How to Run a Great Hotel : Everything You Need to Achieve Excellence in the Hotel Industry

Witty, authoritative, comprehensive and fun, Wake Up and Smell the Profit is the ultimate guide to making more money in your coffee business. In this book you'll find the sharpest insights and the best ideas from two of the UK's top Coffee Business Gurus. Together 'The Coffee Boys' have 40 years' experience in how to make money in the coffee selling business. Whether you operate a single site espresso bar, a Michelin starred restaurant or chain of hotels, there is something in this book for everyone. With 52 motivating tips and suggestions (plus an extra bonus idea for good measure), all you need to do is apply one initiative a week for a year and you could have a much more profitable and easier to manage business within twelve months. With this book you'll be able * Make more money and work less * Have happier customers who spend more money * Win more customers without spending a fortune * Enjoy running your business more * Create customers who rave about your business and consequently generate more customers through word of mouth What are you waiting for? Introduction; 1. It's all about the money - the good news; 2. It's all about the money - the bad news; 3. It's all about the money - a little story; 4. Focus on coffee for profit; 5. Great coffee (profits) come from great training; 6. Great coffee sales come from one thing - great taste; 7. It's all about the food; 8. There are three ways and only three ways to grow your business; 9. Be brave about your prices; 10. Know your figures and have a plan - a plan that works for you!; 11. Get accountable and know your figures; 12. Know your food cost for every single item; 13. Know your labour/wage cost and stay accountable; 14. It's your fault - get this and then get it again; 15. A coffee shop is all about people - and people need clear rules; 16. Make sure your employees understand the numbers; 17. Every pound is not equal. A pound earned is worth a lot less than a pound saved; 18. View your coffee business as if you were a customer; 19. View the business every day as if you were an employee; 20. Break the whole selling process down and make it better; 21. Keep your toilets spotless; 22. Treat lunch like a restaurant; 23. Create food stories about your star products and sell, sell, sell; 24. Get crafty with your menu and signage; 25. Watch your language; 26. Say hello; 27. Don't point and watch your body language; 28. Nod your head when asking a customer if they would like something; 29. Thank them; 30. The Granny Rule; 31 Keep the kids occupied; 32. Sell more coffee with cake and more cake with coffee Up selling and cross selling; 33. Sell more cold drinks; 34. Get your customer flow right; 35. Make it easy for the customer to buy; 36. Work out your lifetime customer value; 37. Consider the sizes - carefully; 38. Make it accessible and open. Make it all look great; 39 Use your sign wisely. Spend money and make yourshop look obvious; 40. Get creative with signage; 41. Avoid A"sour faced hagsA"; 42. Make the customers feel you care; 43. Use the list -cheapest marketing you'll ever do; 44. Create a catering side to your business; 45. Post the utility bills; 46. Incentives for saving money and making money; 47. Get creative with your marketing and steal ideas from other industries; 48. Create a A"bibleA"; 49. Beware staff attitudes towards business ownership; 50. Make a big deal of the big days; 51. Think wisely before you open your second shop; 52. Give a bit extra; 53. Work A"onA" the business not A"inA"it; And finally; Thanks; More from The Coffee Boys. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Contents 6 Acknowledgements 12 Foreword 14 Preface 16 Introduction 18 Towards excellence 18 Think, do, review 20 Theme 1 – Define Direction 22 Chapter 1 – What is a strategic map and how can it help you to achieve excellence? 26 What does having a strategic map actually involve? 27 Elements of a strategic map 29 Dispelling the strategic myths 30 Considering the realities 31 Summary 32 Chapter 2 – How can you create a strategic map for your hotel? 33 Creating your strategic map 33 Where are we now? 34 Where do we want to be? Big picture thinking 37 Living your vision and mission 42 How will we get there? 46 From strategies to annual plans 49 Summary 54 Chapter 3 – How can you measure the impact of your strategic map over time? 55 How will we know we are getting there? 55 Define the results you want to achieve 56 Take action to achieve the results you want 57 Consider how you will measure progress 58 Measure progress at defined intervals 61 Analyse the results and make improvements 61 Summary 62 Theme 2 – Lead to Succeed 64 Chapter 4 – What does leading people actually involve? 68 Balancing the human equation 69 What’s the difference between leading and managing? 