Hotel Management Tips for Customer Satisfaction

Over the years, the hospitality industry in Uganda has grown vastly and at a rapid rate; with several hotels, motels, hostels and tent cabins being set up in almost every district in the country. You cannot travel through the country and not find a suitable place to rest up; there will always be a hotel or motel around the corner.

The growth of hotel structures in the country does not mean that the quality of hotel services has improved over the years though. Away from the chain hotels whose services are tailor made to represent the brand name, other hotels do not live up to the expectations. How can the hotel management raise the standards of the hotel services to a more befitting one?

Well Trained and Professional Staff

You cannot have quality services provided to your guests if your staff is not professional and well trained to do their job. The biggest complaint most people give while booking a particular recommended hotel online, is usually how the staff do not do their job as expected.

It is best that the staff hired by the hotel owners are those that are qualified enough to do the job and keep the customers coming back.

The Customer is King

That might come off as a corny economics line, but in any service based industry, the customer keeps your business afloat. Therefore, the moment you listen to them and provide the best services necessary for them to feel appreciated in your hotel, you will not lose them. It is very easy to lose guests as easy as it is to have them at your hotel.

Hotel Names

Most Ugandan hotel owners name their hotels after a loved one or their favourite verse in the Holy Book and in some instances after a quote which makes for a rough road when it comes to marketing. Like it or not, so many customers judge a hotel by its name and that might deter your booking capacity especially if your hotel has a name that makes them assume it is one of the roadside sleazy lodges just because of the name you gave it. Give your hotel a unique but good name that can help it stand out and memorable enough for your customers to appreciate.

Invest In The Lodgings

Apart from staying at the hotel because you have to rest up on your journey, the biggest number go to hotels to relax and have a change of environment away from the usual routine of their daily life. No one wants to rest up in a hotel that has messy, creaky beds with dirty floors and no restaurant.

The only way customers will come to your hotel is if the standards of the lodgings are suitable for them. Invest in your hotel; buy the best and affordable beds available; make sure the staff keep the rooms pristine, supply the rooms with everything necessary to keep the customer at home during their stay.

Improvements

Research on ways to improve and make your hotel grow for the best; an example would be if your customers complain about the same thing, find the root cause of the problem and create a solution for it instead of sweeping it under the rag. If you have a competitor who is doing better than you are, do not copy them but look at what makes them more appealing and tailor make that to suite your brand.

Experiment

If you have good and well trained staff, it means they can be accommodating of any good change you bring at the hotel especially at the restaurant. Try as much as you can to play around with your menu and experiment with new things so that your customers never get bored with what you serve.

Extra Facilities

What best way to keep the business alive but by adding facilities that many of your customers enjoy? Facilities such as the gym, spa, bar, restaurant, craft shops, swimming pool and gardens for parties will help the hotel keep busy even when the season for lodgings is lower than expected. Keep well-manicured gardens, a fully equipped and well maintained gym so that the customers always see the beauty in your hotel.

Embrace Marketing

Most hotels in Uganda have recently embraced digital marketing which mostly includes visuals and online on social media sites; this is highly improving their visibility to customers who did not know the hotels’ existence. The best form of marketing you can have is partnering with an online booking site to handle most of your bookings. Online hotel booking sites such as Jumia Travel give your hotel free advertising which includes good images of your hotel, pricing (discounts) and online campaigns tailor-made at showcasing customers what your hotel offers.

Good Working Environment

Happy employees make for cheerful service delivery. This means you have to treat your staff well including availing them with good working incentives to keep them happy with their working conditions. Do not reprimand them whilst in the presence of guests ; respect your staff to make your work easier as the management.

About Jumia Travel

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Before June 2016, Jumia Travel was known as Jovago.

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