Sunday 3 June 2012

Staffing levels and repeat custom

The food was good and hot, and plenty available. The staff were working hard, but...

I was sitting in a hotel breakfast room on a Sunday morning: The staff clearly lacked someone pulling the strings and making decisions on tables, clearing and allocating, and who was in charge of greeting and directing guests.

My guess is the same person who prepared the work rota, and who wasn't there to lead when it mattered had decided to run the morning with. "tight ship", keeping "a handle in costs", and managing the wage bill down.

What they missed by not being there and their decision was the looks and words of frustration from the guests who wanted a nice breakfast. They wanted coffee and tea when they were thirsty, fresh bread (not frozen) by the toaster. Repeat business and word of mouth recommendation are like gold dust in most businesses, especially
Hotel and Catering.

How many repeat visits or referred customers would have paid for that extra bit of staffing? What would have been the impact on the bottom line in the long term?

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