As I just returned from a 10 days trip though India, I got to stay in various hotel and realized that the Indian hospitality industry holds a very unique key to being the best model in the world. Having worked for a few hotel groups around the world (from Intercontinental to Starwood and Marriott), I couldn’t help myself , everywhere I would check-in, from having my brains in professional mode when it came to customer experience & hotel management : despite a few key areas of improvement, I realized that the hospitality groups in India (Oberoi, Taj, Leela etc...) could potentially possess the most powerful & winning combination of art & science when it comes to Customer satisfaction and could inspire many other service industries (airlines, banking...) in the quest for Customer Service Excellence.
However, at a time of economic pressure , less-than-expected growth in inbound travel, devaluation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar and room supply overshooting demand, the need for India’s hospitably industry to better structure & optimize its revenue structure & operations is pressing whilst its inherent superior assets could be better utilized...
1. Beauty :
they generally own or build /operate magnificient palaces: from a Maharajah
palace in Rajasthan to an utra modern
building In Mumbai or a renovated boutique Haveli in Chennai, how many
countries can boast so many real estate treasures per km2 ? These gems are
generally located in gated areas that offer an oasis apart from the surrounding
bustle & hustle. Even for the most recent constructions, there is a clear
resolve to reminisce of a past splendor & architecture, sometimes with
success, but always with lavish materials & volumes...These groups rarely
go stingy on land, marble, flower arrangements,
plush fabrics or antique furniture in a country where these supplies and
best artisans are available at a very reasonable cost...
2.
The Indian culture of
hospitality is a tradition and comes from the heart: based upon the Sanskrit saying “Atithi
Devo Bhava” meaning "the
guest is God", this fundamental principle of Indhu culture is shown in a
number of stories where a guest is literally a god who rewards the provider of
hospitality... The word ‘Athiti’ defines the
guest as a person who could show up at home without a prior notice or formal
invitation and on a day and time of his own choice...This is a defining trait
of the Indian identity and still engraved in modern India.
3. the
importance of traditional / old-world good manners, dedication & humility : probably influenced
by the 200 years British rule, both fair practice of English & sense of
proper etiquette are more common among all classes of personnel that in many
other countries, let alone other former Commonwealth nations such as Canada,
Australia or in Africa...But
more importantly, you get the sense that “Yes. Sir”, “certainly” or “You are
welcome” are truly meant: that, when anybody addresses you, they don’t -and
shouldn’t- feel inferior or demeaned by their show of respect & humility
but rather expecting the same from you: it’s a win/win relationship ! Now, try
picturing this in France , Mexico or Brazil, or even the USA, you soon realize
that the general sentiment & attitude would be quite different, whatever
the training & corporate policies in place. Another reason might also be
that, for most Indian employees at almost every level, their job in the
Hospitality industry is a real career choice and true social accomplishment not
a simple gig between two jobs in order to pay the bills... this is probably why
it makes sense and is profitable in the long term for Indian based hospitality
industry to invest so heavily at every level in training for staff that will
generally stay with the company for years or their entire career unless they
cross over to the competition... That’s no coincidence that, for instance, The
Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD) was established almost 5
decades ago and has management training programmes that are considered among
the best in Asia and a benchmark for international excellence within the hotel
industry.
However, despite these very unique qualities, I also found that beyond these irreplaceable assets in the art of hospitality, some other areas & more technical skills in the science of the trade seem to be missing in action or underutilized...At a time when many Indian joint ventures with Western groups are dissolving under the economic pressure that the country is going through, a pro-active charting & consolidation of these strategic skills could help Indian hospitality groups grow more efficiently by unleashing more profitability and an optimized customer experience , helping to consolidate what could become the most powerful marketing mix in the global hospitality industry landscape:
1. Customer
Relationship management: analytics, technology
& marketing utilization: whereas most of
American hospitality industry has learned in the past 5 years how to fully harness
the power of segmentation & analytics when it comes to identifying the most
profitable customer groups & the respective drivers of their satisfaction
(rewards, personalized perks, discounts & promotions etc...), it seems that
very few of these tools are actually formatted and brought to hotel’s front
office employees so that it can inform their interactions with each customer: where is the Customer Acquisition & retention
strategy ? In a market that caters to so many different types of clientele
–from experiential travelers who want to experience the country by themselves
to segments like MICE , leisure, honeymooners, junket , Adventure or religious
tourism...- how do you make sure that you properly identify, target &
retain the most profitable / valuable segments , address customer pain points
& moments of truth for each brand while
avoiding cannibalization within the same
portfolio...? Where is the Customer loyalty framework for Heritage or value
segment customers when it comes to establishing a long term relationship &
dialogue with a new guest after their first stay ? Where are the specific
offers or advantages that will nurture repeat and brand preference ? Where are the data related to a customer’s
history & profile when it comes to anticipating their personal preferences,
habits & expectations so that , whatever the personal memory or talent of
some specific staff, they always feel welcomed & recognized as valuable &
individual guests rather than a sheep among the herd ? All things that the
global Airline industry, rental car or some US-based hotel chains have long
scaled in order to maximize revenues & their share of Customer Lifetime
Value...For instance, SAS, the Scandinavian airline, which uses its CRM systems to
identify all the passengers who are flying on the airline for the first time,
build a profile of the customer using social media and other third-party
information: when the customer checks in for their flight, they are given a
small gift based on what the airline learned about them.” A person whose social
media feed indicates an interest in athletics might be given a sports bag, for
instance...
