Mr. Nijhawan

Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt

Catering to the Needs of the Business Traveler

By Sanjay Nijhawan, COO, Guoman Hotels (UK)

Do the new, rapidly changing global economic realities affect how we cater to our customers, particularly to the all important business traveler? Unquestionably, the answer is yes, but, as I hope to point out in this article, perhaps less in what we offer that's new than in how we present ourselves.

As the financial markets, banks and businesses adjust and even reinvent themselves in response to the meltdown of 2008, there seems little doubt that corporate travel departments, conference planners and individual business travelers will take a hard look at their travel needs. There may not be any less business travel, and there could even be a greater demand, given the increasingly globalized business community and the need for organizations and institutions to put their houses in order. But, what is certain is that value for money spent will be the very highest priority in making travel decisions.

There are two other new realities, however, that also affect how we meet the needs and expectations of corporate or conference guests. The first is the profoundly changed customer-supplier relationship. Largely thanks to technology and online communications, today's consumers are in charge. With 24/7 access to information and interactive communication on a global basis, they are no longer the passive recipients of our sales pitch. This too has enormous implications for how we treat our business guests.

The other reality is the blurring of work and play. For a variety of reasons, business travelers increasingly expect, and in many cases are encouraged by their companies, to combine productive work with leisure and social activities. Obviously, this also has implications for what we offer the corporate guest.

This said, let me put my suggestions for five essential, and inter-related, practices in catering to business travelers in the context of these realities.

Location, location, location

One of the oldest adages in the hospitality industry is still right: it matters where you are. In a recent survey by the National Business Travel Association and Best Western International, over 60 percent of travel managers said the right location was the number one factor in picking a hotel. Over 70 percent of those surveyed by the Hotel Association of Canada in 2007 said they would pay extra to be within five minutes of their meeting site.

Clearly, we cannot pick up our properties and move them to a better location. Ideally, we have chosen well in building or acquiring them in the first place, but there is a lot we can do to maximize the value of what we can offer. First, we can make sure our customers - actual and prospective - know where we are, including proximity to important landmarks and business centers - and what their convenient transportation options are. Guoman hotels in London, for example, are all in prime locations with immediate proximity to public transportation, including the London Underground. Taxis, of course, are available at the doorstep. There is a concierge to assist in local transportation planning. We make sure our customers know this - before they arrive and once they are in-house.

Depending on location, a limousine or car service and perhaps shuttle transportation to specific locations, including airports, can enhance the property's "location quotient." But only if well publicized to key target audiences. Guoman has carefully selected its limousine company to provide flawless service to our business and leisure guests.

Convenience: More than a room

As hoteliers catering to business travelers, our goal is to make available a seamless, effortless and enjoyable travel experience, not just a bed for the night. Our task is to provide conveniences that enable the traveler to create that experience, according to individual tastes and interests. This begins with making sure that everything works, that fixtures, appliances, furniture, even style and aesthetics function in service to the guest. But convenience goes beyond amenities; it includes facilities and experiences in-house or within easy proximity that enable guests to shape their own travel experience. This might mean a fitness center or spa, a choice of restaurants and entertainment venues, or facilities like our Guoman lounges, where executive guests can meet, work, relax or socialize in a more exclusive atmosphere. Our Guoman lounges are a hub for our service to business guests, from the moment they arrive. And, of course, convenience is heavily dependent on providing the services of a concierge with thorough knowledge of the destination to assist guests in achieving the travel experience they expect or anticipate.

Once again, the challenge is not having these conveniences - most of us do and most business travelers expect them. But, as a total package, they play an essential role in creating a guest experience that is unique to our brand and that needs to be communicated to our customers.

Comfort: Beyond the thread count

A comfortable bed is a wonderful thing and most travelers expect to have one. Many of our guests comment that the Guoman bed is one of the most comfortable they have ever enjoyed.

Yet our real task in providing comfort is creating an ambiance that relaxes, refreshes and reassures. The last thing a business traveler wants to do is worry, except perhaps about tomorrow's presentation. They don't want to be concerned about their safety, or feel insecure about being in a new or foreign place. They don't want to worry about their health, or feel isolated and alone. Comfort is really all about feeling comfortable, even feeling welcome.

Some of this is accomplished by the physical reality of the property and its location, by appropriate lighting, or features that directly address comfort-related issues, such as facilities and services for women, smoke-free environments and others. But, to a large degree, a sense of comfort is created by interpersonal relationships. For hoteliers this means staff-guest interactions. A female guest traveling alone will feel comfortable entering a restaurant or bar in part because it looks inviting, but mostly because her experience with staff and the ambiance they help create make her feel welcome, safe and relaxed. This is why at Guoman, and many other hotel companies, training - from hiring selections through rigorous, hands-on learning - is of the highest priority. We have developed our own Guoman Training Academies for training our staff in the Guoman service standards.

All Connected All the Time

This is a simple one: it's all about the Internet and personal technology, which have profoundly changed how consumers gather information, think and communicate. Business travelers, with immediate access to information, product offers and dialogue with fellow consumers, are telling hotel companies what they want, when they want it, and we are in no position to refuse. Moreover, today's consumers, and especially business travelers, fully expect to be "connected" throughout their travels; it is a given, an expectation, not an extra.

Given that reality, we first must ensure that our guests have internet access throughout their stay, preferably throughout the hotel via WiFi capabilities. Equally important, however, we have to engage our business guests, corporate travel managers and meeting planners in interactive conversation. The days of putting up offers and expecting responses are gone; we need to engage each individual customer in dialogue, through websites, blogs, email, podcasts and any number of other new technologies, to assure each guest that his or her needs and expectations can be met.

Value

In the current economic environment, I cannot overemphasize my conviction that, above all else, value is what we must offer and the message we must communicate. Even before the current global economic turmoil, a broad range of concerns - from the rising cost of energy and travel to global warming - had changed consumer attitudes toward spending. Corporate travel managers and business travelers increasingly ask the question, "Is it worth it?" I am not talking price or price cutting. I'm talking about the need for hoteliers to offer outstanding value for money spent, across all price points.

How do we offer outstanding value beyond location, convenience, comfort and connectivity, all of which, admittedly, add value to the product we sell? The latest briefing from one of the more innovative trend analysts, trendwatching.com, is all about "Perkonomics" - providing products and experiences that make consumers feel unique, cared for, understood, valued and pampered. The best are genuinely useful, enjoyable, even surprising. Some, like our Guoman Clubs, serve to provide certain categories of guests with exclusive privileges. The best perks go beyond traditional frequent guest programs to help define the uniqueness of the brand, creating empathy and loyalty among our customers and serving to promote the brand as consumers share their experiences with one another. These are what extend and enhance the value of our product.

As we move forward through these uncertain times and as hotel companies continue to be creative and innovative in finding ways to expand their customer base, the business traveler will remain, for many of us, our most important customer. By following these five essential practices, it is my belief that we will be successful in keeping that customer satisfied.

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 Extended Bio...

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