Every festive season is special to us as hoteliers. We work very hard to create memories for our guests and here are some thoughts that might help make this season a little brighter..
Learning basic facts and figures about the product you sell is only the beginning. What you actually need to practice is how these facts and figures can be presented to someone in a way that is interesting and that you deliver it with passion and enthusiasm. Use words to their maximum effect. Choose words that means or appears to mean more than what is being said.
Every encounter with guests is a unique opportunity to make a difference in their stay with you. You can influence the outcome of a week long stay for someone. Use the opportunity to do something positive.
You can’t straight away ask someone to buy something from you let alone a bottle of champagne that costs over a 100 dollars. Start a conversation that will help you build a rapport with the guest. You need to create a relationship with the guest. It has to be a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Relationships must be based on honesty and truth. You can’t lie to a guest or force a guest to buy something.
Look for opportunities. If you don’t deliberately look for them, you won’t find them. Find time to talk to guests. Guests are people like us. They too have emotions just like us and they too are driven by a desire to be accepted and appreciated. Look for opportunities for sincere intervention where you can genuinely help a couple on honeymoon spend moments watching a golden sunset by the beach, on the deck or sailing across the horizon breathing in the tranquility mesmerised by the changing colours all around them. A picture with two glasses of champagne on their hands against this picturesque setting will be much more worthy of the bottle of champagne they would use as a prop to accentuate the picture.
If you can create the right context that enables you to convincingly explain to a guest that sharing a special sunset, a romantic dinner or just an evening under the stars accentuated by some exquisite champagne, sales will just happen. The question is how do you create that context and how do make your case so convincing? It can be done and it only requires a strong will and determination from you.
Switch to a mental frame of mind that looks at giving guests a memorable experience. Think of the opportunity not only in terms of the amount of money it will bring in as sales. Instead, focus on how much happiness you can give to a couple or groups of friends if you can facilitate that moment. Think of all the emotions that is involved when someone is involved in a genuine act of love towards someone important in their lives. Focus on giving, not taking because it will make all your efforts more genuine and sincere. It will help you talk with more enthusiasm and passion which in turn will make you more credible and convincing.
Wake up every day with the determination to make a difference. Start your day with a strong sense of purpose. There is no better than knowing that someone appreciates you. When you know that you have created special memories for someone, a couple or a family, you will feel good inside. It is good for your mental and physical health. Hearing someone say thank you to you apparently releases happy hormones in your brain and increase your happiness. Ending your day knowing that made someone happy will help you sleep better and stay more positive. It will also help you start the next day with more determination and a stronger will to repeat the same thing for another guest.
We are in the business of happiness and memory creation, guests come to us seeking happiness and there is no better service we can give them than to create moments of happiness that they can take away with them as bitesize flashbacks that will help them smile and remember us by.
Hassanfushi 