Technology - Friend or Foe?

Sure, I know what you’re thinking; is he crazy?  Look at all the advancements in technology that we have experienced over the last decade, and look at all the great things that have come from those advancements.

Fair enough, but have you also noticed that the technology that is supposed to “make the world smaller” and make us all so much “more connected” is also responsible for creating more distance between people than ever before?

Take a ferry between two cities, jump on a bus, take a look around you the next time you are at the airport or on a plane, or, just look around when you’re walking downtown and notice how many people have their faces buried in their IPhone or Blackberry and how many of them are wearing headphones at the same time, and as a result, how many people are NOT speaking to each other.

The same can be said, to some degree, in the workplace.  That is, that the technology that was supposed to “make our lives easier” and contribute to “work/life balance” is instead increasing peoples’ workload, their stress levels, and their inability to have any work/life balance based on the fact that they are always reachable, and always expected to be reachable.  There is no longer an “off” switch for many people.

One of the additional symptoms of this to me is when you receive an email from someone whose office is next to yours or around the corner about something that does not require a documentation trail.  In short, they could have either picked up the phone or popped around the corner to your office to have had a conversation with you, but who has the time?

As simple as it may seem in the face of this situation, one of the simple solutions that I put in place to increase relationships and connectedness within the workplace in one of the hotels where I worked was to create “email free day” one day a week, every week.

The “rules” were simple and we got everyone on-board with participation.  On email free days you could not send any emails internally, except where there was a sense of urgency around some form of documentation that had to be circulated on that day, such as BEOs or changes to BEOs for banquet events scheduled within that week.

External emails to/from clients, corporate office or other hotels within the company could be responded to, to ensure we continued to comply with our commitment to respond to all correspondence within 24 hours of receipt.

But if you sent an email internally on email free day, you were fined $1.00 and the funds generated from those emails was donated to charity.

At first, there were some people who responded as if we had asked them to work with one hand tied behind their back, but quickly people saw that their job was not in fact made any more difficult, and, as you would expect, there was a whole lot more interaction between people, not to mention that people who habitually had been locking themselves in their offices all day were now seen meeting and talking to people all over the hotel, and they turned out to be some of the biggest fans of email free day.

Give it a try.  You may be pleasantly surprised to see how much more liveliness and fun get produced in your workplace.

We spend a good deal of our lives at work.  Is it too much to ask that we have a little fun while we’re there?   I don’t think so.

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People Don’t Know How to Write Anymore

It’s true, peoples’ ability to write, properly, is diminishing by the day, partly because people don’t write as much as they used to, and partly because of peoples’ reliance on technology such as spell check.

When is the last time you got a hand written thank you card?  You probably can’t remember because it has been so long.  People just don’t take the time anymore, which is one of the reasons that I make a point of sending out hand written thank you cards – because people instinctively know that it took some time and effort in order to select, write and then mail (you remember mail) a thank you card, and as a result, they are touched by the gesture.   But I digress . . .

I’m big on delegating and really empowering the people that I work with.  I believe that you have to trust people, give them support and encouragement, and let them make mistakes and on occasion, experience failure.

But along the way, I also learned that a lot of people do not know how to spell or put a sentence together in a way that makes sense, and as a result, I became known as somewhat of an unofficial editor in the last few positions that I have held.  And while I find it tedious to proof read an entire guest directory from cover to cover as an example, I am happy to do so if it means that the finished product does not contain spelling errors, and is, as a result, a more accurate reflection of our commitment to attention to detail.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself one of the great writers of all time or anything – I’m sure professionals would have a field day with my run on sentences and great love of the comma, but I also know that if I need to put together a strategic plan, a business plan, or a marketing plan as an example, I can pull together the right content to make a compelling read, one that will create the right vision and pull you in to where I want you to go.  And sure, I’ll use spell check, but what’s more important, and much more valuable, I’ll proof read my final copy several times before it goes out, and I’ll get someone else to proof read it as well, because I know that sometimes we can’t see our own errors.

I could be wrong but I think it’s got to do with pride, I take pride in everything that I do and I see everything that I do as an extension of myself, a reflection, and I don’t think that a lot of other people necessarily think that way.

Sure, other people take pride in what they do, but I think they also think some things are just more important than others, which in one sense is true, but as it relates to the reflection on themselves, it is not.

If you send me a report or a proposal and it is littered with spelling errors and sentences that don’t make any sense, then I assume that you didn’t think that this project was important, or certainly not as important as some other things you may have been working on.  And, if you didn’t think it was important, how compelled should I be with your findings, your argument, and how confident should I be in the calculations that you provided?