70 Leaders are different, but still human 72 Summary 73 Chapter 5 – How can you improve leadership effectiveness at your hotel? 74 Here’s what not to do . . . 74 Creating a context for leadership at the hotel 75 Defining a leadership competence model 77 Improving individual and collective leadership performance 77 What makes a great leader? 78 Core leadership competences 84 Mastering the art of communication 85 Leading with style 91 Summary 95 Chapter 6 – How can you measure leadership effectiveness over time? 96 Continually improving leadership effectiveness 96 Define the results you want to achieve 97 Take action to achieve the results you want 97 Consider how you will measure progress 99 Measure progress at defined intervals 102 Analyse the results and make improvements 103 Summary 103 Theme 3 – Engage Your Employees 104 Chapter 7 – What does engaging your employees actually involve? 108 The twelve factors of employee engagement 108 Leadership, leadership, leadership 110 The link between culture and engagement 110 The impact of team composition 111 Clarity facilitates engagement 112 Competence supports engagement 112 Engagement and cooperation are interdependent 113 Control and engagement are not enemies 114 Effective communication builds engagement 115 More challenged means more engaged 115 Conflict and engagement are linked 116 Compensation influences engagement 116 Change is a factor in engagement 117 Summary 117 Chapter 8 – What can you do to more fully engage your employees? 119 How does effective leadership help? 120 How can you impact the culture in your hotel? 121 How can you manage the composition of your team? 125 How can you provide clarity for your employees? 131 How can you build the competence of your employees? 133 What can you do to increase cooperation between employees? 136 How can you address the control issue? 137 What can you do to improve communication at the hotel? 138 How can you make work more challenging? 141 How can you ensure that conflict doesn’t affect engagement? 142 How can you address the compensation issue to raise engagement levels? 143 How can you manage change to increase engagement? 145 Summary 146 Chapter 9 – How can you measure employee engagement levels over time? 147 Measuring employee engagement levels 147 Define the results you want to achieve 148 Take action to achieve the results you want 149 Consider how you will measure progress 149 Measure progress at defined intervals 151 Analyse the results and make improvements 152 Summary 152 Theme 4 – Captivate Your Customers 154 Chapter 10 – What is ServicePlusOne and why is it important? 158 Going back to basics 158 Understanding the risk factor 162 What is ServicePlusOne (S+1) 162 Towards S+1 168 Summary 169 Chapter 11 – How can you attain ServicePlusOne at your hotel? 170 Laying the foundations for S +1 170 The challenge of the experience web 172 The route to achieving S+1 173 What are your customers’ common and specific expectations? 174 Building a better customer experience 177 Raising your game to reach S+1 186 Summary 188 Chapter 12 – How can you measure the impact of ServicePlusOne over time? 189 Measuring the impact of S+1 189 Define the results you want to achieve 190 Take action to achieve the results you want 192 Consider how you will measure progress 192 Measure progress at defined intervals 197 Analyse the results and make improvements 198 Summary 198 Make It Happen 200 Introduction 201 Theme 1 – Define Direction 202 Key messages from Theme 1: 202 Moving forward with Theme 1 – Action Checklist 204 Reviewing progress under Theme 1 – Diagnostic 206 Theme 2 – Lead to Succeed 208 Key messages from Theme 2: 208 Moving forward with Theme 2 – Action Checklist 210 Reviewing progress under Theme 2 – Diagnostic 212 Theme 3 – Engage Your Employees 214 Key messages from Theme 3: 214 Moving forward with Theme 3 – Action Checklist 216 Reviewing progress under Theme 3 – Diagnostic 218 Theme 4 – Captivate Your Customers 220 Key messages from Theme 4: 220 Moving forward with Theme 4 – Action Checklist 222 Reviewing progress under Theme 4 – Diagnostic 224 Looking ahead 226 Tools and Resources 228 Tools and Resources 229 Theme 1 – Planning Template 230 Theme 2 – Leadership Profile Self-Assessment 231 Theme 2 – Communication Skills Self-Assessment 232 Theme 2 – Leadership Style Self-Assessment 233 Theme 3 – Suggested Interview Plan 234 Theme 3 – Sample Interview Evaluation Form 235 Theme 3 – Suggested Format for an Appraisal Discussion 236 Theme 3 – Sample Employee Appraisal Criteria and Evaluation Form 238 Theme 3 – Suggested Structure for an Effective Meeting 239 Theme 3 – Sample Ideas Generation Form 241 Theme 3 – Sample Employee Engagement Survey 242 Theme 4 – Common Customer Expectations Across the Experience Web 244 Theme 4 – Sample Mystery Guest Survey Template 251 Theme 4 – Sample Criteria for Integrating into