For anyone who might like to know a little more about my background and how I got to be known for leading my hotels to the highest guest satisfaction scores in the world, I invite you to check out this interview with David Mililli and Steve Carran on The Modern Hotelier Podcast.
This post gives me a chance to give a more well-thought-out response to David's question on what technology I might recommend to hoteliers (beyond reputation tools) to level up their culture and inspire more five-star reviews.
Please scroll down past the media to see my top three tech products I would recommend!
What Technology would I recommend to hoteliers looking to inspire more five-star reviews?
I have not used all these products personally, but I have researched them and would highly encourage you to investigate. Remember that with any tool, you only get out of it, what you put into it.
#1 - Get Internal Communications Tool
Beekeeper or Nudge both look fantastic to me and both are already supporting many hotels. Communication is the most important investment if you are serious about informing, inspiring, and empowering your team to create a culture of caring, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
In minutes, a leader can record an inspiring video message and have it in the hands of every staff member. What's better, the leadership can listen to the needs and concerns of their team members and find ways to support and alleviate obstacles to their success. This puts knowledge and easy communication in every employee's hands. You can make your mission come alive with good communication, and a good tool will make that process much easier.
#2 - Everyone needs a mixed media training tool
Trainual is a program I had just started to use in 2019, and I really enjoyed it, but there are other options for you to compare. This is to enhance your training, not replace it. These days we are throwing people into their positions without enough time for training because of the labor shortage. An online training system gives everyone a lifeline when human-to-human training is in demand, but trainers are in short supply.
There are potential future GMs, Vice Presidents, CEOs, or Hotel owners on your team today. Are you helping them reach their full potential? It's hard to find time for training, so why not take the time to get the BEST expert in your company at any particular skill to record a video not only showing how to do something but how to be great at it, and why this skill is so important. Inspire them by sharing how their work is essential to the mission and vision of the company.
Team members today want to feel upwardly mobile. Let's help them prepare themselves for the next step. Give them access to learning how the whole operation works together by enhancing your in-person training with inspiring videos, photos, and text that are continuously updated for everyone to access.
#3 Give your Reservations Team an AI Assist
Hotel Res Bot and AskSuite are two companies worth talking to. To enhance our revenue, we need to give quick, warm, personal, and accurate responses to people who want to inquire about reservations. The old way of doing things is too slow and cumbersome for our team members. Tech, specifically ai can relieve team members from the burden of preparing things, so they can focus on delivering the information to waiting for potential customers with warmth and the personal touch our guests deserve.