Author: AVI ARYA

I was amazed a few days back when I saw Hilton’s newly opened Innovation Gallery – an incubator and foreshadower of future hospitality and guest experience technologies. It houses a variety of technologies and features, like the noise masking Nightingale and Meural; a customizable digital art display. A lot of products on display have been developed with partnerships between the hotel and tech like IBM, Amazon and Tesla. Doesn’t this fact alone go on to show how much the face of hospitality has changed? I’ve been harping about the use of internet and smart rooms in improving guest experience since long. It looks like that future is here now! Not only big chains, but independent hotels will also adopt these technologies in the coming years.

Let me show you how the Internet of Things (IoT) will herald a new future for hotels.

• Predictive maintenance

The days of preventive maintenance are gone! Predictive maintenance goes one step further by using sensor data to anticipate damaging trends and notify the relevant response personnel, before the matter escalates. Let me give you a real life example. Suppose a room air conditioning system isn’t working rightly. A predictive maintenance system will notify the team while the guest is away, and before the problem is recognized.

• On cloud 9

One of my friends travelled to Seychelles recently. On returning back, he couldn’t stop gushing about the extremely comfortable stay. I encouraged him to post some pictures on Instagram as well. Once the hotel property saw the overwhelming engagement, they reposted it as User Generated Content. I got in touch with them, and they told me that the traffic generated from this marketing technique, helped them to create a cloud based database which could be accessible to them anytime they wanted. Using Customer Data Management (CDM), they were able to combine as well as process all customer data. By simply resorting to this technology, they could address the clients’ needs and get their feedback quickly. And it did help them in acquiring new customers.

I myself have started using cloud for storing personal information and feel the hospitality industry will benefit greatly by utilizing their public cloud space. There is also the option of using Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) which can further be used for creating one’s own virtual Private Network Connection. This should have an immense benefit to chains, by simply making all their properties and facilities available to all, thus leading to an increased footfall.

• Super personalization

There’s an increasing amount of personal information being shared over online platforms, even as I write this blog. This allows for content personalization, which is already being used in the online advertising industry. Facebook and Google offer highly targeted ads to a particular interest group based on their search history.  This same data can be used to highly personalize the guest experience.

For example, Samsung’s Hospitality business partnered with Telkonet’s Ecosmart platform to create a smart room that showcased a welcome with light, temperature and shades controls, along with a welcome message with the guest’s name on the in-room TV. The scene looks like it’s out of a movie!

I’ll also make it a point to talk about the Smart Rooms platform, which allows resources to be managed from diverse services and across networks. This definitely gives a structured functionality to the hospitality industry. Their REST service, I will point out particularly is very helpful in managing client queries, registration of visitors and aiding in their operations. This is one of the most innovative ways of handling visitors and reaching out to the prospective ones. This is a resource useful for those interested in availing the services of the hospitality industry. Smart Rooms offers a P type service that can do audio visual processing, which can bring a visually enriching experience to its customers.

Want some more digital gyaan? I’ve been putting some really helpful content on my YouTube channel. Do checkout my #AskAviArya show here – https://www.youtube.com/aviarya?sub_confirmation=1

There was plenty of activity this August which kept hospitality aficionados like us on toes. As the summer travel season draws to a close in the northern hemisphere, I’ll take you through the major industry news and research of the last month. Read on and stay updated!

Can Google search results predict room occupancy?

Google and STR recently joined hands to show how searches for accommodation in New York and London are related to occupancy rates in those markets. Not surprisingly, higher Google search volumes were correlated with higher demand levels.

How can hotels increase occupancy rates?

I think it’s a goldmine of information for hotels.

As I have said since long, seasonality plays a big role in travel and having access to the latest data is crucial to ensure occupancy levels are as high as they can be. You can make use of Google’s research into ‘micro-moments’ to understand what travellers want and when. If your bookings are down, is it because your approach isn’t effective, or is it an industry wide trend? You’ll find the answers to such questions in data. By analysing it, you can learn how to measure hotel demand.

Eye on the Future – Voice Powered Rooms

One type of hotel technology that I’ve been keeping an eye is voice-powered rooms. 2017 has been all about testing voice activated rooms, with devices like Google Home and Amazon Echo. Hotels like Marriott aren’t the only ones to test this feature. In 2018, the technology will further evolve and do a lot more to make the guests’ stay more comfortable. Not only can you keep a wake-up call or control the music, but can order room service or report something that’s not working. Even your staff can use it.

