Hospitality does not mean being vague

[happykeeper]

I think this is an area where many innkeepers can't see the forest for the trees. We think we have a firm rudder but are too close to the situation.
It could be invaluable to be able to have an outside source evaluate and critique. This is where having innmates or other industry professionals come to stay with you and getting their honest feedback of the whole process would be great. From making the reservation to check-out..

Thanks for capturing the essence of what I was getting at.
If I have a continuous stream of guests that behave in ways I dislike, one of the first questions to ask is, "who's driving the train?" They're the guest, which means they have little or limited knowledge of what they are supposed to do as your guest. Do I really want them driving? If the answer is no, then the next question might be, " Am I doing enough to keep the train on the right track?"
This isn't just about guest interaction. It's about helping our guests' be our very best guests ever.
If you read that and say, "I am helping our guests be the best ever" and yet they are not, .........perhaps it's time to follow the above advice.
We had our inn evaluated by industry professionals and we learned from it. It takes time, but we are making some changes that are driven by that insight.
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We had our inn evaluated by industry professionals and we learned from it. It takes time, but we are making some changes that are driven by that insight.

When you have this done, it's pretty difficult for the innkeeper to keep their ego & emotions from taking over. We all think we know our business better than anyone else would. Often, it takes another's eye to see what the solutions are.
I've often thought that there could be a niche for me in this area when I 'retire'. I think it's needed in this industry. BUT...I've done some consulting in the past and have found that most owners/innkeepers aren't really willing to change their behaviors which have ultimately caused the problems to begin with.
.

I've often thought that there could be a niche for me in this area when I 'retire'. I think it's needed in this industry. BUT...I've done some consulting in the past and have found that most owners/innkeepers aren't really willing to change their behaviors which have ultimately caused the problems to begin with.

I've made good use of what I've read here. Changed up things that weren't working. Still, the occasional guest comes along who throws a spanner in the works. For me. DH rolls with the punches. "It is what it is" is one of his mantras. I've let go of a lot of guest crap that used to bother me. Now, I'm down to petty stuff. That will be gone soon as well.
We were just discussing a guest we couldn't please. They were slumming when they came here, they should have been at the posh hotel but they waited too long to make a rez. Very unhappy with everything. They demanded their money back or that we let them stay for free another time to 'prove you know how to run a business properly.' No contest. Refund on the way. It stunk to refund them but it was far better to have them and their bad aura gone.
I know there are places you can go where it is the management's belief that EVERY guest can be catered to with the right attitude. That the employees are to find out what it is that makes the guest tick and glom onto that. Easier when you actually go home at the end of the day and it's not the same person dealing with the problem child at 7 AM as 11 PM.
The big change ahead for me is to accept that it's not personal.
We get to chat with a bunch of innkeepers in town who get the same kind of guests we do. Everyone gets the same annoying guests and the same wonderful guests and we all do things differently. Laid back innkeepers have the same issues as the uptight ones do.
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Okay Maddie here's a chance to not take it personal, because it isn't about you, it's about your business.
A business that subscribes to the idea that every business in their business has the same problem as they do is missing the opportunity to find real solutions that will improve their business.
When I read the above post, I see a business that needs to find a core set of practices to guide them. Rules, established practices that remain firm, and a product with a value point that the operators can faithfully and confidently stand behind.
A business that subscribes to the idea that their customer is at fault is a business that is not getting the help they need to see their business through the eyes of their customer.
Is that an easy thing to do? Absolutely not. Is it essential for a business to be healthy. Absolutely.
.

Okay Maddie here's a chance to not take it personal, because it isn't about you, it's about your business.
A business that subscribes to the idea that every business in their business has the same problem as they do is missing the opportunity to find real solutions that will improve their business.
When I read the above post, I see a business that needs to find a core set of practices to guide them. Rules, established practices that remain firm, and a product with a value point that the operators can faithfully and confidently stand behind.
A business that subscribes to the idea that their customer is at fault is a business that is not getting the help they need to see their business through the eyes of their customer.
Is that an easy thing to do? Absolutely not. Is it essential for a business to be healthy. Absolutely.

Yeah, but sometimes the customer IS at fault. Not really fair to say that this customer who demanded a free stay is somehow something that could be fixed. One like that came to us and we couldn't run the refund fast enough. She didn't belong in our house and our house wasn't what she wanted. Fine. Not my fault and not something I could ever fix.
.

We all get stinkers- and you can't make lemonade with sh t. Agreed.
But that's not what we are talking about here. We aren't talking about an outlier that is quickly forgotten. We are talking about a long term pervasive pattern of a business that, from the posts in this forum, has an unending string of problems.
In my opinion, this is a business that needs professional guidance of some kind to get healthy.

 

[CafeMae]

I think this is an area where many innkeepers can't see the forest for the trees. We think we have a firm rudder but are too close to the situation.
It could be invaluable to be able to have an outside source evaluate and critique. This is where having innmates or other industry professionals come to stay with you and getting their honest feedback of the whole process would be great. From making the reservation to check-out..

Thanks for capturing the essence of what I was getting at.
If I have a continuous stream of guests that behave in ways I dislike, one of the first questions to ask is, "who's driving the train?" They're the guest, which means they have little or limited knowledge of what they are supposed to do as your guest. Do I really want them driving? If the answer is no, then the next question might be, " Am I doing enough to keep the train on the right track?"
This isn't just about guest interaction. It's about helping our guests' be our very best guests ever.
If you read that and say, "I am helping our guests be the best ever" and yet they are not, .........perhaps it's time to follow the above advice.
We had our inn evaluated by industry professionals and we learned from it. It takes time, but we are making some changes that are driven by that insight.
.

We had our inn evaluated by industry professionals and we learned from it. It takes time, but we are making some changes that are driven by that insight.

When you have this done, it's pretty difficult for the innkeeper to keep their ego & emotions from taking over. We all think we know our business better than anyone else would. Often, it takes another's eye to see what the solutions are.
I've often thought that there could be a niche for me in this area when I 'retire'. I think it's needed in this industry. BUT...I've done some consulting in the past and have found that most owners/innkeepers aren't really willing to change their behaviors which have ultimately caused the problems to begin with.
.

Here's an example...got a call late last night, guest wanted to ask a 'few questions' before making a rez. With the crazy morning we didn't get to call her back until 2 PM. I heard DH explain several times which rooms would be best given her criteria. I could tell she didn't want any of those rooms she wanted the room she wanted and she wanted us to make sure it would suit what her needs were. She didn't book.
We tried to steer her toward the rooms where she would get what she wanted - no noise. No other guests too close. No, she wanted streetside rooms because those were the ones she liked the pictures of.
Her online rez just came in. Streetside room. Noisy. Exactly the room DH said wouldn't work. 4 other rooms all around this one. Plus traffic.
.

Well, hey, on the plus side, you must have some pretty great pics online of the "noisy" room - to make it sell like that - considering you all told her the worst about it.