We continue to share useful materials that were included in the second issue of Ribas magazine. Andriy Marenchuk's article on the principles of working with guests and employees is still receiving positive feedback, so we decided to expand the circle of readers and publish it on the blog.
When going on a trip, a person pays attention to hotel advertisements about forty days before the holiday. Many hotels start working with guests at the booking stage or from the moment they check in. We believe that this interaction should start as early as the design and launch of the hotel. The hotel business should accompany a person throughout their life.
In this context, feedback is very important. That's why we want to find out from our guests which hotels are convenient for them, what should be in the room for perfect comfort, and which locations they are interested in. These wishes and needs are taken into account in the design process.
Further, the primary communication with the guest and the first point of contact of an existing property is carried out by the marketing department, which makes it possible to find a hotel and book it in a few clicks using any means of communication. At the moment, the most accessible channels in the world are messengers and the callback function. They make booking easy and affordable.
Our company starts communicating with the user at the stage of search, not booking. We know how to be competent secretaries in travel planning. And we are prepared for the fact that a potential guest may want to book an apartment six months before arrival. That is why it is important to keep in touch with them during this time. That is, during the entire six months, he has the opportunity to cancel the reservation. We also reserve the right to do so a week or two before the agreed check-in date.
It should be borne in mind that guests don't want to spend time solving or discussing everyday issues these days. We study the customer journey from the moment a person books a room to the moment they arrive at the hotel: how many clicks and time it takes, and what influenced their decision. It is important that our websites and other communication channels provide guests with accessible and comprehensive information on all relevant issues that may arise when choosing a hotel or room.
When a guest has already defined their holiday goal and format, communication turns into a booking process. This process will be described in detail on the following pages by Valeria Rozhko, Head of Reservations Department. I would only like to note that we have created a database of services that could help a person who finds themselves in a difficult situation on the way to us. We will send it to our guests.
HR policy
HR managers have a clearly defined job profile. It states that in our country, a reservation manager and hotel administrator must be able to communicate and correspond freely in messengers and emails in three languages: Ukrainian, Russian, and English. They need to not only know the business language, but also sell their hotel and room in these languages.
Regardless of whether a person plans to stay in a four-star hotel or a hostel, they receive the same quality service. Of course, guests stay in rooms of different categories, but the service they receive is exceptionally professional. Because friends are not chosen for profitability.
Hotels often forget about this and do not consider it necessary to expand their interaction with the guest. On the contrary, we periodically increase the resources of our marketing department so that our SMM managers are always in touch. It's no secret that the vast majority of people lead socially open lives, and we want to use social media to congratulate them on significant events: the birth of a child, graduation, a new job, or a promotion. I believe that it is quite natural to be in close proximity to the people who once entrusted us with their holidays. And this relationship should not end when the guest leaves the hotel.
For example, have you ever wondered why you want to come back to your friends? Because they care about us, don't forget about important events, and cheer us up. And you don't want to go back to strangers, cold people who have done a good job for your money but didn't give you a positive emotion. That is why we have established a tradition at all Ribas Hotels Group properties - we ask our guests to let us know if they are okay upon arrival home: how they got there, whether they had any difficulties.
Service is provided by our staff
The essence of management is to select, train and control. To this end, we have developed job profiles for the people we want to work in our hotels. Who they should be, what skills they should have.
I must admit that we are happy to hire inexperienced employees to work in our hotels. We see such a person as a blank slate, which gives us the opportunity to teach them our standards and not let their previous, quite possibly negative, experience interfere with their work.
The exception is employees who have worked in well-known hotels in the city or country. Then we evaluate the hotel itself: what reviews it has on Booking.com, what feedback it has received from the employer. Only after analysing the data do we make a decision on whether to invite them to work.
The position of any employee should be clearly stated, without abstract statements. So should the applicant's CV. Everything should be verifiable, including the skills and abilities of the employee.
It still makes me laugh when an applicant for a hotel position writes in his CV that he has a "hospitality gene". This expression is used to varying degrees by representatives of the HoReCa industry. But it is ridiculous, in my opinion, to list the hospitality gene among your personal or professional qualities, as its presence or absence cannot be verified.
By the way, many companies are hesitant to describe a person's appearance in a job profile. We do not hide the fact that we recruit girls who are pleasant to talk to. We do this so that our guests will want to come and spend time at the reception, discussing their day with the receptionist. This is pure marketing, because during the conversation, the guest can express certain wishes or preferences, which can then be used to provide them with additional services.
Personnel recruitment
Of course, you need to understand who you are looking for and for what objects. For example: in restaurants, the contact between the guest and the line staff is very short, but very frequent: clarification on the menu, waiting time, ordering drinks, recommendations for desserts, and so on. And in hotels, a guest can come to the reception and discuss the history of the city for 20-30 minutes, asking about sights, cultural events, and facilities.
These elementary processes can and should be standardised. However, the philosophy of staff attitude towards guests can only be established through daily meetings and discussions.
How we do it. Our hotel managers are relieved of some of the functions that distract them from the guest and their needs. This is an indisputable advantage of having a hotel managed by a management company. Our hotel managers are not involved in marketing, sales, procurement, or recruitment. They convey the philosophy of communication with guests that we have defined. After all, the hotel's reputation depends on how employees communicate with guests.
Control
It is important that the management company understands whether the standards are being met in all hotels and in all regions. For this purpose, we have set up a quality control department with access to cameras at all our properties. Employees of the department call 100% of people who have stayed with us. They communicate with foreign guests via messengers. For this purpose, we are developing a chatbot in Telegram for the department to receive up-to-date information and respond to any guest's message as quickly as possible.
The Quality Department is the department that sees mistakes, records them and gives us the opportunity to correct them: to improve documents, standards, and understanding of how to avoid similar situations in the future.
I would like to point out that many hotels neglect this department, acting on the principle: if you find a fault, you punish someone.
It is necessary to expand business processes that are somehow related to the guest.
Products are coming to the market that overlap with the hospitality industry to some extent. Take the Apple Watch, for example, which was once created as a status accessory. But today it is a device that can save lives by showing heart rate.
We also need to maximise the capabilities of our hotels, becoming a lifelong friend for each guest, who can return at any time.
When the guest has left
We are currently working on a business process that starts when the guest leaves the hotel. And even if he has no need to come to you for several years, you should periodically remind him of yourself. This will give you the opportunity to communicate with him and participate in his life so that he understands that the company or a particular hotel remembers him and is always happy to have him back.
Every guest should understand that they have a friend in this city. Even if they are here for a day, on a business trip. At any time, thinking about Odesa, Kyiv, Lviv or any other city, they will remember a friend who always makes them feel comfortable and safe. Become such friends for your guests.