Company web sites are no exception and I frequently find errors in content, spelling, and in some cases, sentences that just stop in the middle of a point with no clear conclusion.

And don’t even get me started on cover letters.  Am I really supposed to think that you really want to work at my hotel when you couldn’t be bothered to spell my name correctly, or the name of the hotel?  And that was just in the opening paragraph – it got worse from there.

What we say is a reflection of who we are, who we really are, and what we put out there in the world for others to see is no less of a reflection of who we are and what is really important to us – perhaps more so, because what we put out there in print, especially with the implications of technology, now has the potential to be out there for a long time.

Bottom line – regardless of technology, if you are committed to walking the talk, then that should be reflected in everything that you do.

Take pride in everything that you do, and set the right example for your team members to emulate. 

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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Asking for the Business

If you don’t ask for the business, then you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t get it.

It’s been my experience over the years that the difference between a good Sales person and a great Sales person often lies in their ability to ask for the sale, and, to a lesser degree, to know how to deal with “no” and not get paralyzed in the face of “no.”

There are lots of great sales people out there, who do a great job in many facets of their role in sales, they know their value proposition, your property’s points of differentiation, they research potential clients, and their prep work and attention to detail are second to none.

Those are all strong and admirable attributes.

But are they closers?

After it’s all been said and done, and the (potential) client has taken the bait, can they reel them in?

If not, you may find if you tag along on a few sales calls that they are stopping short of actually asking for the sale.

They assume, albeit unconsciously, that if they have done a god job in making their case, the client will book with them, and on many occasions that has probably worked out for them, and for you.

But I can guarantee you that if you actually ask for the sale, your chances of securing the business go up exponentially.  

It’s long been a practice of mine to do two things, in particular, when it comes to supporting the sales effort in my Hotels:

      1)      Telling clients that I want their business.

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it?  You’d be surprised how many people don’t actually, clearly and with conviction, tell clients that they want their business.

I used to do this in particular when we had a client on site for a site inspection and/or property review.  

I would introduce myself, and then I would tell the (potential) client that one of the reasons that I wanted to personally meet them, among other reasons of course, was that I wanted to tell them personally that we wanted their business and that each and every one of us was keenly aware of what it meant to get this piece of business, and we were committed to working with them to secure their business, and to delivering a program or event that would leave no doubt as to why we were chosen. 

       2)      Asking for the business.

On a similar vein, I would always conclude a site visit or a sales call by asking for the business.

Again, I would make a point of being direct and specific, leaving no doubt that I was asking for the business, and in the event that I ran into any hesitation or reluctance, I would simply ask what the obstacles were that was preventing them from committing.

I know I said this before, but I will say it again; I know full well that what I am saying sounds obvious.

But I’ll tell you this too; I had clients tell me time and time again that other Hotels were not telling them that they wanted their business, not directly anyway, and, that virtually no one was asking for their business. 

And on more than a few occasions, I had clients tell me that was why they were going with us for their conference, event, etc…

Sure, our product and service were important factors, but when it came down to comparing a number of seemingly similar properties in a single destination, what put them over the edge, and differentiated us from our competitors, was our commitment to getting the business, to servicing the client from this day forward, and, the fact that we asked for the business, further demonstrating our level of commitment. 

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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The Importance of a Genuine Apology

People don’t know how to apologize.

They think that if you say you’re “sorry” that magically makes everything better.

But haven’t we all been on the receiving end of an insincere apology, when you knew that there was no meaning behind the words, they were, just words.

Often reminds me of when we were kids, and you’d get into a fight with your Brother, and your Mother would grab you and tell you; “apologize to your Brother.”

I don’t know about you, but when that happened to me, and I subsequently apologized to my Brother, it didn’t mean a thing, not to me, and certainly not to him.   

He knew I was just going through the motions.  

We weren’t fooling anyone.

Or, someone sets out to apologize and approaches you under the premise that they want to apologize, but instead of apologizing, they attempt to justify or explain what happened, instead of taking responsibility for the situation.

Drives me crazy.

And I’m not someone who judges an apology by how much time and effort that they spend falling all over me, quite the contrary, sometimes, “thou doth protest too much.”

All I want, when the situation calls for it, is a genuine apology.

For me, a genuine apology involves someone taking responsibility for their action, and recognizing the impact they have had on another, and with that in mind, apologizing for the situation – period.

Don’t embellish, don’t try to get in my shoes or in my head, resist the urge, and just say “I’m sorry.”

The only other thing I might add is, and again, when appropriate, to take the necessary action to correct the situation, or, to simply ask; “what can I do to make this right?”

Sometimes, rather than assuming what a disgruntled guest might want when something is in order, it’s just more appropriate and more effective to ask them what they feel would be fair.

