Tech Trends to Keep an Eye on in 2016

Remember when free Wi-Fi was considered cutting-edge? Now, of course, most hotel guests expect it-if not in their room, then certainly in the common areas of the property. Hotel technology is evolving rapidly. Digital solutions are becoming the norm for solving common pain points in accommodation management. In particular, mobile technology and cloud-based software services are revolutionizing both the guest experience and the job of the hotelier. That will continue to be true in 2016. The year ahead promises to bring more developments in mobile and digital solutions for hospitality, as well as continued emphasis on the direct channel.

Self-Service Kiosks

These days, plenty of travelers are willing to trade old-fashioned customer service for efficiency, especially if they can get things done with their mobile device. In fact, they may even prefer it. Younger travelers, in particular, are accustomed to mobile transactions, from banking to shopping. And the hospitality industry is taking notice. Self-service solutions and mobile technology are changing the way we think about customer service, the front desk, and the nature of check-in and check-out.

The hotel self-service kiosk is a natural extension of the airport version that most of us have used. Many tech-savvy hotels have embraced this technology, and others are following suit in greater numbers. As one example, take Yotel, which is known as one of the world’s most high-tech hotel brands according to CNN and others. (Their New York location has a resident robot that stores luggage!) Self-service technology plays a big part in their lobbies-and their brand. By all accounts, it’s been very successful. Their data suggests that 85% of their guests prefer their airport-style kiosks to the traditional check-in experience.

Mobile Check-In

Along with self-service innovations, something smaller and more powerful than a kiosk is helping drive changes to the front desk: the smartphone. More and more travelers rely on their mobile devices for customer service. Many favor this type of quick, faceless interaction for its convenience. Hoteliers, for their part, like the way that such technology simplifies their jobs and reduces costs.

Accor, the hotel chain with brands from Sofitel to Ibis, recently implemented mobile check in at 60 of its properties. Guests check in online or via their mobile app, and receive a welcome text when their room and key are available. When travelers arrive, they are greeted by staff who hand them a key and answer questions. There’s no paperwork and in some cases, no front desk.

Another major brand that has embraced this is Marriott, which has long offered its own mobile app that is packed with a number of features, including the ability to check-in. Indeed, Marriott now offers mobile check-in at all 500 of its hotels globally. Upon arrival, guests using their property-specific app will find their key card at a designated mobile check-in desk.

In a clever twist, Marriott reserves this service for loyalty program members. Marriott’s approach is similar to the one that Starwood has taken with their high-end Aloft brand. In their case, Preferred Guests receive a special card in advance of arrival, which serves as their room key after they check in on mobile.

The Property App

Check-in and check-out are just the beginning. Mobile apps for hotels can allow travelers to add services, make changes to their reservation, and much more. Does your guest want to store her luggage after check-out? Is he planning to stay an extra night? Does she need a cot added to the room? In each case, with a mobile app for the property, the guest can use a smartphone or tablet to make the request. This saves time and hassle for staff and guests alike.

I expect that property-level apps will continue to add functionality and variety in 2016. They will streamline guest communication by allowing hoteliers the ability to send an automatic welcome text, for example, or collect customer feedback.

For properties without the resources or the desire to develop their own mobile app, many third-party options exist. Such options often have a variety of communication functions built in, and allow properties to implement mobile services under their own brand. These third-party apps are likely to grow in popularity, especially for smaller, boutique, and independent properties.

Virtual Concierge

Virtual concierge services are part of this larger trend. Such services or apps offer many of the features mentioned above, such as being able to make or change room reservations. A virtual concierge service, in most cases, also allows guests to search destination information, get itinerary and dining recommendations, and request services such as linens, room service, additional amenities, and more.

Two properties that have embraced the virtual concierge idea are the James hotels in Chicago and New York. Their accommodation-level mobile apps include many of the features mentioned above, and allow guests to automatically receive information about the hotel on their phones. Their apps also give guests the option to communicate with staff about the local area, as they would with a traditional concierge.

