T'is the season for brand conferences. I just returned from a number of them and one of the consistent messages across all was the criticality of achieving higher levels of guest satisfaction:

 

• Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group (at the Hilton Worldwide Conference) spoke of the passion his organization has for innovation and guest experience  
• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com (at the IHG Conference) spoke of building and living a passionate culture which drives customer satisfaction, the elemental characteristic of his organization.

 

These defining values have made the two organizations iconic brands for both guests and industry, experiencing spectacular growth despite economic challenges. These were inspiring presentations that spoke of what we all know - a guest-centric focus in business translates to higher bottom lines: we know that - and these very special individuals have transformed large organizations by inspiring and infusing their teams with this ethos.

 

But ....... How do we, at the property level, achieve some measure of this success? Certainly, there are stories galore that speak of the many hotels who have made guest service the raison d'etre for their business and have the results to show for it; what about the large proportion who struggle with challenges, at many levels, to drive satisfaction scores higher?

What are some manageable areas of focus that could lead to more immediate results?

 

Read on: below are results of a survey that highlight some of the most frequent reasons for dis-satisfaction - and, yes, they are entirely controllable. Whilst your particular property's satisfaction scores may tell you a more accurate picture of where you should focus, these are likely to be high on that list. Parse your scores, look at where the lowest scores are, as compared to the brand average - concentrate on shoring up the worst areas and you'll see more immediate results. Surely you have to target all the areas that are underperforming but, by targeting the biggest culprits, you'll see quickest results.

 

The above simple separation will show you that you are, likely, significantly higher in one category vs the other. Within that, you'll probably notice specific attributes which show large discrepancy. Those discrepancies point to either a staff member issue or a process issue which, if resolved, will likely drive scores higher quickly.

• If your weekday scores are significantly higher on weekdays vs weekends, ask if staffing schedules consistently show certain associates on weekends. Could that be the issue? Or is it a process shortcoming that is consistently triggering a flawed result? Perhaps training will address that (low wake-up call scores, poor check in or check out scores are simple examples of this). Tackle these and watch your scores climb quickly: of course, then comes the task of reviewing the overall experience and addressing each area more comprehensively.

 

Below are some of the key areas of guest complaint, per the article:

• Noise - we all have this challenge. With the reality of weekend sports teams, weddings, etc., noise is a constant challenge. How do you respond? Consider a weekend party policy for all check-ins over Friday and Saturday, asking your housemen to walk the corridors at regular intervals over the weekend, etc. Simple responses with immediate results.
• Check in - is your staffing schedule set based on expected volume of check ins AND check outs? Or are they set a certain way because that's convenient - or due to staff limitations? Consider cross training for another staff member to manage some simple functions during peak periods - answering phones, guest requests, etc. Or consider overtime for a current team member at the desk - the cost is minimal and low compared to the option of more staff. Many of these stress points are short spikes that can be readily managed and will significantly impact the quality of guest interaction.
• Maintenance and cleanliness - if you have significant variances in scores from weekday vs weekends, it may well be a staff issue or response process. Again, a targeted response to address known and defined areas of guest concern is more manageable for quick results.

 

 

Of course, the goal is to address every area of low performance - a focuses approach that shores up your weakest areas is the way to continually drive up scores, from the bottom up, with the same result as driving your high scores even higher.

As always, good luck!

04 October 2010 8:23 AM
By Stuart Greif
HotelNewsNow.com columnist

 

J.D. Power and Associates recently released its 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study that is based on more than 53,000 guests who stayed in a hotel between May 2009 and June 2010. I am sharing insights on select topics from the study. This article focuses on guest problems.

J.D. Power and Associates continues to observe that high levels of customer satisfaction are dependent on problem prevention, rather than problem resolution. That is not to say that service recovery is not required when a guest experiences a significant problem; however, it is more difficult to achieve the satisfaction level of those guests who don't experience a problem in the first place, than for guests who experience problems that are eventually resolved.

 

The chart below illustrates the differences in satisfaction between guests who did and did not experience a significant problem during their stay. The scores are based on a 1,000-point scale and reflect the industry average across hotel segments based on the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study.

Across the industry, overall satisfaction is 144 points higher when guests did not experience a significant problem (781), compared with when they did (637). While there is a significant gap in satisfaction among the guests for whom the problem was resolved (705), compared with those for whom the problem remained unresolved (582), satisfaction still falls significantly below that of guests who did not experience a problem in the first place.  

 

While it is possible to so impress and exceed a guest's expectations during recovery that they are more satisfied after recovery than if they never had a problem, these are rare occurrences.  We certainly would not advocate creating false problems in order to heroically swoop in and solve the problems for guests as a business model, but it does reinforce the important opportunity recovery represents. It makes a statement to guests about your brand and how you value their business.

You might wonder, what are the most frequently occurring problems that guests cite?

Across the industry, the top three problems guests cited are:

1. Noise
2. Hotel/room maintenance
3. Heating ventilation and AC problems

The chart below summarizes the top three by segment.  The top three problems cited in the economy/budget segment, for example, are:  room cleanliness (28%), room smell (28%), and hotel/room maintenance (27%).

 
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Stuart Greif is VP and general manager of the global travel and hospitality practice for J.D. Power and Associates.

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HotelNewsNow.com or its parent company, Smith Travel Research and its affiliated companies. Columnists published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.

 

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