Hotel Success Handbook Action List

ACTIONS CHECKLIST
Introduction
0.1 Set your objectives
My criteria for success
What I want to learn or achieve as a result of this book
0. 2 Plan temlate
!ow draw u your Plan temlate " it#s u to you whether you do this on your comuter$ or on
aer. Whichever it is$ have it in a format that you can add to and udate every time you
have another idea. %on#t worry about havin& too much on it at this sta&e " we will hel you to
rioritise it all at the end of the book.
'ou can download an ()cel temlate from our website www.*otelSuccess*andbook.com
+ www.*otelSuccess*andbook.com 2010

,hater 1
Who are your &uests and what are you sellin&-
1.1 %escribe your erfect &uest
%on#t worry if these are not the tye of &uests you have now. .ive as much detail as
ossible.
/heir likes and dislikes
/heir bud&et
/heir ercetions of value for money 0not the same as their bud&et1
What they de2ne as &ood service
*ow often they visit your area
*ow often they take a holiday
Who they travel with
/heir interests and hobbies
Where else they travel to
*ow they send their time away from the hotel
*ow they like to travel
*ow old they are
What they do with their time whilst in the hotel
Where they like to eat
/heir favourite foods
What they like to eat 0not necessarily their favourite food all of the time1
/heir values
What 3demo&rahic# they are 0e.&. youn& urban coules$ middle income families with
children1
What in4uences their decisions5 e.&. lo&ic$ cost and racticalities$ or emotion$ look$ ima&e
and &ut feel
/heir birthday and other secial occasion dates
1.2 What are your &uests# needs and e)ectations-
What are their hi&hest riorities-
What are the thin&s they are likely to ay a remium for-
What criteria do they use to assess these-
1.6 Who are your buyers-
7or one week make a note of all the eole makin& your bookin&s 0or if you already know
this information$ look back over your recent bookin&s1.
8ee a tally of all your bookin&s$ whether or not the 3buyer# is one of the arty$ and$ if not$
what their role is e.&. travel a&ent$ P9$ relative$ club secretary
!ow for each &rou track back over ()ercises 1.1 and 1.2 and comlete the same e)ercises
for your 3buyers# " you need to know how they think too.
1.: Identify the needs you satisfy for your ideal &uests
What needs do you satisfy for your ideal &uest-
What are you sellin&-
Put the hysical$ emotional and results descritions to&ether
What does this do or how does this hel your &uests-
,hater 2
What#s di;erent about you-
2.1 *ow are you di;erent-
Write u a list of your attributes and all the thin&s you do or o;er " anythin& that relates to
the hotel itself$ your &uests# stay$ or their overall e)erience5
7eatures
/he accommodation
'our location
9ctivities
'ou
'our team
'our menu
'our bar and wine selection
What you rovide in your rooms
'our function acka&es
!ow &o back over this list and identify5
/he thin&s that are &eneric and can be alied to any hotels in your area or sector
/he thin&s that are already di;erent$ or that with a little e;ort could be made into somethin&
di;erent
What attributes or o;erin&s can you combine to make you aear uni<ue-
!ow summarise the thin&s you could con2dently romote as bein& di;erent and 3uni<ue# to
your hotel.
2.2 What are your assions and
values-
Write a list of thin&s you enjoy doin& or are interested in or assionate about 0list anythin&
you do and believe in both in 3work# and 3lay#1.
What are the thin&s you value most-
Which of these can be re4ected in your business$ and how-
2.6 =ist your interests
=ist your interests$ hobbies or any toics which you have enou&h 2rst hand knowled&e to be
an e)ert in
*ow could you develo this e)ertise to incororate it into your hotel-
What could you write about or do to &et initial attention as an e)ert-
What other oortunities are there for activities and events based around your e)ert toic-
Who else mi&ht you work with to develo or deliver this secial e)ert toic-
2.: What is your identity-
What are the key factors you want to re4ect in the identity of your hotel-
What are the thin&s you value most-
*ow would you sum u the ersonality of you$ your team$ and the hotel as a whole-
What is the look and ima&e you most re4ect-
What feelin&s and emotions do you conjure u- 0e.&. rela)ation$ e)citement$ security$ eace
of mind$ entertainment1
2.> Sum u your identity
*ow would you now sum u your identity- Pick out your key words from 9ction 2.:
What is the overall theme-
!ow sum u your ima&e in one sentence
What look$ colours$ words and ima&es will convey this ima&e-
2.? What#s your story-
!ow brin& everythin& to&ether from all the 9ctions in this chater rememberin& your ideal
&uests. Write u your story to include5 what you are sellin& which is uni<ue$ what makes you
di;erent$ and your assions and values to re4ect your identity.
,hater 6
@eview your website
6.1 Write the business objectives for your website
Write down everythin& that#s imortant to your business$ esecially those thin&s that make
you di;erent and uni<ue.
*ave the list ready to reference when we work throu&h all the actions to imrove your
website.
6.2 Make use of analytics
If you haven#t done so already$ set u 9nalytics on your website.