Besides convenience, one of the real advantages of a virtual concierge for the hotelier is that the guest can access the technology before they even start their trip. Guests can get simple questions answered without having to make a phone call, and otherwise use their smartphones for basic requests and information gathering. In that sense, this technology doesn’t replace an on-site concierge. Rather, it allows the hotel’s staff to have longer, more in-depth conversations with guests once they’ve checked in. It reduces some of their busywork and could actually improve the quality of their interaction with guests.

Personalized Control

The explosion in mobile technology for the hospitality sector is also giving rise to a personalization trend. Imagine a guest being able to adjust the lighting or temperature in their room, all from their phone. This sort of personalized control is the wave of the future. citizenM hotels come equipped with a “MoonPad” that allows travelers to personalize their surroundings. The Peninsula group includes tablets in their rooms that allow guests to change room temperature, request room service and housekeeping, watch TV, check flight information, turn on lighting, set curtains to open and close, and more.

Other high-end hotels are jumping on this bandwagon. In the future, hotels may not need to install additional hardware like tablets at all. The LINQ Hotel in Las Vegas, run by Caesars Entertainment, recently created smart hotel rooms by using the popular messaging app WeChat. In these cutting-edge rooms, visitors can use an app hosted within WeChat to control lighting, temperature, and curtains. They simply need to have WeChat installed on their mobile device, and then they can scan a QR code to get the LINQ app.

Brand.com

An emphasis on the direct channel is a trend that’s been around for a while, and it’s only gaining more traction throughout the hospitality industry. For every property, from a small guesthouse to a large resort, having a direct website is becoming the standard. We will see more sophisticated, mobile-optimized websites in 2016, as properties strive to capture more direct bookings and maximize their online brand.

Increasingly, travelers are aware of the benefits of booking directly, too. Some hotels are encouraging them to make this choice through advertising and other methods. Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) notes that many properties are exploring new strategies for driving direct bookings. Some examples include offering free amenities (e.g., Wi-Fi or keyless entry, as mentioned above) to guests who book directly. Others include the use of targeted promotions and best price guarantees for guests who use the direct channel to make a reservation.

It’s not just about capturing direct bookings, however. Research shows that modern travel shoppers include visits to a direct website as part of their purchasing journey, regardless of where they eventually end up booking. The website is becoming the face of the brand, no matter the size of the business. With this direct channel, properties can tell their unique story, show off amenities, feature promotions, and find other ways to stand out in their market.

In general, technology for the hospitality sector is becoming easier to understand, quicker to implement, and more commonplace. As functionality and usability improve, we will see widespread adoption in 2016 and beyond, even for those properties that don’t utilize many software solutions yet.

Also, it’s likely that as hotel management technology evolves, it will become increasingly important for maximizing revenue. We imagine that the digital tools of the future will become the basis for much of the decision-making for properties large and small.

In sum, the hospitality technology sector is changing rapidly. 2016 will see the expansion of trends like self-service, mobile check-in, property-specific apps, direct websites, and more. Why? Beyond the bells and whistles, such technology offers something vital to everyone in the industry. It enables hoteliers and their staff to spend less time on paperwork and time-consuming tasks. Therefore, accommodation providers will be able to focus on what they love: creating an unforgettable experience for their guests.

Directing Customer Feedback

Hotels are doing a much better job than ever before in soliciting customer feedback. Many now have comment cards in the rooms, and sometimes also at the front desk and in the restaurants. Some e-mail post-stay surveys. The question is, how does your hotel handle it once you get the feedback? Do you have a systematic process for following up on it, both with your staff and with the guests who provided it? Surprisingly few companies do follow up consistently.

Think through all the ways feedback can come in to your organization and what processes are in place to deal with it. The feedback can be solicited (for example, answering surveys) or unsolicited (e.g. a comment made to a staff member). You need ways to capture and act on both types of feedback.