Advertising your hotel on Facebook

In the last 2 to 3 months, Facebook has really added to its hoard of personalized targeting features. But it’s disappointing for me to see that a lot of advertising on Facebook is still not targeted well. A recent study by AdEspresso on travel advertising confirms this. According to it, 57% of the ads were categorised as general branding exercises, while 37% were destination or route specific.

The lack of personalization and tailoring the ad according to it is what bugs me the most. It will be a lot easier for you to capture the interest of the potential guests because the audience on Facebook actively engage and interact with the content on the platform. Also, most of the Facebook advertising simply redirected to the home page of the website. You’ve to understand that your guest needs nurturing; they take a considerable time to book and need a lot of convincing. A longer sales funnel and lead generation campaigns will help you here.

These are some of the trends that are shaping and will continue to shape the hospitality industry. Check out the #AskAviArya show for more – https://goo.gl/bM22gT

How many times have you spoken to Siri on your iPhone or used Google Now on your Android device and got a response that is measured, helpful and at times as funny as any human?

My dear hoteliers, we live in a time where the average person might have more conversations with bots rather than his or her spouse. It is expected that by 2020, 30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen. This is also why I suspect that booking engines as we know them will either cease to exist or change drastically.

But what exactly is a chatbot? It is an AI based program that can interact with the user in a simple conversational mode that encourages interaction while providing information. It is more personal and responsive than a simple search engine and resembles a WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger conversation more than a Google search. In fact Facebook Messenger itself opened up to such business related bots in Apr 2016 and is presently home to thousands of such intelligent conversation programs. Indian chatbot startups have also responded to this demand by offering many customized services.

When I first noticed this trend, I asked myself where exactly this technology can fit into the hospitality sector. And the answer, I realized, is everywhere. In a business whose foundation is built upon personal interactions with guests and where success depends on how customized these interactions can be for each individual guest, a technology that specializes in conversations can be a blessing. I will list out the three key areas where chatbots or assistive conversational entities can help old and new players in the hospitality industry.

Booking

A guest begins his travel journey by browsing through the options available on various OTAs and then visiting the websites of the shortlisted hotels. Usually he goes back to the OTA for the in search for answers to queries in the comments/user reviews sections. OTAs realized the need to customize this process and in the quest to provide relevant info based on the unique query of each guest, they incorporated the chatbot technology. Expedia incorporated this as a Facebook Messenger chatbot that can interact with the guest just like a Hotel Reservation Desk. Chatbots can also be designed to answer queries during the booking process like the ixibaba chatbot on the ixigo website.

For hotels, the personalization options are even vaster. Your hotel can deliver tailor made offers or options instantly and directly to the guest via chat at any point before, during or after their stay. Imagine answering to a guest’s queries without the need for transferring to a waiting line for a call or delaying the matter by resorting to an email chain. Well-designed hotel website chatbots can incorporate the query and booking option into one, thus easing the entire process and allowing the guest to satisfy his query and immediately make a booking on the same platform seamlessly.

Stay

I’m glad to see the technology already being used in this space. We use smart cards to access elevators and hotel room doors; personalized smart bands, like the one at Disneyland, help to access every single service – from transportation to rides. A simple chatbot app on the hotel website will let any guest to enhance this experience by once again providing the option of customization. An example is the Radisson Blu Edward hotel chain in UK where guests can use the chatbot “Edward” to ask for anything – from a bottle of shampoo to the location of the hotel gym without being bothered to put on hold while reception connects you to housekeeping.

A conversation with Edward

Feedback

In a world of quick user reviews on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor, your hotel needs to be up and running with the response mechanism. A simple “Thank You” in response to a glowing review and a committed assurance to fix problems after a not so flattering review helps in building customer trust and brand image over time. Chatbots embedded in these platforms can quickly respond to such issues and if linked with the bot on the hotel website, can also help to get the right representative in touch with the guest through their available contact details.

Chatbots are a simple but extremely effective tool of enhancing customer experience in every single phase of their interaction with the service provider. In my opinion, this sector can never get enough of personalization when it comes to guest interactions, because for everything else the guest is already in possession of a complete bouquet of options from OTAs.

God lies in the little things in the hospitality industry and these nifty technological tools can help any property transcend the divide between a good hotel and an “unforgettable experience”.