These circumstances, although they often start out as a negative, if handled correctly, can be turned around and generate a positive outcome, and can in fact enhance your reputation.

When things go wrong, and invariably they will go wrong from time to time, what makes the difference is how the situation is handled.

In effective crisis management we see this time and time again.

The story starts out with a problem that has occurred, but then, the rest of the story turns to how quickly the company got out in front of the problem, took immediate responsibility for the situation, and took action.

I can think of many instances where something has gone wrong during a visit to a restaurant or a Hotel, and instead of choosing never to go there again, (and telling everyone I know not to go there either), they have turned me into a loyal customer based on their handling of the situation.

Things go wrong, it’s inevitable, but it’s what we do about it that makes the difference. 

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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The Value of a Great Mentor

I’m lucky, I have a friend, a successful designer and colour expert, her name is Maria Killam, and she has been writing a very successful Blog, Colour Me Happy, for the past several years.

It was in fact Maria that initially inspired me to start writing my Blog, about 7 months ago now.   

She encouraged me to take my years of knowledge and experience, and my passion for the Hospitality Industry, and share it with others who share my interest and my passion.

As I mentioned earlier, Maria has been writing her Blog – Colour Me Happy, for several years now, and it has significantly benefited and contributed to the success of her business.

She has learned a lot about Blogging since she began, and luckily for me, she is more than willing to share her knowledge with me in an effort to assist me and to help me make sure that my Blog stays true to me and what I intended when I started out.

It is, in that regard, that I consider her a mentor to me.

What I knew about Blogs when I first started, you could have fit on the head of a pin.

Sure, I know plenty about the Hospitality business, but Blogging, not so much.

But I think what I value the most about my friendship with Maria is the level of our friendship, which translates into the kind of conversations that we have.

You see, Maria and I aren’t what I would call superficial friends, which is, if we are honest with ourselves, the way that most of our friendships are.

Most friends, if you meet them for lunch, or see them socially, regardless of the venue, your conversation sounds something like this:

A: How are you?

B: Oh, I’m great, how are you?

A: I’m great too, thanks for asking.  How’s work going?

B: Work is great.  How about you?

A: Oh, me too, work is great.  The kids, your family?

B: Great, kids are great, husband’s great, everything is just super.

Superficial.  Everyone is WAY too busy worrying about looking good, and avoiding looking bad, to ever admit that they are having any difficulties or challenges in their life.

When Maria and I get together we honestly share how things are going in our lives, where we might be struggling or challenged, what’s working and what’s not.

The level of integrity that we bring to our relationship, and to our conversations, is without compromise.

As a result, when Maria gives me feedback on my Blog, and various articles that I have written, I know that she is genuine and sincere in her feedback, and she knows that is what I want – honest feedback.

There have been several occasions, since I started writing, where Maria has called me up and said; “I just read your last post and I didn’t get it, at all,” or, “that last post didn’t sound like you,” “don’t preach, people don’t wanted to be lectured to.”

So, conversely, when  she has called me up to tell me that she loved my last post, or that it really spoke to her, or reminded her of the importance of a particular issue, I KNOW that she means it, she didn’t just say it to make me feel good.

She knows, and I appreciate, that no one benefits from feedback that isn’t honest.

Maria understands, as do I, that I can only get better from hearing ALL of the feedback, not just the good stuff.  She knows how to deliver the bad news when it's called for.

That is why I value her, and her opinion.

And that, is why I constantly seek out her opinion, I know that she knows much more than I do about Blogging, and, I know that I will get her honest and direct feedback and suggestions.

To me anyway, that has the makings of a great mentor relationship, (and in our case, a great over-riding friendship, period).

I have always made a point of aligning myself with people who know more than I do and that are generous enough to share their knowledge and experiences with me, so that I might continuously improve. 

It’s also why I have always been active in providing my mentorship to hospitality students and junior managers, in particular, as they seek to learn and grow.

Do you have a mentor, or perhaps more than one?

Or are you mentoring anyone in your organization?

No one knows it all and we can all benefit from a little help along the way. 

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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Crisis Communications Plans – What You Need to Know

It takes years to build a positive corporate image through a presence and good acts over the years.  A solid reputation is like the foundation of a building, on top of which, additional levels can be built and achieved, on the strength of that foundation of a solid reputation.   

It can take years to create an enviable reputation – it can take even longer to restore the publics confidence if a crisis is seen or perceived to have been mishandled.

