Executive hotel management – especially for multi-property organizations – have almost no way to monitor guests’ satisfaction during their stay: the reservation and check-in process, the room and amenities, staff attitude and service, and guests’ perceived value of those things relative to the rack rates and the true average daily rates (ADRs).
While there are a variety of metrics and techniques to obtain that information, every night that a room goes vacant is missed revenue. So you can’t wait for studies and surveys. To ensure guest satisfaction – and the business health that comes with it – the fundamentals of a solid operation need to get the necessary attention: staff training, direction, and motivation, and the technical resources enabling staff to follow through.
This isn’t a reason to ignore metrics and data. Those are crucial to sustaining and fine-tuning your operations. The fundamentals just have to come first. Then you have something to build on. One financially-sound way to secure that foundation is engaging nearshore resources for back-office operations. Leveraging more cost-effective solutions there can free up resources to enhance the front of the house.
Let’s look at all the places you can find these savings.
Understanding Guest Satisfaction in Hospitality
The elements of a satisfying guest experience are well known:
- Prompt and efficient service
- Clear and proactive (as necessary) communication
- Personalized attention and care
- Problem-solving
- Positive and helpful interactions
- Seamless processes
These are all about how staff engage with guests, not necessarily the specific services performed. Many of these interactions are back-office functions where larger, more sophisticated organizations excel.
Outsourcing as many of these activities as possible to more cost-effective personnel frees up resources to retain and motivate front-line staff. That includes opening up time for supplemental training and team building, and even relaxing schedules when possible to minimize stress.
When front-of-house staff feel supported and empowered, they are in a better position to focus on the needs of guests. That support doesn’t just come from management, but from the back-office team too. But that doesn’t mean the team needs to be on-premises… or even in-country.
Why Hospitality Businesses Choose Nearshore Talent
For many reasons, a nearshore staffing solution can get lumped in with offshoring. And offshoring is often considered a variation on outsourcing. But a special category of nearshoring known as “staff augmentation” delivers the cost benefits of offshoring with the operational advantages of in-house remote personnel.
In fact, nearshore staff augmentation offers distinct operational advantages. These include:
- Addressing staffing challenges – Nearshoring gives you access to a wider pool of articulate, well-educated professionals in your time zone to help you fill in your team, or scale more efficiently during peak seasons.
- Improved efficiency and focus – Since nearshore augmentation teams are managed by on-premises supervisors, they can perform even better than domestic remote staff. The best augmentation operations have teams dedicated to specific client businesses, so they truly are an extension of your staff.
- Enhanced communication and collaboration – The geographical proximity offers better cultural alignment compared to more distant offshoring. The technical infrastructure is often more robust, with the best organizations serving as secure endpoints on your in-house systems for maximum integration with minimal latency.
- Cost-effective solution – The wage differential allows for 24/7/365 coverage without the premiums ordinarily associated with such schedules.
Key Roles to Improve Hospitality Guest Satisfaction
Knowing that such resources are available (and affordable), here are some ways they can contribute to improved guest satisfaction:
Many companies already outsource some of their customer service. But if you have a resource that performs like an extension of your property staff, the service levels can be more elevated and reduce demand on front-of-house staff’s time and attention.
- Handling inquiries and reservations efficiently
- Providing multilingual support
- Offering proactive communication and assistance
Beyond the conventional administrative functions, augmented staff can handle more property- and guest-specific tasks that demonstrate greater responsiveness and attentiveness. Remember: Your augmented staff is a resource to your front-of-house as well as for guests.
- Ensuring accurate and timely processing of account requests and information
- Managing databases and guest profiles effectively
- Handling administrative tasks like reserving spaces or special services
Few amenities can impact guests’ sentiments like technology issues. And few other house functions lend themselves to remote support as well as IT. This is natural for augmenting your properties’ onsite skilled personnel.
- Providing quick and effective support for guest-facing technology (e.g., Wi-Fi, in-room systems).
- Ensuring smooth operation of online platforms and booking systems.
Data analysis and personalization:
Even if this is a function for your head office, your augmented staff can assist in the studies and surveys that get at general guest satisfaction and ongoing engagement.
- Analyzing guest data to identify trends and preferences
- Monitoring social media and review sites for guest feedback and posts
- Supporting personalized communication and service offerings
The more cost-effective resources you devote to guest satisfaction in the back office, the more resources you have on premises to achieve that goal. The combined effect is bound to have a positive impact on your brand as well as guests’ impressions of their stay.
Solvo: Your Partner for Exceptional Guest Experiences
As a global leader in nearshore staff augmentation, Solvo provides the people, systems, and organization to enhance operations for hospitality brands of all sizes [Link to Solvo’s Hospitality Service Page – TBD]. Each of the capabilities discussed above are part of Solvo’s standard operating model, which can be customized to exactly the requirements of each client.
While most clients are motivated by the cost-effectiveness of Solvo’s solutions, they are ultimately won over by the excellence of the people and services. Discover how Solvo can transform your properties’ guest experience. Contact us today for a consultation.