It’s
telling that, after staying as a guest in 10 different hotels belonging to
various International chains, I was never exposed nor prompted at no time to
enroll (from booking to check-in to after stay...) in any loyalty program or
club ! How
do you keep the positive memories of my stay alive and capitalize on the magic
& unique experience that I just went through ?? Where are, beyond the one
email offer for discount to the same hotel (how am I likely to soon return to
India from the US and in the same Rajasthan hotel ? ) rather than making me a
concrete offer for an hotel on the continent of my residence...?
2. Empowerment/flexibility
in decision making: both a result of training but also better
suited tools and customer intelligence availability, the capacity of customer-facing
managers (food & beverage, Spa, rooms..) to better predict, track &
manage specific customer preferences or expectations can make a difference in
the efficiency of day to day operations as well as in the delivery of an
appropriate experience...But for that to happen, there is also a deeper need
for staff & managers to be AND feel empowered so that they can adapt to
real time situations or requests and react on the spot - as it is generally the
case in European or American hotels- by making the appropriate judgment call
without having to go to their direct report below a certain stake level...
That’s where the right balance between established
procedures and adaptive judgment /flexibility needs to be taught on the basis
of specific examples and situations...This is how junior employees &
managers will strive, grow and acquire the customer centric mindset &
adaptability that generally help better motivate & incentivize teams but
also deliver better customer satisfaction at every level of the organization.
There might be a cultural shift & adaptation here for Indian personnel that
will only happen with the right user friendly tools but also with the right
training...Radisson Hotels were known as one of the first to initiate a full
scale employee empowerment by removing the upper layers of hotel management and
allowing levels of middle management & front line employees more power in
the decision making process: with decentralized management, some selected employees
were encouraged to deal with situations using their own initiative and creative
thinking with customer satisfaction within a preset amount of budget autonomy,
still being held accountable for the bottom line at the end of the day.
3.
More assertive brand buzz
& leverage of social media: if, as a US based
traveler, I have acquired through other countries a distinctive awareness of
some of the top Indian hospitality
brands such as Oberoi or Taj, I am stunned by the fact that these global brands
don’t seem to be building , as other Luxury , lifestyle or Airline brands
regularly do , much exposure & brand equity in European & US markets by
conveying the special story of their fine quality & differentiation...and I
am not talking about a 1 page featuring a property in a few international magazines,
I am talking about a “wow” real media-to-event marketing program with
partnerships that tell the tale of the magic & soul of India’s hospitality,
there is much to be done either online or offline around that kind of
material... Beyond the
advertising storyboard, the fabulous profiles of historical properties or
destinations could provide an incredible content to a more aggressive P.R.
offensive through editorials. Even basic exposure would also make a
difference through targeted online display on key travel websites such as
Hotels.com, Expedia or Agoda at a time of booking, which I never got.Beyond communications, internet analytics can
provide a wealth of customer intelligence that could feed into a refined
/pro-active Customer segmentation & loyalty strategy to tailor messages
& more personalized offers or packages as well as providing more readily
accessible insight for hotel staff in terms of their guest’s preferences or
interests (informing them about yoga class, food experiences or local excursions...). When it comes to
leveraging the power of social media, I found that very few Indian hotel chains
have their own Facebook page to communicate or engage with fans or those could
become most active brand ambassadors... While more & more Internet savvy Indians book their hotels
online and India is the second
market after the USA in terms of Facebook users with more than 62 millions,
nothing seem to indicate that much of the attached analytics are being mined
& gathered by marketing hoteliers to complete a customer’s DNA profile and help design more targeted offers...When
it comes to Twitter, many American hotel brands are utilizing the social media channel
to reinforce their brand image and to communicate directly with their guests on
a more intimate & timely basis. In the USA, Bill Marriott was one of the
first CEOs to jump onto the Social Media bandwagon when he started his 'On the
Move' blog in 2007...From Starwood to Hyatt or Ritz Carlton, many hotel brands
maintain & promote their own Twitter pages to provide concierge services,
updates on hotel properties or responses to specific questions from guests...
Last but not least, I
found -maybe telling of the digital maturity of India’s hotel chains – that
very few, even five star – of the hotels still don’t offer the basic courtesy
of complimentary in-room first 30 mn for their guests to check their emails
whereas it has long become, like cable TV or A.C., a commodity & necessity
in the rest of the world for most business travelers...
In conclusion, with the current slowed growth that it is going through, maybe it’s time for India’s hospitality industry to rethink some of its strategic skills & upgrade its approach & tools when it comes to their Customer strategy, Service Excellence & delivery. It will be even more crucial to the growing trend of Internationally-branded, mid-scale offerings and value segment which are more & more required by both domestic and international travelers...For that to happen, the best of traditional Maharajah style hospitality will have to incorporate an innovative 21st century strategy & its marketing tools that the population of Modern India & the digital age have already adopted.
If that happens, India’s hospitality industry might be in a position to become the most qualitative, competitive & efficient on the planet...!