Hotel Business Review

Mr. Nijhawan

Executive Leadership

Grow Your Hotel Brand and its Reputation

By Sanjay Nijhawan, COO, Guoman Hotels (UK)

The last year has proved to be one of the most challenging sales environments in decades, not only for hotels and resorts but for all industries. In such a competitive environment, it is those organisations that can develop (or retain) a strong brand identity and reputation that will perform most strongly, ensuring not only their survival but setting themselves to benefit most from the resulting upturn.

Strong brands will secure guest loyalty, and with existing customers up to 7 times more profitable to deal with than new customers this is vital in efficiently utilising the orgnisation's resources and keeping costs down. Strong brands will also have a clear position when economic conditions improve, enabling them to attract new customers quickly due to their clear message and offering.

There has never been a better time to clarify and develop your hotel brand, and below are some suggestions about how to approach this.

Develop an identifiable, unique position in the market

This is the vital first step in ensuring a strong brand that can grow, and that your business will stand for something with the customer. The best way of viewing a brand is as 'customer short-hand' - a way of immediately conveying what you are all about, and more importantly, what the customer will receive. How many of us walk past the own-label goods in supermarket, heading straight for the household name brands. Why? Both packets have cornflakes/ketchup/washing-powder inside! Yet we feel reassured by that brand-name, that promise of what you will receive - whether it's the whitest whites, the softest touch, or the longest-lasting.

Developing a clear position for your brand is fine in principle - but in practice it can be a real challenge in hospitality. We are an industry in which everyone sells a similar thing: a place to sleep where varying levels of luxury, comfort, service and, usually, food and drink, are provided, at prices appropriate to the levels offered. So, how can you develop the vital points of differentiation - areas where you can stand-out and be different? The key is that your positioning needs to sell an experience, to help explain to a guest what they will feel. Here are just a few areas that can be explored:

• Design - contemporary or traditional, strong design features or none

• Consistency of product or service - are you building a chain, or a collection?

• Technology

• Location - city centre or country-side retreat

• Size - boutique or large

• Facilities - restaurants, spas, coffee shops, shops, golf courses, business centers - the list just goes on

Guoman Hotels have developed a position as 'an exclusive collection of deluxe hotels in key international cities with a reputation for excellence and individuality'. Combining location, quality and individuality of hotel experience became the essence of our brand, and informed decisions on our brand growth. We are therefore opening our next hotels in Shanghai and Beijing, as 5-star hotels with individual designs for each property.

Deliver on the promise

Having adopted a clear position, it is essential to deliver on the promises made by that position. It is fine to thoroughly understand and communicate who we are and to embrace all the wonders of technology available to us, but, in the end, the guest has to experience what we have promised. And not just a guest, but every single guest every day - consistency needs to be the watchword. The alternative is a one-time guest who may be quick to hop on TripAdvisor and tell another story.

The physical environment of the hotel is important - its design, feel, state of repair etc all reflect on the brand, and ensuring that the environment matches the position is a crucial first step. But the most important ingredient in making our brand essence a reality is staff who are appropriately mannered, knowledgeable "people-persons" who are passionate and confident in their work. This cannot be over-emphasized: the core experience for guests at any hotel, assuming that facilities are acceptable and function properly, is interaction with staff. A memorable hotel stay is far more influenced by a friendly smile or useful assistance from a concierge than a really impressive showerhead or entertainment system.

This is why, at Guoman Hotels, we place a very high priority on recruiting the very best people. It is important our people are then trained to understand our brand promise, but equally that they are empowered to bring their personalities to work to ensure an authentic and truly welcoming service. And we work hard to keep them too, by offering on-going training and career development to ensure that our staff retention is consistently higher than the industry average.

Communicate with your target audience

A vital part of growing a brand is in communicating - both effectively and efficiently. To be efficient, you need to understand the audience you are trying to reach, so you do not waste effort or resources on customers not relevant to your brand. This could be existing customers, but especially for new or developing brands this could mean finding a whole new customer base. With our new 5-star hotel The Royal Horseguards, we have identified a new customer set that we need to target in addition to the existing guest base, and have secured agency support in identifying the best way to reach this new audience.

The traditional model would view this is outward communication, 'pushing' your controlled brand message to relevant audiences, and this is still important. Ensuring all your communications are on brand, focusing on what is important and differentiates you, and that you utilize cost-effective channels such as a branded interactive website, targeted PR and electronic communications, will grow awareness of your brand and what it stands for, and encourage trial.

However it is important to remember that the most powerful marketing for your brand is word of mouth. Guests who have experienced your hotel can be your best (or worst!) advocates, as they share their own experiences with others and are considered impartial. But do not forget that a disgruntled guest will tell many more people about a negative experience than a contented guest.

This has always been a significant factor in communication, even when the dialogue was face-to-face and therefore the reach was limited; but with the massive growth of social media and on-line communication the opinions of guests are now reaching a far wider audience. TripAdvisor, YouTube and online social networks are trusted sources of information and opinion for millions. Facebook has over 200 million members, whilst there are 50 million Bloggers worldwide, with Twitter having grown by 1000% in the last year. The scale, and pace of change, is frightening.

What does this mean for hoteliers who want to grow their brand and its reputation? We must join the conversation. Develop interactive content-rich websites that inform your potential guests, and allow them to make enquiries prior to booking. Ensure a robust guest feedback system is in place, monitor social media and review websites to identify any common issues that need to be addressed, and respond when appropriate so browsers see you take guest opinions seriously. Reputation can take years to establish, and days to lose, so constant monitoring is essential.

The coming months will not all be plain-sailing, but focusing on these brand principles will help to ensure your organization remains focused on meeting guest needs, and positioning your business for rapid recovery when economic conditions improve.

With extensive experience oin working for some of the biggest brands in the business, including Hilton, Holiday Inn, Marriott and Forte, Sanjay Nijhawan has been in the hospitality industry for over 17 years. Mr. Nijhawan joined Thistle Hotels in 2004 as general manager for The Tower in central London. Earlier this year Mr. Nijhawan was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Guoman Hotels (UK) overseeing the development of a collection of six international deluxe properties in central London. Mr. Nijhawan graduated from Thames Valley University in 1992 with a degree in hotel management. Mr. Nijhawan can be contacted at 0870 333 9280 or Sanjay.nijhawan@guoman.co.uk

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