The most common type of solicited feedback in hotels is the comment card left in a room for the guest to complete. Do you have a way of making the card stand out? Do you offer any kind of incentive or reward for taking the time to complete it? Sometimes the incentive can be as simple as a personal note from the housekeeper saying how much she’d value the guest’s feedback.

Next, what happens when those cards are filled in? Is it obvious to the guests what they are supposed to do with them? Leave them in the room? In that case, are they sealable so that if there’s a complaint about the room staff, the guest won’t feel awkward about leaving it? If housekeeping staff are supposed to collect them, do they know what do with them? Is there any incentive for staff to hand them in? Conversely, if the comments are visible, are staff going to worry that turning in a negative comment card will result in them or their colleagues getting punished? If so, you can bet your bathrobe you won’t see all those comment cards. Whether it is to housekeeping staff or front desk collection boxes that comment forms go, how often are those sources checked? Daily? Weekly? Remember that if there is a customer problem, the sooner you can investigate and get back to the customer the less damage will be done. Ideally, staff should be encouraged to pass on feedback immediately or at least at the end of every shift, and forms should be checked for and responded to daily.

When it comes to comments submitted online via forms, a reply from your organization should be immediate. As soon as a response is submitted electronically there can be an auto-reply thanking them for having taken the time to comment, assuring them that the comments are looked at daily (or however often they really are), and that if they raised any concerns and do not hear back from you within a set period of time (such as 48 hours), here is the email address and phone number of the general manager (or someone else who is quite senior in the organization). This will show them that you are taking their concerns seriously.

For online reviews and social media comments you can set up automated alerts so you will be notified as soon as these appear and you can respond promptly. Make sure someone has specific responsibility for checking and responding. They should have training on how to handle different types of comments, and standards for speed of response. Have different people responsible at different times of day so your organization can be on the ball 24/7. On Twitter people expect a response within minutes. On Facebook they’ll wait a couple of hours before getting impatient. On hotel review websites they don’t necessarily expect an answer, but if you provide one quickly you are likely to impress them and, if their comments were negative, minimize the damage done when others are looking at the site to decide whether or not to book with you.

Not all feedback is written or electronic. Comments made to staff members, and observations by staff members, are also potentially rich sources of feedback. There are a few keys to getting good feedback here. First, you must have a culture where staff are not afraid to discuss problems, even if they personally were the ones who made a mistake. They should have ways of providing feedback confidentially, without fear of reprisals, and with the assurance that if the comments were about someone else-even a superior — they will be investigated and acted upon.

While a confidential process must be an option for some types of issues, genuine mistakes should be seen as positive learning opportunities for everybody. You could even have a “mistake of the week” meeting, where staff are rewarded for bringing up issues that they’ve been struggling with. The group can then share ideas for how they’ve dealt with similar issues, or brainstorm together on how processes could be changed to handle such situations better in future. Your front line staff are a huge source of ideas for improvement, but you won’t hear their ideas if they feel that they can never admit to being less than perfect.

All these sources of feedback, be they on paper, online, or in person, need to be gathered together and analyzed regularly. Depending on the size of your facility that might be daily, weekly or monthly. Look for trends. Are there certain types of issues that come up over and over again? Are there links to a particular staff member (whose work might be getting either criticized or praised frequently)? If the former, how can you investigate to find out why the problem is occurring or, in the latter case, to recognize them for all the positive feedback?

With any type of problem, try to do a “root cause analysis”. If a staff member comes in late repeatedly, ask them why, in a non-confrontational way. It may be that the day care they have to drop their kids at doesn’t open in time for them to get to work on schedule. Or they have to take a bus that is frequently late. It may be possible to simply adjust the schedule a bit and go from the staff member feeling stressed and fearful, and the boss and co-workers being angry and resentful, to one where everybody is happy. Does it really matter if the shift starts at 8:10 instead of 8:00? Question your default assumptions.

