The Guest’s Role in the Triangle of Excellence in Hotel Management

I have already discussed in other articles the importance of quality and employees in successfully achieving the ultimate goal of our management: excellence in customer-focused hotel management. Now, we are going to discuss the guest as the other driving force in management, alongside employees. For any subsequent reflection, we must bear in mind that it is the guest who defines what quality is. Only they know what type of service, treatment and handling they expect in order to define it as such. Hence the importance of properly managing the moment of truth. Given the distinctive characteristics of the tourism product/service, it is created through the employee-guest relationship, making an in-depth understanding of the visitor essential. Service micro-segmentation and personalised attention must be fundamental objectives if we are to come closer to the guest’s own idea of quality. The guest will not only tell us what quality is; they will also show us how to achieve it:

• Active listening
• Ongoing information gathering
• Creating channels of communication between the hotel and the guest

...will provide us with the data required to achieve effective quality management. From properly managing complaints to actively listening in bars, restaurants or at reception, as well as considering the opinions shared on social media, communities or review websites by guests in the same segment, all of this will allow us to draw on that information to develop an appropriate, excellent service. Because guests do not only express opinions and provide information at the hotel; they also do so outside it, across both space and time: before their trip, during it and afterwards. We must be ready for an ongoing conversation. Excellence is not a state; it is a path that must be travelled continuously. Excellence is not static: it evolves and changes at the pace set by guests. This is why many hotels that were once excellent are now no more than ordinary hotels. We must follow that pace, that path they set for us, hand in hand with trained and committed employees, ready to achieve the quality milestones we encounter along the way.