Work Orders: Spruce Up for Spring, Watch Guest Satisfaction & Savings Blossom

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Bill
I caught up with Lisa Kotlar, Jose Benavides, and Tim Wagner at the Windsor Hospitality Group Conference in Las Vegas for my on-the-road customer Interview Series. Windsor is installing hotel ServicePro at all of its properties, including its meeting site at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in Las Vegas. They told me “We’re very excited to get the system in place and use the work order component to raise guest scores.”

Spring has finally arrived and with it, a warming trend in the hospitality industry. The latest data shows hotel occupancy rates at their highest since 2008. And the summer travel season has yet to begin! Optimism was in the air last month at Windsor Capital Group, Inc.’s 2013 Revenue Triangle Conference in Las Vegas.

The timing is right to get properties ready for the summer rush. Before you budget big bucks for new furniture and fixtures, consider how hotel ServicePro’s Work Orders component can polish your hotel. It’s like renovating your hotel at a fraction of the cost.

For example, when an Executive Housekeeper notices peeling wallpaper, a stubborn door lock or a burned out light bulb, she can punch in a work order on the spot using her mobile device. hotel ServicePro automates the entire work order process, including accountability. Every entry is time stamped, dated, and immediately dispatched to your designated staff, such as the engineer, general manager, and/or executive housekeeper. Click a button to access customizable checklists and completed work order reports sorted by person, date, type, room number, and more.

 Guest satisfaction lies in the details.
Dispatch a work order for a burned out bulb on the spot and turn happy travelers into repeat business.

Do you know which three items generate the most work orders in the US hotel industry? 

1. Malfunctioning HVAC units
2. Room noise
3. Broken or missing TV remotes

Stay on top of these problems and knock out major costs in labor and time. Spot maintenance trends early by using hotel ServicePro to analyze work order data. You’ll be able to replace that $800 PTAC unit before you end up spending $600 on repeat repairs.

Here are a few ideas to help you jumpstart your own spring cleaning:

  • Hold a weekly contest in the housekeeping department: whoever turns in the most work orders wins a prize. Housekeeping attendants are in each guest room every day. The contest helps staff get in the habit of submitting work orders as soon as they see a problem.
  • When a work order is completed - follow up. I used to grab a stack of work order slips every Friday and do a spot check. Now, staff can access work orders as soon as they’re marked “complete” in hotel ServicePro.

The summer crowd is coming and you won’t have time to play catch-up on your maintenance.
Get every room ready for full occupancy with hotel ServicePro’s comprehensive work order component.

What are your best practices to make sure your property has a sparkling brand image and satisfied guests? Share them here or catch me on the road, where I’ll be asking you how the hotel ServicePro inspection platform keeps your team on its toes.

Meanwhile, get those air conditioners humming (quietly!).

Here’s to the sunny days ahead,

Bill

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Happy Spring!

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Bill

WHAT?

Spring is here  – REALLY?  Things are not always as they appear.

We are packing the truck and heading out to Las Vegas this week to the Windsor Capital Group, Inc “2013 Revenue Triangle Conferece,”  then onto Napa (someone has to do it) for the Vesta Hospitality Annual General Manager and Director of Sales Conference.  I will be on the prowl for best practices for work orders and facility management and will report back to you what is trending and how the best operators are really ”handling it.”  Stay tuned.

What are you doing to stay on track this spring?  Let me know.

Tiffany is loading up the truck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Guest Requests: What’s in Your Service Recovery Toolkit?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Bill

 

 

Kicking off my on-the-road Interview Series with hotel ServicePro customers is Tony Gravley, Chief Engineer of Comfort Inn Gunston Corner, Lorton, VA. “We were the first PM Hospitality property to use hotel ServicePro mobile and we love it,” Tony reports. “I use hotel ServicePro for everything, but my morning wake-up call.”

I was wowed this month at the PM Hospitality Strategies, Inc. annual conference for executive housekeepers and chief engineers in Dulles, Virginia.  PM Hospitality used hotel ServicePro’s Guest Requests software to record 27,000 guest requests in 2011! hotel ServicePro calculated the top requests for the company’s entire portfolio, as well as for each property. Can you guess what ranked number one?

Everyone in the conference room knew the answer before I even shared my analysis. They had all been running hotel ServicePro reports for themselves.