There are differing opinions on the key elements of an effective crisis communications plan.  However, it has generally been my experience that no matter the specific contents within your crisis communications plan, once the crisis occurs and the need to effectively communicate to your respective audiences arises, all of the experts support following seven key criteria in dealing effectively with a crisis once it has occurred:

1.            Tell it all and tell it fast.  There is no better or more effective way to stop speculation about a situation; establish credibility as a reliable source of information; and to take control of the incident and the flow of information.  There is one caveat however.  It is imperative that you are certain of your facts.  You cannot be seen to either be over-reacting to the situation, or, under-estimating the significance of the situation.

2.            There must be only one designated spokesperson.  Nothing is worse than having several different people speaking on and attempting to explain a situation in different or potentially conflicting ways.  This situation can quickly destroy credibility which is why it is so important that one senior person in authority be designated to handle all of the communications functions, from the beginning of a crisis until it is concluded.

3.            All available information, so long as it does not involve security or confidential issues or potentially violate people’s privacy, should be made public.  It is important to determine and once determined cover all of the bases within a crisis situation.  Failing to do so, or choosing not to share information on a particular area, can result in questions focusing in on that area and making it appear to be far more significant than it may be, simply as a result of its original omission.

4.            Provide regular updates.  Providing regular and timely updates serves to build trust and credibility.  Conversely, lapses in the flow of information can result in speculation and heightened anxiety around a particular situation.  As stated earlier, it is however, imperative that you ensure that your information is accurate before sharing it with the public or the media.

5.            Recognize that the less people know about what is really transpiring the more they fear the possible consequences.  Uncertainty breeds speculation and rumours, and you can ill afford either in a crisis situation.

6.            Recognize that as a by-product of living in an increasingly technological world, the potential for a crisis situation to occur is equally increased.  The more complexity we add to our environment the more possibilities exist for disruptions.

7.            Companies MUST plan for crisis communications in advance and prioritize ensuring that plans are regularly reviewed and kept up to date.  Companies must anticipate a crisis before it occurs and have a communications plan prepared and ready for use when the time comes, and it will.

Having a comprehensive crisis communications plan in place allows staff to have a resource when the time comes, which will allow them to follow the guidelines established in the plan, both in responding to the crisis and in responding to the media, which will hopefully serve to maintain and protect the company’s reputation.

At some time, your business will likely be faced with any one of a number of situations, such as fire, earthquake, food poisoning and other threats, accidental death and other accidents resulting in personal injury or public liability, major criminal acts, and disputes by employees, customers and unions.

A bad first response, no response, or a late response to a crisis, will severely affect your image, and, if you are part of a larger brand, could negatively impact the overall brand as well, increasing the negative impact, substantially.   The error, in addition, may be amplified or repeated continuously by media coverage as the crisis develops and unfolds.  If the situation is severe enough or persists over time, public confidence will be seriously eroded, support diminished, and sales lost or cancelled.

The role of an effective crisis communications plan is to defuse negative situations which have the potential to damage your business, your image, and as a result, your short and long term goals. 

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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Don’t Burn Those Bridges – Not Even By Accident

How many of you can remember, early on in your life, or certainly in your career, where someone cautioned you by telling you; “be careful not to burn your bridges.”

And I’ll go you one further, which is to say, and that I have written about before, is that I believe that at least in our business, “it’s all about relationships.”

And yet, how many of you recognize this situation?

You need something, from a client, a supplier, a peer, someone in your company, it doesn’t really matter who. What matters is that you need a response, you need some information, and you need it from them.

You have emailed, now more than once, and you have had no response. You have called, now also more than once, but in both cases you did not reach the person, so you left them a voice mail, and still you have had no response.

Days have passed, maybe even a week or more, and you still have had no response, nor any indication that they are away, and in fact you may know very well that they are not away.

So what conclusion are we to draw from this scenario?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I draw several possible conclusions or opinions in from this situation.

1) They think that their time is more important than mine, or, their challenges are of a higher priority than mine, in spite of the fact that they may not even fully know what I need/want from them.

2) This is how they run their business, or their division, etc., as may be the case. And this is a particularly dangerous one as it can cost you business. I can tell you, in some instances, it has cost them my business.

Regardless, it does not paint a positive picture, it does not demonstrate a value for our relationship, and it certainly does not demonstrate that you value my business.

Bottom line, whether you intended it or not, that bridge of ours has just gone up in flames, so don’t be surprised when a business relationship sours after you have treated someone this way. They may be standing at the other side of that burnt bridge, and they may not be willing to join you in the re-building process.

Make timely communication a priority for yourself, then lead by example, and set minimum standards in your company for communication responses. Mine, have always been 24 hours. EVERY phone call, email, letter gets a response within 24 hours of being received, without exception.  

Need an experienced hospitality professional to help your property reach its full potential?  Contact me.

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