6 Ways To Improve Your Hotel Management Skills

A career in hotel management is diverse and often requires you to wear many hats. Keeping up with management trends is a task that sometimes gets pushed aside. However, to keep your skills fresh, it’s essential to carve out some time to study new strategies. Here are six ways you can take your skills up a few levels.

1. Get the Message Out on Social Media

You can reach consumers anywhere in the world through social media. Whether you manage the Westin Richmond or a European hostel, people can connect to you and learn about your facilities.

Consider creating a catchy hashtag that visitors can use to tag their photos from your place. Their connections can see for themselves how great your facility is. They may get the inspiration to travel to your city and stay with you.

2. Create Photo Opportunities

Since your visitors are taking photos at your hotel, you can spend some resources making it a locale people want to photograph. A beautifully decorated lobby makes a powerful first impression. It can even cause guests to snap a photo as they walk in the door. You can keep the look fresh by decorating for the season.

Outdoor locations can be landscaped for good photos, too. Consider adding greenery and flowers to your entry, or create a photo spot near the pool. Any spot that catches the eye quickly can make a memorable photo for guests and an advertising opportunity for you.

3. Invest in Technology

Efficiency is the name of the game. Whether you are fully staffed or trying to juggle many tasks between a few employees, you need to keep your hotel running smoothly. You can find hotel software to help you organize many aspects of your business, including:

• Housekeeping
• Front desk operations
• Growing event leads
• Social media marketing
• Email campaigns
• Inventory management

4. Promote Positive Reviews

If you have especially impressed a guest or event host, you may get a good review from them. Consider reaching out and asking if you can promote their good experience. They may be glad to lend their testimony to help you advertise.

You can promote your hotel, and you should, but potential customers really want to hear from other guests. They offer an unbiased view of your business. Therefore, customer testimonials can be especially valuable to your hotel.

5. Build Partnerships With Other Businesses

One way to stretch your marketing dollars twice as far is to pair them with another local company. Cross-promotion is a win-win situation for both you and the other business.

In the hotel industry, you can find many types of businesses to cross-promote with. Think of restaurants, boutiques, spas, tourist attractions, car rental companies, etc. Offer coupons, discounts or bundled packages as incentives to stay at your hotel. Your guests can appreciate the savings. They can also be glad you recommended local experiences for them to enjoy during their stay.

6. Be Present

Your presence matters to everyone, including your guests, employees and event hosts. Making yourself available builds trust in your management skills and your facility.

When you are outside of your office, you can see the day-to-day processes, how they are working and what needs improvement. An employee or guest may stop you to ask a question or make a suggestion. Being present creates these opportunities that don’t happen from your desk. While you will need to spend some of your working hours catching up on paperwork, try to get out as much as possible to immerse yourself in the daily flow. When you create time to step up your management game, you set up yourself — and your hotel — for success.