The top two guest requests across the PM Hospitality portfolio were:

  • malfunctioning television remote controls and
  • HVAC systems.

The buzz at the conference was how to boost profitability in 2013. One answer is to minimize guest requests by using hotel ServicePro to spot and reverse trends. For example, room attendants can regularly test TV remotes and the HVAC systems to reduce service calls.

PM Hospitality also set a goal to reduce housekeeping costs. Did you know that saving one minute per room attendant per day, can save as much as $50,000/day across an entire company? (Total savings vary with the size of your company, of course.) One PM Hospitality property is already using hotel ServicePro to address its number one housekeeping guest request—extra towels. Filling that request takes a room attendant at least two minutes, often longer.  Routinely placing an extra towel in each room will save those minutes and move the company one step closer to the five-figure savings.

Use hotel ServicePro to identify trending guest requests—such as malfunctioning TV remotes. Set a schedule for regular battery replacement to save time and money, and spell guest satisfaction.

Once hotel ServicePro records a guest request, it creates and automatically tracks a service recovery call. The courtesy callback reminder prompts managers to ensure that problems get resolved to guests’ satisfaction.

In my opinion, graciously resolving a guest request takes three essential steps:

  1. Acknowledge the issue. Don’t make an excuse. Say “thank you for letting us know.”
  2. Apologize.
  3. Offer a guest recovery amenity as a thank you for the feedback.

The amenity doesn’t have to be expensive. When I was a general manager, I made handwritten thank you notes ahead of time. If I wasn’t on the property, someone could put a note in the guest room with my business card and cell phone number. I got very few calls, but the sentiment takes down the barrier between guests and management.

Service recovery at its most gracious: a handwritten thank-you note for a guest request. hotel ServicePro sends automatic callback reminders to check that incidents have been resolved to guests’ satisfaction.

As a GM, I also carried Starbucks gift cards in my pocket. It was my way of saying, “My apologies for your inconvenience. Let me buy you a cup of coffee on the way out of town.” I spent $5 on the card, but saved a $120 refund on an entire night’s stay.

Every front desk needs a service recovery arsenal. What’s in your toolkit?

Let me know, and look for me on the road next month when I’ll be talking to you about how to use hotel ServicePro Work Orders to make operations more profitable and efficient.

I look forward to spring (and of course pool season!), and I hope to see you soon.

Bill

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POTUS Flyby at hotel SystemsPro North American Headquarters

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Bill

POTUS

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A Fresh Start for 2013: It’s resolution season

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Bill
Create sunny skies for guests. North Central Group boosts operating efficiency, guest service scores for 26 properties.
“We reviewed property operations at all our hotels and found we had too many paper checklists for operations and equipment; we knew we could be more efficient.  Our goal was to use mobile technology to eliminate paperwork as much as possible and establish real-time company-wide communications for faster response to guest requests. We also saw great value in automating processes for equipment maintenance and safety checklists.”
 - David Coe, facilities and purchasing manager, The North Central Group

Most people make January resolutions for a bright, promising year. In the hotel business, we have to start fresh every single day to deliver on our promise—an exceptional guest experience. My New Year’s resolution is to bring you better ways to use hotel ServicePro hotel facility management software to run your properties smoothly and profitably. I have an idea about how to do this.

Starting next month, I’ll be on the road talking with you, our invaluable clients, to hear your stories.  How do you use hotel ServicePro to improve your operations? Each month I’ll feature your comments and one of our software’s nine components, starting with hotel Guest Requests and continuing with hotel Work Orders, Inspections, Hotel Facility Management, Preventive Maintenance, Property Improvement Plan, Asset Management, Capital Expenditure, and Technology. Do you have a favorite component?  Let me know.

My goal is to help you deliver on your daily focus of a superior guest stay. As one client put it, “We don’t have to spend time each morning making checklists and tracking To Do lists—hotel ServicePro does it for us. That gives us more time to spend training and talking to team members.”

“I’ve used several types of these programs over the years, but this one is a total package. We have been able to cut our response time for our guest needs in half, which is a very important part of keeping them happy and coming back. It is so easy to use, and the reports help us spot trends before they become big problems for our guests. It’s become a total communication tool for our staff, and we have been able to do away with the paper service call tickets all together.”
-Jeff French, Chief Engineer, Holiday Inn & Suites Des Moines Northwest

Meanwhile, it’s tax season and I’ve got a cost-saving tip.

