DEVELOPING A BLUE PRINT FOR THE HOTEL BUSINESS-

a. CUSTOMER KNOWLEDGE
FACTORS CONSIDERED AS CUSTOMERS NEED-:
1. Customer Service-Customers value it at great deal, in hospitality service like hotels. If they do
not take great care of us, they are not going to last. Service with a smile is a must.
2. A Swimming Pool - While this is not high on everyones list, it certainly is on the majority. Part
of the fun of going and staying at a hotel is to swim in the pool.
3. Room Service-This factor is in every customer mind,whether high end or low end.At the end of
day customers value a decent room service as the convenience that influence their decision.
4. A Quality Television Set - This is again a very basic thing, but nobody likes it when the
television is older than they are, and the remote control does not work.
5. Plenty of Room - While you get what you pay for, no room should be a cracker jack box. Make
sure even the lowest cost room is nicely put together with room to move around a bit.
6. Clean Rooms - The absolute most important thing that a hotel must have is clean rooms. If the
room smells musty, or the linens are dirty, the world is going to know about it soon. This is the most
basic service, and should never be overlooked.
7. Security - If a hotel has no security, it is not safe,and this is the one of the most important need
of customers in this mobile and fast moving customers.
8. Plenty of Parking - Parking is another key element for customers. If you have to park more
than a city block from your room, they need to invest in expanding their parking lot. That, or
security is not doing their job with the visitors and people that are not supposed to be there. Either
way, it is a big problem for someone that just shelled out 100 bucks for a room.
9. Air conditioning/Heating That Works-It is the common problem faced by customers ,as
equipments are not working,with different seasons,customers preference changes and this factor also
dominates in mind of customers.
10. Cost- Cost of the hotel should also not to be forgotten. Select a hotel according to your budget as
this is the main thing that you need to keep in mind while selecting a house.
11. Space: Customers value whether the hotel they are hiring has got enough space or not.
12. Location-The location of the hotel should need to be such that it attracts every bodys convenience
and near to market place and other factors . Select that hotel which has good .
13. Food: After space and location here comes the food as food is said to be soul of any customer
preference. The menu should be according to the taste, need and requirement of customers.
Another factor whether the food offered by the hotel is of good quality or not.
14. Drinks: After food one also needs to take care about drinks as what type of drinks are
offered by HOTELS dominate in mind of customers.
15. Other value added services-Hair saloon,business service,common
room,bar,conference room,hitech facility,babysitting or child care,safe deposit box-front
desk.,fitness centre ,travel agent,airport pick up n drop,wake up service,guide,teniss
court,bike /taxi rental at reception desk,complementary breakfast,100%backup,bellboy
Hotels are one of the few businesses that are constantly in the public eye. The slightest mistake,
much like the dining industry, can be a deal breaker for a hospitality service like hotels.
CUSTOMER CONTACT APPROACH-
Advertising-The use of media as business publication,tourist publication,directories like yellow
pages,direct mail to tour operators.
On ther hand media like TV,RADIO used by hotel industry .Many hotels have car with hotel name and
logo printed on the car which serve as indirect medium.

Personel Selling-Receptionist should have high degree of knowledge, about the hotel, equipped with
computer facility,up to date information,and attractive photograph of room avalaible on reception desk.
Sales promotion-they are paid form of communication activity .
Brochure-it is the detail publication helping hotel companies in promoting their business.
Folder it is important to have an impressive personality in totality,it is required to be brief but clear.
Packaging we call packaging an attractive wrapper of product.Emphasis on outer cover and internal layout.
Attraction leaflets-this is exclusively meant for presenting the view point of different theme park,amusement
park,point of attraction in the hotel.
Merchandising useful in promoting mass market ,displaying food stuff and drinks at right locations.
Direct mail material-the sales letter are found be direct mail material.
Display materials-material to be displayed at sensitive points are posters,dispensers,exhibit etc.We can use this in
the offices of travel agent,tour operator or where tourist are mostly concentrated.
Competition and exhibition use of organization for communicating to customers.

Public relation-hotel keep the data of past customers send them good wishescards on birthday and
anniversary.
Hotel sponsor various TV quiz show and contest,and person winning it will get the free night stay in
hotel.This creates good images in mind of consumers.

Telemarketing this is the very important tool in maintaining contact with customers.We have found
hotel is the multisegment industry with different participants involved.

Use of online services-use of social networking sites like facebook,maintaining contact with customers
online,get proactive rather than reactive to maintain two way communication with customers. Hotels
have their own web sites which can be used for getting information about rooms, services offered by
them & also for online reservation.


