Author Archives: TrueGuest

About TrueGuest

Headquartered in Los Angeles, TrueGuest was created by former hotel executives to serve the hospitality industry by measuring and improving guest service and internal controls. Our Service Experience Audits are used by top brands such as Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Marriott, Renaissance, Hilton, Hyatt, W Hotels, Intercontinental, Sheraton, Radisson, Holiday Inn, Wyndham, and many more.

Are Rising Food Costs Killing Your Restaurant’s Profits?

Posted on by

Are rising food costs decreasing your restaurant’s profits?  You better act now!  We anticipate the cost of food, especially the staples, to continue to rise.  Food and Beverage Departments for hotels are typically low-profit areas and can easily turn into no-profit areas if you do not react quickly.  Here are some things that you can do:

Know Your Food Costs – It is surprising how little hotels actually know about their food costs.  Most hotels have a breakfast buffet, however, few hotels have any idea what their food cost is on the buffet.  Most just assume they are making a high profit because they were taught that buffets were always high profit.  Not true.  Spend the time to calculate your buffet cost.  You may be surprised to find out that your buffet food cost is 40 or 50 percent!

Here is a simple way to find out the food cost for your buffet:  Have the kitchen log every single item that is used on the buffet during a 7 day period (10 cases of bacon, 22 cases of eggs, etc).  At the end of the week, add up the total food expense and divide it by the amount of revenue you posted for those days.  Be sure to do it for a whole week because you will find that your weekend food cost is very different than your weekday food cost.  Also, be sure to add in all items included with the buffet such as juice and coffee.

Re-engineer Your Menu – Hopefully, you are using a spreadsheet or computer program to monitor your menu engineering.  Be sure to re-evaluate your menu every single month.  For additional menu engineering help, check out this article.

Evaluate your menu prices – Now that you know your food cost and your menu engineering, be sure to evaluate your menu prices.  You will most likely have to raise prices.  However, don’t just raise all of the prices across the board, be very strategic.  Raise only the prices of the items that are the best sellers but do not have the best profit.  Keep the prices the same on the items that do not sell well but have a high profit.  Replace the items that do not sell well and do not have a high profit.

Continue reading →

The Ultimate Arrival Experience

Posted on by

Many hotels have valet service, bell service, and a good team at the front desk but still, fail to provide a great arrival experience. The main problem is that the three teams do not work together as one team with the guest’s interest at heart.  While the valet attendant, the bellman, and the guest service agent may all do a great job individually, the guest sees the arrival as one experience and may be frustrated.

The solution is communication…  communication between associates and the guest.  Here is how the ultimate arrival experience takes place:

A guest pulls up to the hotel and is immediately greeted by the valet attendant. The valet attendant welcomes the guest to the hotel and offers luggage assistance.  The valet attendant does the normal tasks such as filling out a luggage ticket and asking the guest his/her name.  The valet attendant loads up all of the luggage onto a bell cart and escorts the guest to the front entrance of the hotel.  The valet attendant is then ready to hand off the guest to the waiting bellman.

Here is where the first important communication is required.  The valet attendant should introduce the guest to the bellman and the bellman to the guest by saying something like “Mr. Smith, this is John.  He is going to assist you with the check-in and then escort you up to your room”.  We also recommend that the valet attendant discretely hands the bellman a small card with the guest’s name on it.  Hopefully, the valet attendant got the guest’s name when the guest first pulled up.

Now the bellman can escort the guest to the front desk to check-in.  Again, here is where communication is key.  The bellman should introduce the guest to the GSA and the GSA to the guest by saying something like “Hello Lisa, this is Mr. Smith.  He has a reservation for this evening.”  Again, the bellman can refer to the card the valet attendant gave him if the name is difficult.  Lisa can then handle the check-in while the bellman waits off to the side.  Once the guest is checked in, the bellman is ready to escort the guest to the room.  The bellman can escort the guest to the room, tell the guest about the hotel’s amenities, and thank him/her for staying at the hotel.

Continue reading →

How Often Should Your Hotel Have an Internal Audit Conducted?

Posted on by

It is a common question, how often should your hotel have an internal audit done?  The answer:  well, it depends.  Here is why:

First, how often do most hotels actually conduct an internal audit?  Most hotels will say they are audited once per year.  However, most hotels have the goal of being audited once per year.  In reality, they are audited only every 2 or 3 years in most cases.

Having a goal of once per year is a good start.  But we recommend that you set your goal based on the results of the last audit.  If the hotel scored 90 percent or better on the last audit, conducting one audit per year is fine.  However, if the hotel scored less than 90 percent, we recommend that the hotel creates a 90-day action plan to improve their results, and then the hotel is audited again after 90 days.

We understand the expense of conducting an audit, however, the amount of money that could be lost by a hotel with improper controls could easily be far more than the cost of an audit.

A few additional audit tips:

First, the audits should always be completely unannounced.  We usually recommend that the Controller and other key managers who are needed for the audit submit a schedule of any vacation days so the auditor does not show up during their vacation.

Second, the follow-up on the audit is just as important as the audit itself.  Many hotels will score poorly year after year.  Passing the internal audit should be on every Controller’s list of goals and yearly review.

The Importance of Random Bank Audits

Posted on by

Conducting random audits of your cashier banks is one of the most important actions you can perform to keep theft out of a hotel.  Even though it is so pertinent, almost no hotels actually conduct random bank audits as part of their normal operations routines.

Why is conducting a random bank audit so important?  If you have an employee who is stealing cash during their shift, they need a place to store the cash they are going to steal.  They typically store the cash in the drawer and then pocket it at the end of their shift when they are closing out their paperwork.  This often applies to guest service agents, bartenders, gift shop cashiers, and coffee shop baristas.  A good program of random bank audits can be one of the most important tools to help you keep theft out.

