Is In-Room Dining a source of guest complaints and issues for your company? If so, you are not alone. Clients express quite regularly that this commonly utilized hotel service is a source of guest complaints and management headaches. Coyle presents some easy fixes that you can implement to immediately increase your guest experience and satisfaction at no cost.
1. Complete Hot Orders-Delivered on Time (CHO-DOT)
First the bad news… Coyle data indicates that In-Room Dining meals do not meet expectations 27% of the time. That means that guests are not satisfied with the In-Room dining experience nearly 1/3 of the time. The Culprits? The order is missing something (34% of the time), the order was later than quoted (27% of the time), and the food is not at the right temperatures (26% of the time).
The great news…these are three things that are relatively easy to fix, won’t cost you any extra money (unless you buy more warmer boxes or add staff), and will certainly distinguish you. Bring back the ‘service’ aspect to In-Room Dining meals and challenge your staff to 100% fulfillment on CHO-DOT (Complete Hot Orders Delivered On Time). The worst-case scenario is that you will be making it much harder on your competition.
Also, remind your staff that timing is everything. Poor timing is usually the source of cold food and is more often than not the reason that the order was incorrect in some way. Our research shows that poor timing in restaurants is one of the most significant factors that lead to lasting poor impressions.
Keep in mind that guests order In-Room Dining typically for convenience or luxury so by not meeting expectations, the guest will likely feel either cheated or inconvenienced. Also remember the high price tags typically associated with this department. Receiving cold eggs not cooked to specifications with the wrong breakfast meat for upwards of $35 will likely be quite frustrating for your guests and either result in quiet dissatisfaction or complaints and comped meals.
2. Raise the Bar
Coyle Hotel clients worldwide have indicated that improved sales in the bar were the first signs that there was a recovery occurring in late 2009. Liquor sales were the first to bounce in the recovery after 2001 as well.
Why then do bar personnel only engage in upselling to less than 2/3 of their guests? Failure to offer a premium brand or proactively mentioning food are the biggest culprits. Basic bar controls are also a common revenue issue. with bartenders often failing to produce a receipt before, during, or after the payment is tendered. This leads to both honest errors and dubious errors, which never favor the house. Bartenders often groan when forced to produce a receipt to declare to the guest what the drinks cost, but one Coyle client lowered their liquor cost immediately
by almost 3% points with this simple policy.
Bonus: Perform a drawer audit of all your bartenders’ tills twice a month, once a week if you do a lot of volume. If by chance you have a bad apple on your staff taking unauthorized liberties, an unannounced audit of their till mid-shift is the most cost-effective way to catch them and put anyone thinking of it on notice.
Coyle’s hotel and restaurant quality assurance programs approach each evaluation from a 360-degree perspective to provide you the complete story from the guest perspective. With Coyle’s InnsQore product, you get objective, relevant, and actionable feedback that can help you improve your food and beverage department and hotel as a whole so each guest turns into a brand advocate. For more information about our services, please contact us.