Share this blog with someone you think needs it. And if you haven’t caught up with the latest episode of the #AskAviArya show, click here – https://goo.gl/wgniae

As I sit down to write this blog during the Dussehra festivities, I can’t help but think about my childhood. My grandparents made sure that I’m taught about ancient scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Gita. I strongly believe that everything that was said in these texts thousands of years ago still holds true in 2017. The roads have remained the same, the path to success and enlightenment are still the same! I always try to use this path to help hotels grow their business. Every hotelier who meets me has the same question in mind – how to increase hotel occupancy? With this thought, I want to share with you strategies on how to increase hotel bookings.

I’m very disappointed when managers simply slash room rates to put heads on beds. It doesn’t always justify the loss in revenue, and also sets wrong price expectations. Instead, take inspiration from ancient wisdom and ADD VALUE for your guests. Let me show you how –

1. Promote special packages to people

Guests don’t always think of services like spa, gym, and restaurants while booking rooms. Come up with a great deal that adds value to staying at the hotel, like clubbing free Wi-Fi and or a spa offer with the hotel stay. It will encourage guests to use services that they haven’t thought of before.

2. Stand out from the crowd

Give your guests a reason to choose your hotel over a hotel two blocks or two miles away. You can differentiate your hotel from your competitors on the basis of price, policy and service. Offering free Netflix or a 2 pm checkout are just a few possibilities. While you do not want to get into a losing battle by dropping your room rates 20 % below your competitor’s rates, you can have a policy where you are always at or near the lowest rate in town.

3. Time for an OTA audit!

It is easy to get caught up in the OTA trap. Online travel agencies can send business your way, but they also charge a commission and you usually have to sell those rooms at a discount to the customer. In certain situations, using an OTA to increase occupancy works well, but should know how much or how little it is adding to your bottom-line. For that you should regularly audit your OTA sales and expenses.

4. Host business and private functions

If you have the space and facilities, put more energy in using them to host business gatherings, reunions or other social events. You can do everything from holding a training session in a conference room to being the venue for a wedding on the grounds of your hotel. This will help you get loyal guests for the future!

5. Make a few rooms pet friendly

As a proud owner of multiple dogs, I pull my hair in frustration when I see hotels still have a no pet policy. I feel some of the rooms in a particular section of a hotel can definitely be made pet friendly. Many travellers love to take their pets along for trips and tours. Why not attract them as a different customer segment? It is a great hotel room sales strategy.

6. Your staff persons are the best salesmen

Your employees are the key to increase hotel bookings. If your employees are happy, they will naturally talk positively about your hotel. In addition to relating positively to hotel guests they encounter, you never know when they may inspire a guest to return to the hotel the next time he or she visits town. Don’t ignore your employees. They are your most valuable asset.

7. Publish a hotel newsletter

Give a boost to your hotel by publishing an effective newsletter. Guests can opt-in to receive an email subscription to the newsletter and it is a great way to stay in touch with current and future visitors to your hotel. Always add great topical content and offer incentives that are only available by subscribing (for free) to the newsletter.

8. Promote your city – not just hotel

I don’t see many hotels doing this. Market your location as a destination, and you’ll increase the visitors to your hotel. Promote and market specific attractions in your city – this will prompt guests to actually pack their bags and travel. And once you’ve convinced them to travel to your location, you’ll be the automatic choice for their stay.

9. Share more videos

People are crazy for videos. It’s also a major source of travel inspiration – so it makes a lot of sense for your hotel to include video in the marketing efforts. Adding videos to a hotel’s website helps to engage visitors and increase time on site. Posting videos on YouTube and other social media sites does wonders for engagement there too — just make sure to link back to your website, where a “Book Now” option will be waiting for them!

10. Use your blogs

Your blog is one of the least utilized and most important weapons in your arsenal. I’m a big fan because of their influencing power – it is information that affects consumer decisions. Once you start putting up great content, your hotel becomes a source of information, the hotel website grows in page size and also the amount of time people spend on the site increases – this is great for SEO.

I have followed the hotel industry for about 2 decades now, and I strongly believe that the industry’s relation with an increasingly digitized world is the biggest game changer for the future. Social media has become inevitable for reaching out to wider audiences, but what is more important for brands is to reimagine its services for the new age consumers. No other business needs projection of a human face more than a hotel, from the time a guest checks-in, till he signs off. For generations, hotels have tried to create a personification of their ethos through many ways – branding, logo, monogrammed amenities, and individualistic advertising – all in an attempt to stand out and be picked by a discerning customer.  I am amazed to see the varied ways in which hotels can increase this reach through human engagement on social networks. Moreover a lack of such a “people first” strategy in social media can actually rebound and pull your brand down swiftly.

