Stable? Wobbly? Tilt! A “Current State Diagnostic”

Although, depending on the day, the prognosis could read, “Tilt! Wobble, stable”, it’s a matter of perspective. My perspective comes from the “hotel consultancy” sphere. You know, the souls who “borrow your watch to tell you what time it is.” 

As the course of world events unfolds, I cannot tell what diagnosis will prevail. I can tell you what you do now will either prepare you well, or fate will deal with you as it will.

Oddly, this is not a thinly veiled article of self-promotion. I promise. It is a non-empirical, nondenominational depiction of a way to think in times like these. To be clear, consultancies like HVS, McKinsey & Company, and Cayuga Hospitality provide excellent services — no doubt.

But this isn’t about them, it’s about you.

One of the core things I do for clients is called a “Current State Diagnostic”, which I describe this way.

Current State Diagnostic

“From The Biltmore to The Broadmoor, an exclusive Naples retreat or isolated surf resort in Bali, all great successful hotel properties require meticulous attention as investments and environments. It is valuable to gain an objective perspective that cuts to the heart of the matter. Valley of the Moon Partners can craft a “white paper” document, quickly defining the challenges of a struggling asset or one aspiring to greater things.  A “Diagnostic” appropriate for hotel owners, investors, or the currently active Management company can reveal challenges or growing success. Fresh insights into the composite financial state of a hotel property, the level of operational execution, and customer experience are a reality check, good or bad for key stakeholders.”

A bit flowery, but you get the idea. And this is where you come in. Every hotel property has good and bad years. A review of the Star market share, P&L, and variance of marketing spend to room nights gained might tell you a certain story, but it might not get to “the heart of the matter.”

You can only get that by listening intently to your people, on the ground, in the field, engaged in the day to day, every day. That is exactly what I do.

Beyond the Numbers

It is critical to crunch all the data, know the hard numbers, and reflect on what the market is telling you about your share of it, but real-time interviews of staff are a compelling reality check. Corporate brand leaders, asset managers, regional directors, market managers, and especially General Managers can all engage in this “free” pool of information. This applies to any size hotel, any location, any day. Luxury, Upper-scale, Mid-scale, economy, resort, retreat, residence — all the same resource.

This is not an associate opinion survey, it’s about what is actually happening every day with our guests, our processes, and our policies. What you might find will almost always surprise you and may not always delight you.

You have to take the time and that is hard.

I recently returned from one such engagement where, over the course of three days, it was evident that the staff was talented, eager, but facing a series of very specific challenges. The five entities (Owners, Investors, Asset Managers, Management Company, Brand Development) were not listening because they were busy fulfilling their defined mission, and that was leading to potentially disastrous results, financial peril, and fingers pointing everywhere.

The Art of Listening

Back to our beloved hotel industry, what we are facing now is always precedented.

Hotels have withstood massive financial gyrations, tragic international incidents, a worldwide pandemic, and the birth of AI. We are resilient.

You will hear in the coming months any number of prognostications, good and bad, about our industry’s current state, some dire, some encouraging — all from valuable perspectives:

• “Look, you’re going to stay flat in occupancy, but forget about those rates…”
• “Optimal staffing is the key to success…”
• “International travel is not coming back soon…”
• “Cap rates are just never going to be where we want them to be….”, and on, and on.

A colleague asked me what I had learned from what I have done the past ten years or so, and my first thought was: “Leaders don’t listen enough to the people who do the work, carry the flag, engage the guest each day — because we think (collectively) that we know better.”

It isn’t always that simple, I know. The demands on our time in the information age have been characterized by social psychologists to be at or near the capacity of human brains. Sorting through what is important and what is “slop” is no easy task.  So, don’t be so hard on yourself.

If you take the time to listen, it may reveal answers to current challenges that never occurred to you; that is what I find more often than not. But do not listen and not act, that is unforgivable and kills the messenger. If nothing else, explain in real terms what you can and can’t do, and why.

And if you are consumed with too much that matters, and find demands insurmountable, I’m always available to tell you what time it is.

About the author

Haydn Kramer is expert in sales & marketing and sales management and member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants. From “on the ground” direct sales with Residence Inn by Marriott to an Executive VP of Sales, Haydn has experienced a range of sales assignments across many brands and all lodging tiers. He was a pivotal member of Marriott’s “Sales 2000” task force that reinvented Marriott’s approach to “Sales” worldwide. Haydn was also entrusted with directing the first “Large Market Sales Team,” which cross-sold all Marriott’s brands for the first time. He is disciplined and forgets no details, but is known to have fun while helping teams achieve sales success. He is an expert in the sales call process, true sales persistence, and the new advent of Social Media as a critical part of any effective hotel sales platform. He has consulted for Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and several boutique, independent luxury properties across the United States and in Europe.

Source: View the original article at Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.