January finds us really busy in the office and growing as we bring on new properties. We all experience the halo effect of our industry doing better.  January also means tax season is around the corner. Owners know that payroll is a property’s biggest expense. Did you know the housekeeping department is the biggest item on payroll? Sometimes we think of housekeepers as “behind the scenes,” but they’re one of your most valuable guest-facing assets. General Managers may not see guests all the time—housekeepers are the ones talking with them. One key to your profitability is to handle payroll efficiently.

hotel ServicePro helps maintain tradition by boosting guest satisfaction 5% in 3 months. “We set up a six-month evaluation at three properties to see how well hotel ServicePro’s web-based platform operates.  We chose one select service hotel, one boutique, and a branded conventional hotel.  Our guest satisfaction scores improved five percent in the first three months of the hotel ServicePro trial.  In fact, the system performed so well, we are rolling it out to our remaining 16 properties.”
Wayne West, Vice President of Hotel Performance, Lane Hospitality, a division of Lane Industries

Did you know that the government’s fiscal cliff agreement (the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012) has a silver lining for the hospitality industry? Congress extended the Work Opportunity Tax Credit through 2013 and retroactively covered 2012. This means that hoteliers who hire disadvantaged workers, youth, veterans, and other at-risk individuals can claim a tax credit equal to 40% of the first year of wages up to $6,000. I worked with a hotel that staffed its laundry room with challenged team members and they were awesome. They worked hard and did things absolutely perfectly. It was win-win for the team and the property.

The new law also renews bonus depreciation, which allows properties to immediately take deductions on capital equipment rather than depreciating it over time.

I am no accountant so if you have questions, contact your CPA!  However, if you have any questions about your favorite hotel ServicePro’s component or want to share an anecdote about how the software improves your operations, please contact me.

Happy number crunching,

Bill

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS from hotel SystemsPro!

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Bill
Happy Holidays!

hotel SystemsPro

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Make a Good First Impression with Holiday Guests

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Bill

A splendid ocean view from the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Doheny Beach – Dana Point. The Double Tree is minutes from all the town has to offer, including surfing, sport fishing, golfing, and in winter months, whale watching.

When I got back from BITAC earlier this month, I felt like I had been on vacation. Traveling in a holiday month is usually hectic, but this was a smooth trip. I hopped on Atlanta’s transit system across the street from where I live, and got to the airport security gate in less than 30 minutes. Then I breezed through security for a no-hassle flight, and caught a taxi to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California, right on the ocean.

It rained the whole time, but we were busy at BITAC, with not one free minute to go outside. Besides, when you’re at a Five Diamond Mobil Four Star like the St. Regis, it doesn’t really matter if it’s raining. The hotel was beautifully decorated for the holidays, but what really struck me was the level of guest service and how fast it occurred. Example:  I couldn’t lock my patio door. Someone was there to fix it in two minutes.

Christmas California Style: The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort welcomed the season by replacing its lobby fountain with seven tons of sand sculpted into a holiday tree featuring St. Nick himself.

BITAC was well worth our time. The fun part was that we not only got to solicit new business, we connected with eight of our existing clients among the management companies who were recruiting hotels for their portfolios. Owners were asking us about  coordinating guest requests and timing them. This surprised me because while owners “get” asset protection, they often do not understand the importance of guest requests and how to make them happen fast. hotel ServicePro tracks every request and response time.

First impressions count. On my last trip, I was glued to the election returns and the television in my hotel room didn’t work. It took 30 minutes for someone to get to the room, and he could not fix the TV. I ended up having to switch rooms. It set the tone for the rest of my stay.

Did you know that you can cut 50% of your administrative time on guest requests using hotel ServicePro Guest Request software?

Our MOD (manager on duty) feature is your safety net for speedy service.
hotel ServicePro tracks every request and response time. The front desk dispatches a request to a team member’s mobile device. There is no radio chatter to disturb the hotel’s ambiance. Our MOD (manager on duty) feature is your safety net for speedy service. If a request goes unfulfilled, our system dispatches it again at the time interval of your choice, and copies the MOD. You can call up an end-of-month record of your average response time. If it’s taking you 30 minutes to deliver towels, you’ve got a problem.

hotel ServicePro’s MOD (manager on duty) feature is compatible with hand held devices to ensure speedy service.

