Experts place in about 12 months the time to recover normality in the tourism sector after the Covid. The management of change must be directed to be able to manage the crisis at the same time that we prepare for changes in the sector, which will probably occur in consumer habits and new regulations of the administration after the health crisis.
How to respond to this new paradigm and how to adapt all processes to meet the needs of consumers becomes a necessity to give the best and most excellent service delivery, with a scenario of health access control increasingly demanding.
The experts list the main challenges facing the sector: the fall in activity, financing, regulation, management of occupational risks and the response of the organization.
In this scenario, the organizational culture must focus on the customer, giving special importance to the brand to convey a sense of security and comfort in the provision of all services. A period is opening in which safety and health are going to take on greater relevance and importance. The key for the accommodations will be in offering security.
Within this framework it is vital to protect the health of employees, adjust costs with a good financial plan, and “above all, be very close to the customers”.
The changes in the market are generating in the sector the need to renew itself to satisfy the demands of a new customer profile.
The keys to change management in the sector would be fundamentally in the technological transformation and the new protocols to avoid the contagion that will be required in many cases to digitalization.
Other levers for change management in the sector will be a greater environmental awareness and flexible management, in search of new alternatives that allow them to generate a differential value.
Adapting to changes in consumer habits requires knowing both the expectations and the behavior of the consumer. Clients are looking for a personalized and unique experience. Proof of this is that in the last five years, boutique hotels have grown by more than 300%. Therefore, businesses in the hotel sector need to put their customers at the center and design customized experiences that can attract and retain them:
Differentiation. The challenge of an increasingly “necessary and difficult” differentiation and the growing competition requires a greater effort to offer a different product and transmit its values. Today’s consumer chooses brands that are in line with their values. In order to adapt to a more conscious consumer, businesses must carry out ethical and transparent management, not only from an environmental point of view but also from a social and economic one.
The customer-oriented company. The whole team must understand the value of the brand, what we want that brand to mean for the customers and what to do so that the customers receive that value. The business strategy, processes and its product must be oriented to exceed customer expectations.
Original and innovative solutions. You have to anticipate in order to stand out. That’s why companies must continuously seek original and innovative solutions. Implement technology oriented towards innovation and customer experience.
New business strategies and new corporate image. Create new business models, while renewing the corporate image. A renewed image of hotels and adopt philosophies that spaces are transformed into generators of experiences, betting on technology, with new technological platforms.
Hotel management. Bringing together all the hotels of the Group with the aim of offering the best service to customers and seek maximum profitability of the spaces. The aim is to detect new opportunities in the market. Being a multi-brand company helps to segment and offer greater quality and customer-oriented service with the values of the new brand.
Incorporation of new technologies. Omnicanality is increasingly important in the digital transformation of the hotel sector. It is not enough to facilitate online reservations or have a website if the hotel experience is not what you expected. Some chains have understood that the digital transformation is key to adapting to the new times. For example, holographic projection technology to attract more business clients and the smart bracelet with which users can open their room and access other areas of the facilities or even buy products offered by the hotel.
Implement advances in marketing and digital communication. We sell much more online, directly or through our intermediaries and meta-search engines. We have software services in the cloud, maintained by professional companies and we have the possibility of selling online automatically with a management of the booking process and optimization that no longer needs intervention from different professionals.
The check-in/out. Customers want to be attended directly, with a personalized treatment and be able to enter the room as soon as possible. How we serve them and how quickly will define the impression they will take of our brand. Offering the pre-check-in, through a web form, having a system that allows you to enter data automatically through a reader or camera, sign directly on the touch screen or with our digital identity becomes increasingly important to meet the needs of today’s consumer. Changes in internal management systems, process adaptations and internal operations such as changes in capacity and other technical adjustments will be required. Non-touch activation methods will be used, both by voice and through smartphones. At the reception, a waiting line will have to be marked to guarantee the social and health separation of the clients or to bet on other digital systems. The market has solutions for self-check-in and integral management of accommodation, these mobile applications allow both check-in and check-out processes without the need to go to reception. The customer can go directly to their room or apartment. In addition, through their smartphones, customers can both open doors and access the services offered by the accommodation.
Means of payment. Although the credit card is still a widely used payment method, the introduction of Instant SEPA (TIPS – Target Instant Payment Settlement) will change the way of payment in the coming years. At a national level, it already offers a system like Bizum . Many banks are already working on being able to offer new means of payment.
New booking system. The use of voice to control a device is well known, as is the case of “OK Google”, talking with the mobile you can use the search engine. The technology is based on voice recognition and voice to text conversion.
Disinfection and COVID Free Hotels. It will be necessary to implement specific Disinfection Certificates against Covid-19 that include date of action and company in charge of its implementation. The COVID Free Hotels certificate is underway, promoted by the Hotel Business Association of Madrid (AEHM).
Separation of tables. In the hotels’ restaurants we will also notice the new measures to be implemented. The separation of the tables will be essential and breakfast buffets will have to maintain social distance to ensure the safety of users. There will be a tendency to ask for continental breakfast in the room.
Finally, gloves and masks will continue to be essential for the staff and masks and disinfectant gels will also have to be available to guests.
How to implement the customer-oriented organizational culture?
“Company culture is the way in which an organization expresses itself through values, behavior, actions and group norms”.
“The cultural norms of the organization are those that determine what is encouraged, what is rejected, what is inside, what is outside and establishes the environment in which the work will be created”.
“When properly aligned, organizational culture can create participation, drive results, define expectations, and help release effort and energy.
The benefits of a “Healthy Culture” can be listed as: increased sales, profits, talent retention, exceptional service, increased productivity and increased brand affinity.
In building a “Customer-Centric Culture” we must get the whole team to understand the value of the brand, what we want that brand to mean to the customers and what to do so that the customers receive that value. In a fun work environment, it is easier to accept this customer vision. Start from the customer, not from the business strategy, the processes, your product …
To manage the culture of the organization we must improve communications, using feedback, producing an inclusive and diverse workplace, increasing transparency, without forgetting to establish clear objectives, avoiding the common mistakes of setting organizational objectives and most importantly encourage the use of recognition to strengthen the culture of the company.
Edited by María Luz Pomares Soler. MLP people + business Director
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