If you already have 9nalytics " take a fresh look and make note of your 2ndin&s 0look at
keywords$ referrin& sites$ a&es visited$ en<uiries made1. .et familiar with what 9nalytics can
show you about your website.
Set u &oals on your 9nalytics that 2t with your website objectives 0e.&. en<uiries$ bookin&s$
downloadin& a brochure1.
6.6 ,heck your content
.o back to your website and see if$ for each of the key objectives and bene2ts of your hotel
that you want to communicate$ you have5
*eadline information
Summary information
More detail
7urther readin&
'ou#ll robably 2nd you#ve &ot some writin& to doA
6.: 9dd detail to your objectives
.o back to the list you created in 9ction 6.1 and one by one 3talk# about the detail.
/hen think about what in your 3detail# is uni<ue to you. It#s all in your head " you just need to
&et it out.
Write it down.
6.> @eview your key information
=ook at the list of key information in this section. (ven if you think it#s already on your
website$ have another read throu&h to check that it#s5
B to date
Includes as much detail as you can
Is clear and easy to 2nd and read
6.? @eview your hotos
=ook at your website and make sure there are hotos of everything
Write detailed descritions to &o with your hotos to entice the reader
9dd keywordCrich titles$ ta&s and descritions to all your hotos for the search en&ines
6.D Make a video
.ive it a &oA Produce a video for your website " ick a feature or one holiday you o;er and
make a video to 3showcase# it.
If you already have a videoEvideos$ add another.
09nd don#t for&et to uload your videos to your 'ou/ube channel that you#ve set u$ with lots
of keywords in the descrition.1
9dd in checklist
6.F @eview your homea&e
/ake a &ood look at your homea&e
%oes it meet the objectives you set out in 9ction 6.1-
Bse the checklist here to see if all <uestions are answered
Where are you-
*ow much are your roomsEacka&es-
What are your rooms like-
What amenities are there-
9ny secial o;ers-
*ow do I contact you or book-
What#s your availability-
What food do you serve in your restaurant-
What makes you di;erent " why should I book with you-
What chan&es do you need to make- Now make them!
6.G .et feedback on your website
9sk >"10 tar&et market rosects to take a look at your new homea&e and website. Set
them <uestions to 2nd the answers to
9lso don#t for&et to ask &uests for their feedback on the website. ,ould they 2nd all the
information they were lookin& for- %id they book online-
6.1
0
@eview your bookin& system
*ow do eole book with you5
Online? " review your bookin& forms$ en<uiries$ ask a <uestion$ email address-
By phone? " is 2: hour covera&e taken care of- %oes your website show your 3oHce hours#
By email? " who icks u these emails- *ow <uickly are they answered-
,an they check availaility !tat"! live on your website-
#rom over!ea!? " o;er alternative hone numbers and the international diallin& code
Another way? *ow do your ideal customers want to book- /e)t messa&e- /witter-
6.1
1
Irainstorm key words and
hrases
Irainstorm key words and hrases related to your hotel$ the holidays$ facilities and services
you o;er.
=ook u the oularity of these hrases usin& a keyword tool.
%ecide on which hrases you want to comete 0remember less oular hrases are still
searched for C more focus and less cometition is &ood1.
,hater :
,ommunication
:.1 Put yourself in your &uests#
shoes
Put yourself 0or a friend or collea&ue1 in your &uests# shoes and ask yourself5
What#s in it for me to stay in this hotel-
0'our answers from ,hater 1" Identity and emotionalEhysicalEresults descrition mi&ht be
helful.1
:.2 Put 9I%9 into ractice
/hink how you are &oin& to5
Attra$t your otential customers with a headline statement
Intere!t your customers with information that is di;erent about your hotel
9rouse your customers# %e!ire by makin& your o;er irresistible
.ive a call to a$tion " a reason to resond strai&ht away
:.6 Identify your communication
channels
9sk yourself5
*ow I am &oin& to communicate with my customers-
What tyes of messa&e will aeal to them-
What style of communication would be most relevant to them-
What tye of lan&ua&e do they use-
What ublications do they read-
Where do they socialise-
Where do they send their time-
What access do they have to the Internet-
:.: /hink about the look and feel of your romotional material
What ima&es do you want to show-
What colours do you want to use-
What words are &oin& to attract your ideal &uest- 0Make sure it#s lan&ua&e they use1
:.> Make o;ers scarce or ur&ent
*ow can you make your o;er0s1 3scarce#- 7or e)amle$ 32rst 10# 3only 6 rooms available#.
,an you ut a deadline on your o;er0s1 to make it 3ur&ent#-
What will you do when you are fully booked or the deadline is reached- 0*ave a lan1
:.? Identify your contact otions
Write down all your contact otions$ with secial numbers$ addresses or romotional codes$
and oenin& times5
/elehone number
What will you say on your voiceCmail messa&e-
7a) number
(mail
Jnline form
In erson
:.D Information about your rosects and customers
/hink about the information you want to hold about your rosects and customers that sets
them out as ideal customers.
Which is the most imortant$ and which can wait until you know them better-