It’s almost a new year. In many properties, it is slower during the last two weeks of December. This is the best time to get trained on and practice hotel ServicePro.  You can install it, train on it, and hit the ground running in January.

Contact me if you want to install hotel ServicePro, save time with guest service requests, and make a good first impression.  Happy holidays to you!

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Count Your Blessings: Mobile Boosts Guest Scores; Spots Maintenance Trends

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Bill

The scenic golf course at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orlando – Orange Lake Resort provided a relaxing, collegial pre-convention atmosphere for IHG owners.

Orlando, Fla., is a big hotel town. Did you know that Orlando has the second highest number of hotel rooms (more than 144,000) in the United States, second only to Las Vegas?  It’s so competitive that my cab driver at the IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference had a convention schedule in her car and knew how many people were coming in each week. She had even forecast when she would be least busy so she could schedule a fishing trip with her grandchildren.

Before the conference started, hotel SystemsPro hosted the fifth hole at the IHG owner’s golf tournament at the scenic Orange Lake Resort.  I talked to hotel owners and operators as they played  through the course.  They wanted to know about our products, but they were also just having fun. The weather was very nice—68 degrees, sunny, no humidity—and we were outside all day. I sat on the golf course thinking, “I’m actually getting paid to do this.

hotel ServicePro’s booth saw heavy traffic from friends and prospects at its prime spot
on the IHG trade show floor.

The feeling carried over to the trade show as I talked to prospects and clients at our booth. The economy is better, hotel revenues are up, and everyone seemed to be taking a vacation from their hotels and day-to-day life. We had a large number of clients who stopped by just to say “hello” and “thank you.”

Did you know, the median age of the world’s population is 24.3? The median age of the US Hospitality worker is 29 years old?

Mobile technology continues to gain momentum as an important tool for hotel industry profitability.   Mobile is how the younger people in our workforce communicate. It’s easier for them to pull out a smart phone and create a work order than it is to write it down.

hotel ServicePro delivers double-barreled benefits on mobile devices.

Benefit #1: Boosting guest service scores to capture repeat business. Repeat business is a benefit of excellent guest service.  The more aggressive a property is with guest services, the better it performs. It’s more profitable to have a return guest than it is to have to find new guest.

When a team member greets a guest in the hallway with, “How is everything with your stay?” the guest may respond, “We need extra towels.” The staff person can pull a phone out of their pocket and enter the request on hotel ServicePro with three clicks—room number, guest request type, and team member assignment.

If I’m a manager walking a property, I can take a picture of broken equipment and attach it to a work order. I don’t have to remember to write it down. When my team member receives that work order, he knows exactly what I’m talking about. There’s no guess work.

Coco Key Water Resort Orlando boasts 14 slides, 4 pools, interactive play island,
and guest rooms in nine buildings.

Benefit #2: Spotting maintenance trends before they become major issues.  With hotel ServicePro, management can run a report at the end of the month and see that maintenance fixed the lock in room 104 five times last month. Does it need to be cleaned and reprogrammed or do you need to buy a new lock?   Resolving maintenance trends maximizes the guest experience and minimizes your costs.

As the holiday season unfolds, I’m grateful for my job and the experiences I’ve had in 2012.  What are you thankful for?

If you want more information on how hotel ServicePro can make your return guests merrier, please contact me.

Here’s to happy holidays.

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Mining for Gold: Capital Asset Planning

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Bill

A beautiful fall day in Lancaster County, Pa.—the perfect spot for an unexpected mini vacation.

I’ve just come off one of the best weeks in a long time.

My first stop was Lancaster, Pa., for the annual conference of High Hotels’ chief engineers and executive housekeepers. Our meeting was held downtown at the Hamilton Club, Lancaster’s oldest private club. The property is very well maintained and full of history.

On my way to the meeting I got lost when my GPS would not work, and ended up in the middle of Amish country.  At first, I was frustrated, but it turned out to be a great experience. It was like a mini vacation. I decided to just slow down and look around. The leaves were changing and I spotted an Amish horse and buggy. As I passed by farms and little towns, it seemed like everyone was along the side of the road selling everything they had grown—apples and pumpkins along with pies and cakes. I stopped for directions in Quarryville. It was such a small community, with antique stores and old houses.

A $20 million renovation in 2001 carefully preserved much of The Hay-Adams’ historical details, including Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders and Elizabethan and Tudor ceiling motifs.