USING CUSTOMER AS THE RESOURCE-
Hotel industry use customer as the resource by incorporating self service,thereby reducing additional
employee cost.They also employ concept of self parking thereby reducing additional valet parking cost.
Eg.Mcdonald employed self servive,hotel LEELA KEMPINSKI employ concept of self parking
.
Management issues in services-(front end service)
It is significant that the hotel personnel approach customers in a friendly and confident
manner. It is meant welcome smile, eye-contact, attractive deposition, and willingness to
listen. While shaking hands we convey a sense of confidence and responsibility
considered essential for opening the negotiations and transforming them into good
business..
Hotel Industry Engineering:- If any problems come in room, bulb fuse, A/C not working , then need to
contact Hotel Engineers, they are also available 24 hours.
Hotel Industry Front desk:- Front desk is 1st impression on guest, if guest like this section then only he
will go for other option like restaurant, laundry, etc. Front desk consists of young and energetic staff who
is always (24 x 7) be there to help guest, they are also responsible for Business Centre, Internet Access.
Front office desk responsible for making C-Form for Foreigner Clients, providing safety lockers to the
guest. Taking Reservation by Telephone, E-Mails, and Fax from the guest. Also providing guest Money
Exchange Services.
Hotel Industry Housekeeping:- Housekeeping are available 24 X 7 for guest, making their bedroom,
bathroom, etc. Providing guest Laundry services also do day to day room cleaning for guests.
Hotel Industry Food & Beverage Service:- They include providing guest the services
whether in rooms, Restaurants or Banquets, or in Conference rooms.
Placing the order- Waitresses and waiters work in all types of restaurants, greeting the customers and
attending to most of their needs.Show customers the seat, This includes selecting a table that can
accommodate the size of the party in a section of the restaurant of which they approve. Explain menu t is
the job of the server to explain any changes in the menu to the customer, as well as describe the specials
of the day,Make recommendation,serving the water.Interaction should be salient and sound smoothing to
the ears of customers and they should feel warmth.

Take the order- After the menu has been explained, the server writes down the table's order and relays the
details to the kitchen. Check identification in case of underage,special food preparation,check on
customers, Partway through the meal, a front service requires checks on the table to make sure that the
diners have received everything that they ordered, to inquire if they need anything else, and to ensure that
they are enjoying themselves. At the end of the meal, the server prepares an itemized bill for the
diners,offering change and receipt.

(back end service)
Hotel industry now employ backend services like hotel website booking engine,e-brochure,rfp tracker ,e-
survey by incorporating various it solution and latest e-commerce applications like remote web
database,sql database,asp.net platform,full backend administrator,customer friendly websites,online
services.
Food cooked in kitchen premises should follow the standards of hygiene and with keep in mind the
standard temperature being incorporated .The ingredients of high quality and the infrastructure of kitchen
premises should follow the INTERNATIONAL STANDARD OF HOTELS CORPORATION
HOTEL staff follow the safety norms and wear hand gloves while preparing food for their customers.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE WITH RESPECT TO-

PRICE-
Pricing decisions are found important in both tactical and strategic sense. In tactical sense
it plays an outstanding role. This is due to the inseparability and perishability of hotel
products. This is also due to inability of the service engineering organizations to carry
over the unsold stocks as a buffer to cope up with the future demand as found in the
goods manufacturing organizations.
.

Seasonal Discounts
Found applicable in hotel industry.
Customary to charge lower prices, especially
during the off-season.


Trade Discounts

Found applicable in the hotel industry as tour
Operators and travel agent are offered discount.

. Special Discounts
In the hotel industry we find special function
room rates for overnight convention

Also known as price deregulation, tactical pricing is
found instrumental in promoting the hotel business. Experiences show that in hotel
business. Experiences show that in hotel industry, it is found to be a major selling tool.

Services offered- there are around 250 moments of truth in a hotel industry where the
customer comes in direct contact with the service provider, equipment, and physical asset.
1)Check-in -If the customer who had booked the hotel in the room arrives & to his
surprise finds that no room is vacant for him. Another hand, If in an festival season when
there no hotel rooms available in the city, a hotel makes arrangement for accommodation
for a customer who has not booked his room in any hotel.
2) Bell person carrying the luggage to the room- When the bag arrives in the room, its in extremely bad
condition. This leaves negative impression in the mind of the customer
3) Food - Quality of food, time taken for food to arrive.
4) Wake up call- As wake call not made by the receptionist, the customer misses his flight.
5) Check out- Too much time taken, procedural failure.
This requires-
EXTERNAL MARKETING: External marketing functions means anything that is
communicated to the customer before the service is delivered. In case of the Hotels,
external marketing means the promotional activities and advertisements done by the hotel in newspapers,
travel magazines, television etc. since there is direct customer contact in an Hotel, their advertisements
are centered around their employees whereby they try to reflect customer care, attitude and other aspects
of the employees and their hospitality.Visualizations,physical representation and branding are important
concept with service offered.
INTERNAL MARKETING: In the hotel industry, the employees, who are the internal
customers of the company have different positions ranging from the doormen, the
bellboy, the receptionist to the chef, the waiter, etc. the basic principle of internal
marketing is every individual in a service organization should recognize that they have
customers to serve
Skill required and services offered-:
Reliability-ensuring that quality of food and stay is unto the mark.
Assurance trust the big names,security,fire alarms
Tangible gate of building,surrounding area,park,car park,lobby,lift,brochurses,menu,tables.
Empathy room service,jain food,sugar free/diet food.
Responsiveness room service/housekeeping,reception answer the phone onetime.