:.F @eview your contact mana&ement
=ook at your current business rocesses and systems to see if you need to set u an email
mana&ement system or a ,@M.
If you already have a ,@M$ run a review to see if you are usin& it to its best e;orts.
If you don#t already have a list$ or way of easily mana&in& or se&mentin& your contacts set
this u now.
When evaluatin& a new solution$ look for comatibility with other e)istin& systems. It usually
makes sense to &o with a system that already has inte&ration with other software you use
0e.&. your bookin& system$ your accounts system$ your database1
:.G Iuildin& your list
Identify what incentives you can o;er in e)chan&e for eole#s contact details
*ow will you cature details-
:.1
0
,ometition ideas
What do you 0or could you1 o;er that would make an irresistible riKe-
/hinkin& about your ideal customers$ what other riKes or incentives would aeal 0this will
hel you to think about suitable joint venture artners who can o;er these riKes if you
cannot1
:.1
1
,ontactin& your list
What methods could you use to contact your list-
What contact details do you already have-
What else is needed-
*ow will you &ather contact information-
What toics could you write about within the ne)t month-
:.1
2
/ar&eted o;ers
What events or romotions have you lanned that you need to announce to your list-
What messa&es do you need to convey-
Plan your se<uence of mailin&s for the ne)t monthE6 monthsEL so you have a lan of re&ular
contact.
,hater >
9dd value to increase send and fre<uency
>.1 @eview your own tari;s and
ricin&
*ow do your &uests erceive your rices-
*ow do your rices comare with other hotels tar&etin& the same &uest ro2le-
What do you already o;er that di;erentiates you from them and &ives value for money from
your &uests# ersective-
What can you o;er which any indirect cometition could never comete with-
What else can you do simly to add value for money without lowerin& your rices-
>.2 /ry before you buy
What services or o;ers could you o;er as a try before you buy-
>.6 Inclusive deals and acka&es
What inclusive deals and acka&es could you o;er-
What activity acka&es-
What does your hotel have which is uni<ue and could form the basis of an o;er or deal-
>.: Bse your e)ert toic
*ow can you use your 3e)ert# toic to o;er value for money-
>.> (arly bird o;ers
Jn what service0s1 could you o;er early bird o;ers-
What incentives will you o;er to the &uest-
>.? B&rades
Where or when could you o;er u&rades-
>.D Moint venture oortunities
What oortunities can you identify to &et to&ether with others-
Suliers-
Moint venture artners-
>.F .uarantees
What &uarantees could you o;er your &uests-
,hater ?
Market your hotel online
?.1 /rial and track ay er click
If you have bud&et available for online marketin& PP, is a &ood way to have a measurable
camai&n.
/rial usin& PP, for one o;er or set of keywords 0destinationEholiday tyeEserviceEseasonal
o;er1.
If you#re already usin& PP, " are you constantly reviewin& and chan&in& your ads- 9re the
keywords you are usin& a match to those you came u with in ,hater 6 09ction 6.111