Let’s see how your hotel can build a human brand using social media.

Personification: How does a brand create its unique personality that is different from the crowd? I urge you to regard brands as living beings that breathe, feed, age and die during its life cycle. This helps in creating every hotel’s persona. Every hotel has its own story to tell – be it relating to its conceptualisation, heritage, history and much more, so weaving that in your brand message is the first step to get your guest curious. You can position the hotel’s marketing campaigns in social media with human traits which are likeable, modest and responsive.

Nurturing communication like humans: Humanising your brand should not be limited to a one time exercise of acquiring the first-time customer, instead try to make it into a habit and it will go a long way in retaining customers and earning loyalty. Try to eliminate any physical barrier that could come in the way of relationship with your guest online.

I always tell all my clients – evocative emotions are necessary for social media. Your message could be sentimental, aspirational or funny, but do try to nail at least one end of the spectrum in all content.  Simple, boring content would be easily ignored. Sharing customer reviews and tagging the customer with pictures can be very well received by prospective customers because you are putting a human face to your brand.

Make your content lively: How can you make your content lively and interactive? The best way is to include pictures and links that can help guests connect with your hotel employees instantly. For instance, many companies prefers to give links to the Twitter team bio page, with each team member’s photo, personal twitter account, and why they love that brand. Today things have gone past corporate logo or advertising with a generic or objective voice. The Design Management Institute Study found over a 10-year period from 2004 to 2014, companies that focused on innovating through “human-centred design” grew at a rate more than two times greater than others.

Solutions through social media: Knowing your guests pain-points can help you address their issues on social channels leading to positive feedback from guests. You should be able to solve their issues tactfully on social media as you do when facing the guest physically. Also, make the endeavour of never stopping to pleasantly surprise guests. You can enrich experience of guests by offering special packages, and never leave any opportunity to tap on those moments on social media. You may also ask for guest’s Twitter handle at check-in, or during the booking process that could help you tweet the consumer and keep him informed from the time he checks-in and throughout the stay till departure.

It’s crucial to know the fine line between customer service and annoyance. However, tweeting with consumers can display the hotel’s loyalty with guests.

I’m not surprised to see more and more hotels offering iPads, touch screens, e-menus, property tours via internet, gadgets in hotel rooms, but I urge you to remember that no matter how much technology pervades our lives no one can replace human interactions which create emotions. So the ideal future for any hotel would be a marriage of technology and personalised interaction- a match truly made in heaven!

Know anyone who’s having trouble humanizing his or her brand? Share this blog!

The world welcomed 2018 a few weeks ago with huge cheers, dazzling fireworks and lots of positive thoughts. With the arrival of a New Year, people start making New Year’s Resolutions for their personal life. Some of these are finished, while the others are forgotten. I have figured out my goals for 2018 and started making efforts to accomplish them on time.

Not just personal life, there should be New Year’s Resolutions for professional life as well. Although some days of 2018 have passed, it’s never too late to set business goals. For hoteliers, New Year is the perfect time to look forward and create plans to make improvements in hotel services. It’s the time when New Year holiday season is over and hotels get a chance to make impressive marketing strategies to boost revenue.

In last few years, marketing trends in hospitality industry have changed a lot. Digital marketing has provided revolutionary innovative strategies that hotels of all sizes can use to boost their brand presence and revenue as well. Marketing through social media has become a vital part of a hotel’s promotion plans. Today, it is not limited to just posting packages or room rates. It is more focused on what online travelers wish to see in a hotel and what are their expectations from hoteliers. Through posts, reviews, comments and many other useful social media features have been making a hotel’s social media campaign successful and revenue-generating method.

Here, I am sharing some social media strategies that I have analyzed and found them useful to be used in 2018 to promote a hotel online:

Include New Platforms To Reach More People

Undoubtedly, popular social media websites are powerful and easy online platforms to launch a campaign and reach a wide range of audience. But all hoteliers are using these sites to boost their brands, and 2018 is the time to explore more and gain attention of modern audience. In addition to traditional social sites, you can add messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram in your social media strategy of this year to utilize their personalized experience and reach more audience.

