If one thing can be accurately predicted for the hospitality industry’s future, it is the inevitable rise in guest expectations for ever faster, more convenient and seamlessly personalized service. Yet at the same time, hotel operators and their teams are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver the higher quality experience their guests are seeking out. With more amenity offerings becoming available in order for industry businesses to stay competitive, hotel operations if anything have become more complex and harder to ensure streamlined and responsive services.
Although hotel employees in the past had little choice but to put up with bloated and ultimately inefficient operations while doing their best to minimize the impact on guest experiences, location-based asset management technologies have now been developed that can finally resolve this issue with the interests of all in mind. Featuring an ability to harness real-time data to provide location-based insights, asset management technology is emerging as a true industry game-changer, with its promise of eliminating time-consuming guesswork and service delays standing in the way of responsive staff and fully satisfied guests.
Giving Service Efficiency a Boost With Real-time Asset Management
Traditionally, the coordination of departments such as housekeeping, maintenance, and guest services involves a labyrinth of manual processes, often leading to delays, miscommunications, and inefficiencies. When seeking out a specific asset, any number of situations can therefore arise that make locating such an item significantly challenging or near impossible: Equipment or amenities may already be in use by another employee or guest, items may have since been lost or stolen without a report being made. The point is that without an effective solution that can keep track of a specific item’s whereabouts in real-time, the large scale of most hotel operations combined with a substantial property size means that it can be easy for staff to spend much of their time simply searching for needed assets.
Asset management technology finally provides an effective solution to this issue by offering a bird's-eye view of asset locations throughout a premises in real-time. Housekeeping carts, maintenance equipment, amenity rentals, stock inventory and much more can be equipped with small reader tags that enable instant tracking and monitoring abilities. From a single dashboard, hotel staff can instantly locate the precise location of an asset the moment it is required or requested, while avoiding time-consuming searches that only delay the completion of other tasks and can result in guest frustration.
Tackling the Issues of Staffing Shortages & Burnout
While hotels expand or improve their service offerings that add to the workloads of onsite staff, business owners and managers at the same time are having to balance an increase in responsibilities with a reduced workforce. If not adequately addressed, this issue can lead to a much higher risk of employee burnout that ultimately creates a repeating and troubling pattern of more struggling staff deciding to hand in their notice.
With searching for information and items frequently regarded as a central cause behind burnout that upends being able to keep up with tasks, asset management technology with its real time location-based data is proving to be an essential coordination tool that replaces confusion and anxiety with task clarity and completion confidence. By analyzing real-time asset locations, department personnel can assign tasks in close proximity to each other to the same individual or team. Leveraging location data in this way means that employees can avoid losing valuable time simply trying to get from one task to the next, and rushing completion as a result. By providing more time to work on the tasks themselves and while also avoiding having to first search for related tools or equipment, staff armed with such a solution can relieve much of the pressure they face on a daily basis while providing much higher quality service.
Gaining an Edge With Faster Guest Request Response Times
For industry businesses regardless of size or specialty, every moment counts, and guest satisfaction hinges on the swift and seamless fulfillment of their needs. Fast and responsive service is especially a make or break factor for business travelers, many of which are often on a tight schedule and in need of having a specific set of requests swiftly met.
Traditionally, guest requests often traversed a convoluted path, involving manual communication, paper-based orders, and a chain of intermediaries. This inefficient approach to fulfilling requests frequently results in delays, miscommunications, and, ultimately, diminished guest satisfaction. Asset management technology disrupts this pattern by infusing the process with real-time data insights and by completely bypassing inefficient processes.
Using a hotel concierge as an example, a leisure guest may arrive who may wish to rent beach chairs or bicycles to enhance their stay experience, while a business traveler may need to rent a laptop as a result of inadvertently leaving theirs behind. Armed with a location-based asset management system, the employee can instantly see if an asset is currently available and where its real-time location is to ensure immediate delivery. Using analytics accessible by a solution’s dashboard, hoteliers can even identify inefficient processes standing in the way of speedier service and can determine if a specific item is highly requested and in need of additional inventory.
With as many as 81 percent of travelers seeking personalized experience recommendations from hotels, asset management technology by allowing staff to instantly locate relevant offerings can also facilitate addressing this expectation in an efficient and streamlined manner. For loyalty program guests who frequently request items such as a baby’s crib or in-room exercise equipment, a modern asset management solution can ensure that items are located and delivered before a guest even first sets foot into their room.
Tapping into the Cost-saving Benefits of Asset Management
Beyond its transformative impact on service quality and staff productivity, asset management technology is also set to play a pivotal role in lowering operational costs and redefining the concept of achieving financial sustainability for hotels.
By minimizing the time spent searching for assets or equipment, staff can devote their energy to more productive tasks which in turn means that tasks can be completed faster with a smaller workforce. Moreover, the data-driven insights provided by the technology enable hotel managers to make informed decisions about asset allocation, ensuring that items are optimally utilized, stored and easily accessible across various departments.
With hotels frequently having to dip into their budgets to replace lost or stolen items, asset management solutions are now bringing this seemingly inevitable occurrence to an effective end. Instead of performing a limited search and ultimately submitting a re-order request, real-time asset management can notify staff of where a misplaced item is up to within two meters of accuracy.
The financial benefits of asset management technology are felt not only in immediate cost reductions but also in the broader landscape of strategic planning. Data-driven insights allow hotel owners and managers to identify trends, improve daily processes, and allocate resources in real-time with precise precision. This, in turn, empowers decision-makers to make informed choices that drive financial efficiency and long-term profitability.
Leading the Way to a More Competitive and Successful Hotel Business
The multifaceted benefits of asset management technology continue revealing new and exciting possibilities to improve hotel efficiency, lower costs and uplift guest experiences. From maximizing guest service efficiency through real-time tracking and allocation, to minimizing staff burnout by eliminating inefficient and time-consuming processes, the technology's capabilities are increasingly making their way into virtually all aspects of a hotel’s daily operations.
Yet the benefits extend far beyond the operational landscape. Hotel owners empowered with actionable insights can develop informed strategies that improve services and reduce costs. Hotel staff can sidestep stress-inducing inefficiencies standing in the way of effectively completing a guest request or task. With such advantages already beginning to be adopted by major brands and independent properties alike, the technology’s integration into today’s hotels is no doubt set to further raise the standard over what counts as an high-quality, adaptive and responsive industry business.
© ASSA ABLOY