?.2 7ind artner sites and forums
Bse search en&ines to look for suitable artner sites that could brin& you traHc " use the
keywords and hrases your &uests would use$ and see what sites come u in the results.
7ind a forum0s1 that your ideal &uests send time on and ose <uestions and comment.

?.6 Write articles and blo&s
Start a list of all the toics you feel con2dent to write about on your blo& or as articles5
about your area
about your holiday e)eriences
about events
about your e)ert toic
7ind other blo&s it would be &ood to comment on and join in " destination and travelCrelated
or associated with your e)ert toic
?.: 7ind out where your customers &o online
9sk them " when bookin&$ feedback forms$ in conversation.
.oo&le their interests to see sites that come u
=ook at rinted media#s online sites 0newsaers$ ma&aKines1.
7ind online communities that re4ect your ideal &uest demo&rahic and interests 0mums#
sites$ business sites$ sort sites$ etc.
=ook at social media sites to choose the best one for your hotel to en&a&e on.
,hater D
/raditional marketin&
D.1 Identify ress oortunities
What ublications or newsaers do your customers read-
What events either ast or future are newsworthy- /hink of an an&le " one oint that will be
di;erent and interestin&.
What ress covera&e have you already had that you can caitalise on-
D.2 Write an advertorial
Write down ideas for advertorial features$ such as travel features or e)ert features
Write u an advertorial article you can lace in rinted media
D.6 Preare a radio interview
Make a list of toics you#d like to seak about " make notes and have some case studies
ready.
9roach radio stations that have shows which cover your toics.
@ecord an audio 2le 0or a fewA1 to have on your website of you bein& interviewed on your
toics so you have e)amles ready. /he interview can be youEmember of sta;$ but it means
you#ve &ot more content for your website and an e)amle for radio stations.