Post Fresh Content In Unique Way

You must identify your audience and social media platform you can use to reach it. Once you are done with this, your next objective should be creating a precise buzz online. Use the art of storytelling to engage people and get tremendous value. Apart from posting content with eye-appealing graphics, you can gain guests’ trust by having a conversation with them. Interact with your audience, reply to their comments and ask them interesting questions.

Invest In Video Content To Gain Attention

With the increase in internet speed in last few years, popularity of video content has also skyrocketed. While YouTube is still the most-effective social media video platform to reach millions through your videos, there are also some other platforms too that are becoming famous over the internet. Through Facebook’s Facebook Live feature, Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories, you can reach new age audience in an interesting manner. While using these video sharing platforms, make sure that you are providing your hotel’s official website link where users can make bookings.

Stay Active And Post Consistent Updates

Hospitality industry has guests of different age groups, and all of them aren’t active on social media all the time. Your hotel’s media strategy must be scheduled right. It not just creates a loyal fan base, but paints a truthful image of your hotel. Make a social media calendar and maintain it. Schedule your posts and ensure that they have been posted at the right time when most of your followers are using the Internet.

Set Budget For Paid Social Media Campaigns

Social media marketing isn’t just about posting text, photos and videos on different sites. You can start paid campaigns on different social media channels to get more exciting returns. Before planning a social media strategy, set a budget aside for these campaigns.

Even if some weeks of 2018 have passed, the remaining months are enough to change lots of things, especially when it’s about social media marketing of your hotel. New social media platforms will keep on emerging, so you should stay updated with them and learn how to utilize their features to gain more exposure. Even if you are using strategies different from those mentioned above, make sure that your guests are center of your social media marketing. Instead of selling your services to them, give them experience.

If you want to learn and grow your business with the help of social media, join this thriving community for interesting discussions:
https://www.facebook.com/internetnetarchive/

If, in your day-to-day life, you have ever noticed surge or drop in price of seasonal food items, you must be aware of ‘dynamic pricing’. It may be due to the increased demand of particular item. Earlier, I was in vegetable market when I noticed that demand of carrots has increased, thanks to the Gajar ka halwa (carrot-based sweet dessert). This has further affected the price of carrots.

‘Dynamic pricing’ isn’t a technique used in vegetable market, and many other sectors also use it to increase their revenue considering the demand of a particular item during a particular time. For example, prices of cab services like Uber and Ola surges during rainy days or rush hours.  Airline sector also practices the time-based pricing system whenever passenger numbers increase or decrease. In the technology-friendly world, hotel industry is also experimenting with numerous sophisticated technologies to invite more guests and increase the revenue. Right from booking hotels and smart check-in/checkout facilities to online payment options, there are several things that the advanced technology has made easy for travelers.

While many hotels stay updated with latest technologies and use smart strategies to win more customers, there are some in the industry that still use traditional approaches. One such approach is fixed accommodation service pricing. Where high prices during off-season can break the business for a hotel, fixed prices during peak season can hold back the hotel from earning profit.

‘Dynamic pricing’ is beneficial when nothing interesting is happening in the town. Hotels can use the strategy to lure customers who cannot afford luxury services in high season.

How to apply ‘Dynamic pricing’?

During high seasons, there are high chances that all rooms of a hotel will be booked. It could be due to an event in the city or a traditional ceremony that takes place every year. It shows that the property will reach its maximum potential in no time and the owner has the opportunity to increase revenue. Instead of simply putting higher price tags on rooms, there should be price changes on accommodation as well as other hospitality services. In case of low demand of rooms, guests can be attracted by offering them special accommodation packages as well as heavy discounts.

The best way to apply ‘Dynamic pricing’ strategy is through pre-determined forecast of room bookings. The hotel can make multiple plans to apply the pricing strategy in a more effective manner. There should be plan B if the plan A doesn’t work well. For example, if the hotel fails to see desired bookings by the afternoon, changes in price can be made to lure guests.

Important Points To Consider

 The change in price should be temporary and must be changed considering results it gives.

• Different rooms should have different prices.
• While applying the ‘Dynamic pricing’ system, prices of competitors should also be observed. In addition, details of their booking plans and their output also be continuously watched to understand the trend.