As you move beyond individual situations, if volumes are high enough, try to dig even deeper into the feedback data. Can you determine if there are certain times of day or days of the week when things tend to go wrong? Are there certain areas of the operation that frequently have problems? If you find commonalities in time, location or type of issue, again start asking why. Don’t stop with one “why”. Toyota uses five whys to try get to the true root of a problem.

Let’s say you find many complaints about improper room maintenance. Why were the lightbulbs not changed? Is anyone responsible for checking to see if everything is working? If that person noticed the problem, was it clear who they should tell and who is responsible for fixing it? Maybe it didn’t get fixed because the supplies of light bulbs aren’t adequate. Who is responsible for keeping track of that and reordering at the right time? Maybe they weren’t re-ordered in time because the person responsible for the maintenance budget had been told to trim it by 10% so they decided to gamble and not reorder until the stocks were too low to replenish in time if several bulbs burned out at once. By following the trail of whys you will ultimately come to a solution that can solve the problem and prevent a recurrence rather than simply place blame and slap on a band-aid.

There’s no escaping customer feedback these days, whether you want to hear it or not. If you don’t make it easy and rewarding for customers to talk to you directly, they’ll blast you indirectly in reviews and social media comments. If you don’t have the right environment for staff to give feedback, your guests and profits will suffer due to poor morale. So rather than running from feedback, embrace it and process it well so you, your guests and your staff can all benefit from it.

Ensuring fire safety in your kitchen

Fire, like armed robbery, is something most people have never experienced  – posters, reminders and practice drills can have an unreal air about them. For maximum impact in your fire training  (as with armed-holdup drills), find a staff member who has experienced a fire and ask them to tell others about it. How commonsense goes out the window, and how steady hands and preparation can save the situation. Or not.

Most landlords require a fire policy, and it will have detailed requirements about the proper cleaning of hoods, filters and ductwork. None of this is cheap, but a catastrophe is worse. Fire suppression systems and sprinklers are standard in modern kitchens, but not in older kitchens. If you don’t have them, you need to double down on other control systems like extinguishers and fire blankets. Your insurance company and the fire brigade will also have a raft of good training materials – often long and detailed, covering just about every situation.

Appoint your most pedantic supervisor as the fire safety monitor and trainer. WH&S policies will mandate people for particular roles in the business, so fit the job to the personality. This is the person who won’t accept excuses for shortcuts and ‘do it later’ attitudes – they don’t mind being unpopular around safety issues. They insist that the new apprentice has proper training, even if chef says she can’t be spared.

Many fires are put out quickly, but it’s important to think about else can go wrong…

• The fire blanket will go missing – someone put it in a drawer.
• Fire extinguishers are out of date – they’ve got date labels for a reason!
• Kitchen equipment has been moved into dangerous positions – fryers too close to flames or salamander grills over stoves.
• Power-boards and double adapters turn into a big knot of risky cords, waiting to short-circuit.
• Greasy rags and tea towels are hazardous – if you wash and dry your own kitchen linen, understand that domestic machines can’t get all the grease out. Load them into the dryer and they can easily go up in flames – crazy, but it happens!
• Untrained staff are cooking  – they can make a great sauce, but haven’t been shown the fire drill or evacuation route.
• The super-efficient kitchen hand has very limited English – everyone assumes he can understand safety posters. Does his training need some extra steps?
• The fire door is propped open as an exit – it’s kept closed to avoid drafts that will make fires worse.
• The fire doors can’t be opened – there have been may nightclub tragedies because escape doors are locked from the inside.
• Someone will be forgotten – who’s on the second floor of your building who might be overlooked when everyone clears out?
• Some customers will leave without paying – it’s a pity, but can’t be avoided. Your safe should be fireproof, so hopefully it has most of the takings.

Stay safe and keep everyone conscious that they’re working in a highly-flammable workplace.