What Makes a Successful Hotelier?
There’s more that goes into being a successful hotelier than you might think. An awesome hotelier, it is said, must be a diplomat, a democrat, an autocrat, an acrobat, and a doormat. It’s not just a job, it’s a mentality. Want to learn to be one? Here’s what you need to know:
You need to be a people’s person.
This doesn’t mean just being pleasant and smiling at people. It means you have to love being around people. Your job isn’t just about clean rooms and comfortable beds, it’s about pleasing people. Most can tell when you’re simply being polite because it’s expected as opposed to when your actions stem from a willingness to please. It’s more than just a “have a nice day” attitude. It’s more of a “how can I help you have a great day?” attitude.
You need to be a jack-?of-?all-?trades.
There is no task in running a hotel that is not in your job description. From working behind the bar, to helping make beds, the successful hotelier can do it all and does it all, willingly. Needless to say, you have to have an extremely strong work ethic. The hotel industry demands hard work and long hours. The guests are there for a holiday; you’re there to work.
You need to be direct, assertive and decisive.
This applies to staff and guests, alike. You need to communicate clearly with your staff – they should know their responsibilities and tasks and there should be no room for doubt. When it comes to guests, decisiveness is reassuring. It lets them feel that you’ve understood their complaint or request and you’re going to do something positive to ensure that it’s resolved. Decisiveness extends to remaining calm in a crisis – it’s easy to be good at your job when it’s all smooth-?sailing, but add a crisis to the mix and you’ll really find yourself tested. Keep a clear head and formulate a plan of action.
You need to be approachable.
Your staff should feel like they can come to you for anything – that your door is always open to them.
Your guests need to feel the same. A good leader is one who is approachable and who listens.
You need to be passionate.
It’s hard work being a successful hotelier. Passion will help you put enthusiasm into the job even if you’re tired and stressed. Passion motivates other people, too – if your passion is genuine, your team will find it contagious and it will improve their outlook and performance.
You need to be observant.
You need to see things others don’t – from reading body language, to noticing a crooked picture on the wall – take it all in and see where something is lacking and where something else can be improved. You need to be able to discern weak links in your team and identify where and how people work well together and how you can help them improve their skills and service. Being observant also helps you to pre-?empt your guests’ needs, and if you can tell them what they need before they’ve realised they need it – bonus points to you. An eye for detail and perfectionism is also necessary here.
Most importantly: you need to focus on success. Focus is what directs the hotelier towards those activities which matter most. The best hotelier realises that just being busy is not as important as being busy doing the right things.