Digital Technology and ‘Dynamic pricing’

A major part of travel and tourism industry has already adopted advanced management software tools to increase revenue. Hotel industry has also started using new technologies to enhance guests’ experience and manage hotel resources in an efficient manner. When it is about applying ‘Dynamic pricing’, many still struggle. There are travel websites and software tools that help a hotel understand online booking trends and make decision on ‘Dynamic pricing’ according to them. Using these advanced tools, the hotel can check the number of reservations made for a particular night and decide prices for the next day of the season.

While ‘Dynamic pricing’ is a simple and profitable approach, it should reach the right audience at right time. You can use social media as well as many other types of digital marketing approaches to grab attention of many potential travelers at one time. Before applying the ‘Dynamic pricing’ approach, analyze it and try to understand how it can be changed over the course of next few days of a season to increase revenue of your hotel.

If you want to learn and grow your business with the help of social media, join this thriving community for interesting discussions: 
https://www.facebook.com/internetnetarchive/ h

It has been proven that the food business has always been the most profitable, with lesser risks than others. People always eat, right? People also eat the food that tastes great, over and over again. But wait, that’s not why you’re here! You don’t need a blog post to validate your food. You’re here because, you know you sell delicious grub, but the people are missing, at least in frequency and numbers.

Read on, to know how to translate that epicurean dazzle onto the world of online research and critique.

Salmon fillets with asparagus served on vintage pewter plates on dark blue background, editorial food styling

Research shows, people almost always do a Google search on a new restaurant that they wish to try. This includes looking at the locality, pictures of the establishment, pictures of food served, online menu and prices and any other special amenities. More often than not, apart from word-of-mouth marketing from previous clients, the appeal of a restaurant is rather visual. It’s what catches the eye that gives them that necessary push to actually try you out.

In the world of technology and Internet, the food industry is not just about the taste of things, it’s your brand identity, the distinguishing factor and your modus operandi. You want to establish yourself as apart from your competition. And the best way to do that is to have extreme clarity on what your establishment stands for. In days reaching back a few decades, the ideal marketing for restaurants was done at the hands of critiques, which could make or break a restaurant’s future prospects. However, in the current era, the amount of digitally available information makes it rather easy to put yourself at the right place.

1. Food Porn: If you’re aware of the colloquial term ‘food-porn’, you’d know how fast it is taking the world of Instagram by storm. Having an Instagram page for your restaurant will do wonders for you. Indulge in taking drool-worthy pictures of food that is served at your restaurant and make sure to boost your posts with quirky captions and hashtags. When food looks delicious, it sends receptors in the brain into a frenzy to eat that food. That’s how you twist this into your favour. Look at this NYC restaurant’s Instagram page, for reference.

Alternatively, have your customers take nice pictures of the food they order; make it interactive by calling for a food photography competition or just something that you might feature on your own page, if the content is good enough. Ask your customers to use hastags and tag your location. This type of User Generated Content (UGC) will increase your online presence, driving more traffic towards you, through geo-tagging and hashtags.

1. Social Media isn’t limited: Establish yourself on other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc. Post short videos and time-lapse of in-house kitchen activities, the cooking process; show your staff in action etc. Checkout BuzzFeedTasty on Instagram to get a better idea about how you could go about recording the cooking process. This type of video content engages user far beyond the motions of a plate of food and them eating it.

Apart from visual content, use Twitter and Pinterest for photos and witty written content (could be industry puns or nutritional value of your food, anything works as long as it is credible). Start writing a blog for your restaurant; use it to share success stories, struggles in the business, funny stories with the staff and customers, etc. Feature signature dishes and commend your chef. This will humanize your venture to a point where people can relate to it.

1. Email marketing through your blog by gaining subscribers is also a beneficial way to create brand presence.
2. Google+: Google really is everyone’s saviour. There exists a tool with which you can have information about your property featured on the Google Knowledge Graph. Sign up for your restaurant on Google+, along with all the relevant details about it, and that’s all, you’ll be visible (look at the right bar on the image below) on the very top; don’t forget to add pictures! This elongated literature on your restaurant will feature location and contact details; hours of operation; rating and reviews along with your menu and website details. This is a consolidated way to have your brand on the search engine. Make sure to triple-verify your online details, such as phone number, address and business hours, because nothing gives bad reputation than incomplete or wrong information.

5. Another online advertising feature by Google is the Google Adwords, which uses geo-tagging to feature restaurants on the search engine according to the user’s location. Use Google Analytics to set up alerts for whenever your restaurant’s name is used online.

