possible. That way, every staff member is aware of what is going on in every part of the hotel at all times.
The Mirror Technique
Knowing what tone to take when communicating with customers is sometimes difficult because some people find it off putting if you’re too formal, while others will expect that from you. The mirror technique is a handy trick that helps you get around that problem. Try to gauge their tone when you first greet them and mirror it back to them. That way, you’re on their level and they’ll feel comfortable.
Communication is the most important thing in the hospitality industry, without it, you’re not going to get far.