The next day I traveled from the quiet country to the bustle of the Capitol Beltway and Washington, D.C. for a meeting at the Hay-Adams Hotel.   Did you know you can stand in your room and look out on the White House across the street and the Washington Monument? I took a tour of the property—it is absolutely beautiful. The Hay and the Hamilton reminded me that well-maintained, older properties are as elegant as a brand new luxury high rise. Day three of my trip was a short jump around the Beltway to a training class for the B.F. Saul team in Germantown, MD.

The buzz both inside and outside the Beltway was all about budget season. I talked with over 40 executive housekeepers and chief engineers that week. Properties have delayed maintenance for the last three years. Did you know owners and regional managers are being asked to approve a lot of expenses?

Chief engineers brainstorm pool maintenance solutions at the historic Hamilton Club.

Did you know that there is hidden treasure in your budget numbers? Hopefully you have been using the capital asset tracking feature on hotel ServicePro’s hotel maintenance software to capture preventive maintenance expenses.  If so, an engineer can pull these reports and make a case to the owner based on the 50% rule: “I have spent more than 50% of what it would cost to replace this asset.  It is smarter to buy a new unit.” Here’s the bonus: when owners replace worn out assets, the new models are more efficient.

Who knew?  Set indoor pool air handler 2 degrees higher than water temperature.
Did you know an indoor pool air handler, must be set 2 degrees higher than the water temperature in the pool? If it is not, then you are going to waste thousands of dollars worth of electricity evaporating pool water. hotel ServicePro maintenance software can track the temperature reading. If it falls outside the acceptable range, the system alerts the general manager or chief engineer that there is a major mechanical failure. Talk about cost savings.

People are starting to catch up with their capital asset purchases. Do you have the backup data for your 2013 capital asset requests? If not, now’s the time to start on 2014. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how I can help.

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Housekeeping Department Essentials: Vacuum Cleaners, Mops…iPads?!

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Bill

IHG’s nighttime cruise gave us a sparkling view of Chicago’s famed skyline.

I shifted from summer into fall travel this year by visiting one of my favorite cities–Chicago. There’s great energy (not to mention food) every time I go! The weather was wonderful for early fall. We attended an IHG Owners Conference and stayed at the Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza.

The hotel is older but it was in immaculate condition; very clean, with the fresh new look that Holiday Inns have. The makeover includes crisp white lines, foam pillows and feather pillows as well as brand name bathroom amenities. Everything was just as it should be because the housekeepers did their job and inspections that day before we checked in.

Did you know that the top two factors for guest satisfaction are room cleanliness and an efficient, welcoming staff? That’s according to J.D. Power and Associates. When you walk in a room and it smells fresh and looks organized, the immediate perception is, “This is a great room!” Our industry recognized the people who make this possible during International Housekeepers Week, September 9-15.

One night the conference attendees went on a cruise on the Chicago River, which winds through downtown. The guide pointed out architectural highlights, including our hotel, which sits on top of the Chicago Sun-Times building.

The Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza sits on top of the Chicago Sun-Times building.

The mood on the cruise was upbeat and positive. The 100+ owners and regional managers were talking about how busy their hotels were this summer, and about what great RevPAR they were running. Smith Travel Research says more rooms were sold in July 2012 than any other single month since STR began tracking data in 1987. Managers need to use their time more efficiently, and a lot of attendees were talking about hotel SalesPro and hotel ServicePro and how they help streamline operations.

Did you know that more payroll dollars go to housekeeping than any other department? hotel ServicePro can help your staff stay on schedule with recurring tasks such as shampooing carpets quarterly, or changing out shower liners once a month. hotel ServicePro schedules tasks automatically for team members, so each morning they get a list of tasks to maintain their schedules. Regional Managers and Directors can run reports from remote locations to monitor the progress.

Surveys reveal that having the proper tools is key to a hotel staffs’ job satisfaction.

Housekeepers’ favorite hotel ServicePro feature is creating hotel work orders. When the staff notices that a towel rack is loose, they can enter the work order in hotel ServicePro. It is time stamped, dated and automatically distributed. hotel ServicePro reports help managers and owners spend resources wisely in all areas of operations by keeping facilities clean and fresh!

What’s been your biggest resource challenge now that your occupancy is growing? Let me know.

Happy Fall!

Bill

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