Customer Feedback Surveys 262 Index 266 A 266 B 266 C 266 D 266 E 266 F 266 G 266 H 266 I 266 J 266 L 266 M 266 N 266 O 267 P 267 Q 267 R 267 S 267 T 267 U 267 V 267 W 267 This book is based on the premise that being good is just not good enough in today's competitive environment. For hotel owners and managers who want to achieve lasting business success through a root and branch review of key processes, How To Run a Great Hotel is a 'must read'. It will serve as a personal business consultant for the hotel professional, probing and testing their thinking across four critical themes which are proven to drive excellence. The content focuses less on day-to-day operations and more on big picture concerns such as strategy development, enhancing leadership skills, engaging employees and attaining customer focus, all of which are central to building a great hotel. Without clear direction in these important areas to guide activities, ongoing daily effort can be counterproductive. It's easy for hoteliers to lose sight of their goals when, engulfed by operational demands, they are often forced to just do rather than to think about what they are doing. This book provides the reader with an opportunity to step back and take a fresh look at their hotel, no matter where it currently lies in its life cycle. The purpose of the book is to get them to question what it is they are doing, why they are doing it and to offer guidance on how they can make it even better. The book is easy to read, practical, and action oriented. It will help the reader to define clear plans with measurable goals for improved personal and business performance.

Witty, authoritative, comprehensive and fun, Wake Up and Smell the Profit is the ultimate guide to making more money in your coffee business. In this book you'll find the sharpest insights and the best ideas from two of the UK's top Coffee Business Gurus. Together 'The Coffee Boys' have 40 years' experience in how to make money in the coffee selling business. Whether you operate a single site espresso bar, a Michelin starred restaurant or chain of hotels, there is something in this book for everyone. With 52 motivating tips and suggestions (plus an extra bonus idea for good measure), all you need to do is apply one initiative a week for a year and you could have a much more profitable and easier to manage business within twelve months.With this book you'll be able to:
• Make more money and work less
• Have happier customers who spend more money
• Win more customers without spending a fortune
• Enjoy running your business more
• Create customers who rave about your business and consequently generate more customers through word of mouth

What are you waiting for?

This definitive guide to establishing a profitable online business includes business ideas, case studies, suggestions for creating a visible web presence, tips for gaining and maintaining customers, and everything else you need to know to set up and run a lucrative venture online. It will also help those established businesses looking to use the internet to expand their ventures. - Discover opportunities to generate income online - Establish a web venture that pays - Create a reliable and appealing virtual shop window - Protect your venture from scams and legal issues - Gain and maintain loyal customers worldwide - Optimise your web venture for growth - Generate more profit from affiliate schemes and other prospects Anyone looking to generate some extra income through their computer will benefit from this book. Only basic computer and internet skills are needed. "Selling your company is a trying and challenging time. This easy-to-read book covers all the practical aspects of preparing your business for sale, and it will take you through the sale process: preparation, marketing, acceptance of offer, the 'due diligence examination' (the vendor's nightmare), successful completion, and beyond."--Publisher's description A guide to establishing a profitable online business. It includes business ideas, case studies, suggestions for creating a visible web presence, tips for gaining and maintaining customers, and things you need to know to set-up and run a successful online venture. It is suitable for those who look to generate an extra income through their computer. Every company owner will Exit from his company eventually since he is not immortal. Suitable for business owners, this practical guide helps you to planning and implementing a successful company exit. It covers the essential points in completing the process successfully, and guides through pitfalls, delays and 'lost buyers'. Based on the premise that being good is just not good enough in the competitive environment, this title is suitable for hotel owners and managers who want to achieve lasting business success through a root and branch review of key business processes.