D.: Plan rint inserts
If your ideal &uests read rinted ublications5
Make a list of o;ers you can romote in an insert.
Write out headlines$ calls to action and o;er details.
%esi&n a 4yer or insert and test this in a tar&eted ublication 0by re&ion if it#s a lar&e
subscrition base1.
D.> Preare a lea4et dro
.enerate ideas for a local o;er.
%esi&n a lea4et with a clear call to action for your o;er.
/ar&et your lea4et by area$ or ostcode.
Measure resonse with a code or landin& a&e.
D.? ,onduct a direct mail camai&n
%raft direct mail letters or ostcards
/est to a samle of your database
When you have a result you#re hay with " roll out to your entire database$ or with a artner
to their database.
,hater F
Iuild your &uest relationshi
F.1 .et to know your &uests
What else can you do to &et to know your &uests better-
In what ways can you &et feedback from your &uests-
What can you do to raise your visibility with &uests-
What networkin& events or forums are there where your tar&et &uests meet- Jr where their
contacts meet-
F.2 @eward &uest loyalty
What could you do to reward &uest loyalty-
F.6 @esond to your &uests# wants and needs
What do you need to do to resond to &uests# wants and needs-
What don#t you rovide currently that &uests have re<uested-
Where do you need to rovide &reater 4e)ibility to meet &uests# needs-
What articular challen&es stand in the way of your &uests makin& a bookin&-
What secial diets do you &et re<uests for- What do you need to do to &et started on these-
What values do your &uests have that need to be re4ected in your oeration-
What other roducts or services could you rovide before$ durin& or after their visit-
%o you sell &ift vouchers$ and if not what needs to haen to make these available-
F.: Maintain your &uests# interest
What events or activities could you or&anise to maintain your &uests# interest-
7orthcomin& romotions-
Promotion of the month-
Seasonal events-
,ometitions or riKe draws-
F.> .et your e)istin& &uests sellin&
for you
*ow can you &et your e)istin& &uests sellin& for you-
What do you do that demonstrates e)cetional service and will romt &uests to talk about
you-
What system do you have in lace to &ather referrals-
What else do you need to do to &et referrals-
*ow do you reward eole who &ive you referrals-
,hater G
Involve your team
G.1 Identify the attributes you need
What are the attributes you need in each of your team members-
What more can you do to build your reutation as a &ood lace to work-
G.2 /rain your team in &uest service
What trainin& do you need to &ive your team in &uest service basics-
What systems or rocedures do you need to clarify or write down so that team members can
deal with them con2dently-
What are the common issues that you could dele&ate to sta;-
/ake the &uest journey now 0and schedule it in re&ularly1.
G.6 Involve your team in sellin&
%o all your sta; know all your roducts and services-
%oes your front of house team know what items and services to romote ea$h %ay-
%o all your team know how to usell-
%o you conduct %aily brie2n&s with the team-
If not$ when could you schedule these to take lace-
G.: .ive resonsibility
What rocess can you ut in lace for sta; to obtain and act on &uests# feedback-
Who could be aointed chamions for certain tasks-
*ow could you encoura&e the team to take resonsibility when you are not there-
G.> /hink about sta; incentives
%o you &ive any incentive for team members to &ive e)cetional &uest service or usell-
*ow e;ective is this in motivatin& all sta;$ in all roles or deartments-
,hater 10
,ollaboratin& for success
10.
1
What to outsource
=ookin& at your list of actions to date$ what are the areas where you don#t have the
e)ertise-
What are the actions where it mi&ht be cheaer for someone else to comlete-
What are the actions that would &et done more <uickly or more e;ectively by someone else-
10.
2
Mindma your joint ventures and aHliates
Bsin& the mind ma below$ brainstorm what otions you have for joint ventures and
aHliates. 9im to have at least three ideas for each headin&$ but don#t sto at three if you
have more ideasA
!ow for each otential joint venture or aHliate$ identify at least two rojects or ideas you
could do with them which will aeal to your ideal &uest$ and be of bene2t to both you and
the joint venture artner.
10.
6
Irin& it all to&ether
!ow udate your lan with all your ideas from this chater.
Who have you identi2ed as otential joint venture artners or aHliates-
What further research do you need to verify these ideas-
,hater 11
Irin&in& it all to&ether
11.
1
Identify business &oals
What I want the to achieve for the business5
11.
2
Bdate your lan
!ow udate your initial lan$ and add in riorities and dates. /here is a temlate in the
resources area of www.*otelSuccess*andbook.com
11.
6
9dd in the detail
*i&hli&ht just one thin& to &et you started " don#t be too ambitious at this oint " better to
&et the ball rollin& on just one thin& and do it well.
%o you have a &oal for this action-
*ave you identi2ed how you will evaluate it-
If so$ now break this down into all the actions needed to achieve this.
!ow schedule these into your diary includin& any review dates.

Hotel Success Handbook Action List

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hotel Success Handbook Action List

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ACTIONS CHECKLIST

You might also like