6. Your online presence can also be boosted with the help of influential food bloggers, with a huge set of audience. These are the modern day food critics, that you must feed the good stuff, which also includes those discounts and complementary food and drinks. Have them feature you on their platform, complete with information about your brand, what it stands for and insider information; along with a documented review for your food, service and collection on the menu. Giving permission for aesthetic pictures always draws the eye, quite literally.

7. Create a loyalty programme or membership for your restaurant. Give members special discounts and offers; complementary food or drinks would never be refused (such is human nature!). This will in turn give them incentive to return for more hospitality.

Sushi Restaurant Loyalty Card Template – Brandpacks throughout Restaurant Business Card Template – Template Idea

8. Since we’re on the subject of programmes, give yourself the option to provide booking services, tie-up with food apps like Zomato, FoodPanda, Burrp!. Delivery apps such as UberEats, Swiggy etc. will help to open up your dine-in to people who do not feel like getting out of the house to eat. These applications will also enable customers to leave easy feedback, which serves your purpose, entirely.

Overall strategies will work, if you employ them in the right fashion. Do not get discouraged by a negative feedback, instead respond to it, by asking the reviewer about ways you could improve. Collect your positive business reviews and press, and flaunt them on your website. Have a user-friendly and mobile friendly website, which connects all your platforms under one place. It is a no brainer for you to provide a booking/reservation feature on your website.

Keep calm and let everyone get their grub on!

If you want to learn and grow your business with the help of social media, join this thriving community for interesting discussions: 
https://www.facebook.com/internetnetarchive/ h

In any business, the key to success is communication. An effective communication can bring positive results, while negative communication may break the deal. I have been asked by many hoteliers about hotel areas where communication plays a vital role and how staff can improve their communication skills to impress guests.

In addition to clean rooms and modern amenities, a polite and helpful hotel staff can make guests’ stay pleasant. Hotel employees must be available all the time to assist guests with a smiling face. But the very first impression can be made on guests by front desk. After a long journey, a hotel front desk employee is the first individual with whom travelers deal. They must be tired and time taken for check-in process may make them feel irritated. This is the time when the hotel’s front desk can set the stage for a good relationship with the guests through compelling communication skills.

Considering the role of front desk’s communication, many hotels arrange special training sessions for their staff to enhance their communication skills and teach them right methods of interactions with guests of different types. But in hospitality industry, effective communication isn’t limited to conveying a message to guests clearly and with confidence. In addition to communicating with guests, the front desk as well as other staff members should impress guests by listening to them carefully, assist them in availing all hotel services and take appropriate actions on the feedback. Effective hotel front desk communication also includes:

• Assisting guests in check-in/check-out process.
• Communicating with guests and staff members to make quick arrangements when guests arrive early.
• Writing emails and responding to online queries.
• Using hotel software and website to develop a connection with potential customers.

In this technology-driven world, a failed communication with guests can affect the hotel’s business in many ways. The hotel not just loses one customer, but negative reviews-online as well as offline- can influence the brand’s reputation.

Although arranging training session is one of the most effective methods to improve communication skills of staff, there are some other ways that can help hotel employees develop impressive communication skills.

Talk to Employees, Listen to Them

To ensure that front desk employees feel confident while having a conversation with guests, management should conduct two-way communication session with the staff where employees are allowed to share their views and ideas. An environment should be provided to them where they can share problems they face while dealing with guests. Weekly feedback sessions can be conducted to understand and resolve front desk issues and problem that the hotel staff is facing.

Train Front Desk How To Attend Guests

Your hotel’s front desk should be aware of right ways to attend guests of all types. Some guests may not be happy with time taken for check-in process. Front desk as well as other hotel employees should be trained to tackle any kind of situation. During the training session, they should be taught to wisely handle the situation and solve customer query as soon as possible.

Teach Front Desk to Observe Guests  

There may be some guests who don’t like to talk much, or some travelers get irritated when they are asked to wait for few minutes to make arrangements for a service they have asked. Management should teach the front desk the secret to quickly observe the guest and respond according to that. They should be told how to solve customer complaints or how to lighten up a guest’s mood.

A good conversation between the hotel’s front desk and guests can put a good impression on the guests’ mind about the hotel. Hoteliers should make necessary efforts to ensure that the front desk employees as well as other staff members learn the art of communication to represent their hotel as a pleasant place to stay. It will boost their confidence and generate more business for the hotel.

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