Continue reading →

Perpetual Beverage Inventory How-To Video

Posted on by

mqdefaultPerpetual Beverage Inventory How-To Video

Training Video Goal: Successful implementation of perpetual beverage inventory by providing instructions and necessary tools

Training Video Length: Approximately 10 Minutes, Video can be paused and replayed at the viewer’s chosen speed

Training Video Audience: All Food and Beverage Managers implementing a perpetual beverage inventory system

This video takes approximately 1 minute to load and will automatically play once loaded. For your convenience, all templates and instructions that are mentioned in the video are available free for download on this page below the video.

To download the Perpetual Beverage Inventory Template in Excel Format, click here.

To download the Perpetual Beverage Inventory Template instructions in PDF format, click here.

To read an article on Perpetual Beverage Inventory, click here.

To download the free Banquet Bar Requisition Template in Excel format, click here

To download the Banquet Bar Requisition Template instructions in PDF format, click here

Hotel ‘Hidden Charges’ Under Attack This Summer

Posted on by

Parking Picture

Maybe it is just a sign of the weakening economy, but the major news outlets are attacking hotel hidden charges this summer. Just last week, I saw two different morning news channels run pieces on how to avoid hidden hotel fees.  This article has appeared in the main section on MSN as well.

Hotels have been notorious for high fees since the beginning of time.  Who doesn’t know that picking up a phone in the hotel room is disastrous for your wallet?  I remember once staying at a resort and calling to reserve a time to go horseback riding.  The hotel charged over $18 for the 2-minute phone call…. and the horse stable was on the resort’s property!

How badly do these ‘hidden fees’ impact your guest service?  More than you can imagine.  The $18 phone call was almost 10 years ago and I am still a bit bitter today.  The real reason for my anger was that not only was I taken for $18 but then I was insulted when I asked about the fee at check out.  The snobby GSA responded with ‘phone calls come at a real premium at the resort.’

Charges for parking, internet access, phone calls, and resort fees are part of hotel life.  How can your hotel charge the fees without hurting guest service?

Continue reading →

Now There is No Excuse Not to Use a Guest’s Name

Posted on by

A while back, we published an article on how to properly use a guest’s name. Using a guest’s name is one of the biggest struggles for many properties. But now, there is no excuse. More and more businesses are recognizing the value of using a guest’s name and are training their associates on how to do it correctly.

Customer Service call banks have really improved. Call your phone company or your bank’s customer service line. They will probably use your name many, many times during the conversation. They will also try to up-sell you on additional services, but that is a different article!

The other day, my arteries were feeling a little less clogged than usual so I stopped by Jack In The Box for lunch. After I ordered, the cashier asked me my first name. She then wrote it on the ticket. A few minutes later when my order was ready, they called out my name instead of ‘order number 196, ultimate cheeseburger and fries’. Then the associate handed me the tray and then thanked me by name.

Now, if Jack In The Box can use the name of their guests, there really is no excuse!

The Hard (Rock) Sell

Posted on by

Anyone who has ever worked with TrueGuest will tell you that one of the biggest things we preach is proper selling and up-selling techniques.  We have to give a tip of the hat to a restaurant that really nails the art of selling.  Here is our story:

Three of our team members went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a quick lunch.  Because the Hard Rock is a tourist destination, they really had a lot to sell.  The host sat us at a table, handed us menus, and said that our server would be over in just a minute.  A minute later, the server arrived and greeted us.  She asked for our drink order.  Instead of just asking ‘what would you like to drink’, she also recommended three beverage selections including their specialty iced tea.  When one of us ordered a soda, she casually tried to up-sell him on the souvenir cup.  It probably would have added another $4 or $5 to the tab.

After taking the beverage orders, the server offered us an appetizer.  Instead of just asking ‘what can I get for you’, she recommended an appetizer sampler platter for us to share.  The appetizer platter was $19.

When she came back to take the entree order, she came up with creative ways to up-sell.  She offered different side order choices (at a premium price of course) and extra toppings on the sandwiches (add another buck for bacon, etc.).

While we were waiting for our food, she brought over a miniature catalog of Hard Rock stuff from the gift shop.  She said that if we wanted to purchase a t-shirt or something, she could get it and add it to our bill.

After the meal, she attempted to sell us some desserts.  The dessert menu was cleverly placed inside of the check presenter so you would be forced to look at it.

The server was great at selling and had a lot of opportunities.  She was very casual about everything that she offered.  It would have been very easy to say ‘yes’ to many of her choices.  She probably does very well with her tips and her average check is probably well over $20, even though most entrees are only around $10.

What is Your Hotel’s Internet Reputation?

Posted on by

Ever watch someone under 30 book a hotel room?  They fire up the internet and go to a site like expedia.com or hotels.com and do a search of the city they are traveling to.  Then they narrow their choices to a handful of hotels that fit their budget.  Then the fun really starts.  People who have spent the last decade on the internet know how to get the most out of it.  No 25 year old is going to trust that 4-star rating that Expedia gave your hotel.  They don’t believe that your hotel was ‘hotel of the year’ for the last five years as stated on your website.  They are going to see what actual people (well, internet people anyway) have to say.

IE_logTheir decision to stay at your hotel starts with a quick review of your website.  Does it have a pool?  Check.  Steakhouse?  Got it.  Gym?  Ok.  They take your hotel into consideration.  But is it better than the hotel down the street that has similar rates?

A quick Google search will tell them what they need to know.  They read the reviews on tripadvisor.com.  Maybe they check out yelp.com or read your Yahoo Travel ratings.  Oh, Mary from Iowa says your staff is rude and your food is lousy.  Three people say that your hotel lost their reservations and two people say that they were overcharged during their stay.

You just lost a reservation.

Continue reading →