Hospitality: Housekeeping, a revenue center

Most people when they hear the term Hospitality, they immediately think of restaurants or food service operations and not much beyond that, but it is really comprised of four major components. Dictionary.com defines Hospitality as, "the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way."

So hospitality or the lack-thereof is expressed in all aspects of our relationships. Companies in the business of hospitality must understand how their internal customers impact their relationships with their external customers, and ultimately their bottom-line.

An industry has been established around the business of Hospitality, but it also is a large part of the business in general and service businesses in particular. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not realizing it can make or break their deals when hospitality is secondary. It is not a new concept, as it ensures the focus remains on the customer. In his piece for the Guardian, "To succeed in hospitality, focus on the customer," author James Caan, went into detail about the fact that we spend too much time working on the product, the stuff we have to sell and not enough on keeping that same product people-centered.

Many times in business people will pinch pennies in a cost center area of their business thinking that they are doing well by monitoring every dollar. But they lose sight of their ultimate goal and find themselves skimping in the area that may need the most attention and infusion of their time resource. “If you take care of your people, your people will take care of your customers and your business will take care of itself.” – J.W. Marriott, founder of Marriott Hotels.

Housekeeping, more than changing beds

Hotel guests may be oblivious to the fact that the housekeeping department is a cost center for all hotel. Salaries and wages for this area of operations is typically the highest drain on resources. So management is always looking for ways to reduce this expense by optimizing schedules and depending on the service level prerequisites (something for another article) they may keep as many of the staff as part-time.

Housekeeping does not actively generate sales nor does increases in productivity correlate directly to increased revenues. Or does it? The problem with penny-pinching in this department is that when housekeeping is done poorly, the bottom line is drastically affected.

As a hospitality professional and a customer, it is obvious that when things go wrong in housekeeping, they have a direct negative impact on revenues.

It used to be just individuals voicing concerns or telling ten friends and a chain reaction or trickle down would eventually lead to loss, but the world moves faster than that now. Customers can voice their complaints in all sorts of ways in pictures and on all types of reservation sites like Orbitz, Expedia, Hotels.com, and then on the most popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The bad-will, the negative press, the social media scandals of the dirty room will scar a reputation and can ultimately bankrupt a hotel. It is helpful to note that when service is exceptional, the same holds true, as customers recommend places to friends and family when they have great experiences. ​​

These recommendation are key to sites like TripAdvisor, whose reach impacts the tourism of whole countries.

Hotels that recognize that their positive interactions and relationships with staff, not just front-line employees can translate, according to an article from Hospitality Technology, into increased bookings, increased room rates, and ultimately increased revenues.

So it is best to seek saving in other areas and invest in hiring and retaining housekeeping staff that can help your business to stay hospitable.