When it comes to new technology investments, hotels are focusing most of their attention (and budgets) on guest-facing solutions, and rightfully so. The availability of different self-service technologies, including kiosks, digital signage, apps, and messaging has a massive impact on overall guest satisfaction.
However, the same solutions that serve to improve guest experience should also help optimize hotel operations, streamlining processes, and automating repetitive tasks. This is especially important for housekeeping, maintenance, and F&B services.
An app that enables guests to request any service from your hotel is useful and convenient for guests, but on the back end it also has to be useful to your hotel staff and managers. It should centralize task management and automate some of the mundane tasks, like sending guest requests to appropriate staff, creating progress reports, etc. Ideally, it will help you bring together previously disconnected or siloed processes.
Now, let’s take a look at how a platform like avery can help your hotel optimize service operations, track and manage tasks, and leverage data to continuously improve guest service delivery.
Let guests choose the easiest channels for them
Providing guests with different ways to interact with your staff and services has great benefits both for your guests and your hotel operations. With a simple web app, text or video chat, you’ll bring hotel services directly to your guests’ personal devices allowing them to request services in a way that is most convenient for them.
With a hotel tech solution like avery, everything happens with a few taps of a button. Guests no longer have to wait on a call with the front desk to be directed to the right department, instead their requests go automatically to the appropriate staff. This also reduces operational bottlenecks, makes your staff more productive, and raises your guest’s happiness with your service.
Task dashboard screens for dedicated departments
Your housekeeping and maintenance department managers need to have a convenient way to track, prioritize, and manage tasks. With avery, the appropriate staff is automatically alerted by SMS and in-app notification when a guest makes the request and they can report on their progress (e.g. complete the task) with a simple swipe on their phone.
No time is wasted on data entry so managers can see what’s happening in real-time and act much faster if there are any issues that require their attention.
For example, they can analyze the data on maintenance requests per unit to make timely recommendations for proactive maintenance. So, if they notice that one room got 5 light bulb replacements in a month, this can be an indicator of an electrical issue that needs to be taken care of. Proactive maintenance reduces breakdowns and associated maintenance costs over the long run while minimizing guest complaints about broken equipment.
For multi-property groups and hotel chains, it’s important to mention that the system centralizes service requests data from all locations in one dashboard, presenting the task lists and progress reports visually to provide a clear picture of performance across locations.
Front desk - management overview
Your front desk can’t work efficiently without timely and accurate information about the status of all rooms and associated tasks. Unlike department managers that have a dashboard view of tasks specific to their departments, your front desk has a birds’ eye view of everything that’s going on.
They get real-time information on housekeeping and maintenance tasks per unit, as well as access to performance analytics in a single dashboard. Front desk staff can track closed tasks, in-progress tasks, and tasks that are still in the ‘to do’ list, so they can quickly prioritize work when needed and help services staff be more productive.
Escalation rules
In the avery dashboard, the front desk or department managers can easily configure how the tasks are being handled and reacted to so that a task that isn’t being completed in time can be escalated based on a predetermined rule.
For example:
- If a request for towels is sitting in to-do list > 15 minutes → send SMS to housekeeping manager
- If the task is in progress > 30 minutes → send SMS to Manager on Duty
It’s also important to use the information on request completion/delays to adjust the communication with guests throughout the process.
Takeaways
Hotels that use a system like avery can improve their operations by automating mundane tasks, streamlining housekeeping and maintenance processes, and empowering their staff to make informed decisions to drive business improvement and increased guest satisfaction.
