Insights
There are many elements of your operation that contribute to the guest experience. However, the mistake that we often see across the industry is operators focussing solely on their NPS. Instead, by measuring and improving all of the steps that support and lead up to the guest’s perception, you get to directly influence it rather than just report on it.
Steps of service
Your NPS is the end result of all of the stages in your operation – these stages are sometimes referred to as your steps of service. These can be measured through mystery guest assessments, allowing you to ask specific questions at each touchpoint in the guest journey, right from booking through to payment.
These assessments are used to ensure that your team are consistently delivering your brand standards and processes, as well as fulfilling opportunities for engaging and upselling.
Employee motivation
If your employees are engaged with your brand and their role, this will have a positive effect on the guests they interact with. So, it’s important to consider firstly how motivated they are, whether they know what is required of them and if they feel trusted to fulfil their role. Secondly, whether they can deliver this in such a way that reflects your desired guest experience through your steps of service.
Employee surveys can measure your team’s motivation as well as the understanding they have of their role and how they believe it impacts your business. This can be tracked by department or throughout the stages of employment, and with surveys being anonymous, your team can be assured that their feedback will be received in confidence.
Survey results provide an opportunity for you to pinpoint any areas for improvement such as opportunities for training or recognition.
Back of house
Of course it’s not just about the motivation of individuals, it’s also important to discover how your employees feel they work alongside each other and nurture the relationship between your front and back of house.
If your front and back of house have mutual respect (gained by happy employees) and processes in place (gained by clear steps of service) - this will positively impact the guest experience. Not only will guests pick up on the atmosphere, but orders are more likely to be correct and on time, and you can be more confident in the handling of allergen scenarios.
HGEM has recently launched enhanced menu tracking, giving operators rapid feedback on new dishes and allowing them to pick up patterns in how dishes are perceived by time and location. Involving your chefs and back of house team in looking at this data creates transparency and trust in your business and gets the team feeling excited and creative about the work they do.
Suppliers
Are they reliable, can you trust them, and do they get your vision?
The people who supply your food and drink, technology, and so on, contribute to your overall delivery, either improving or confusing your guest experience. It’s important to consistently measure how each relationship with your supplier is working. Are they taking the time to look at their partnership with you and how they can best support you and your business strategy?
Taking tech suppliers for example, at HGEM we have integrated with many partners which help our clients to have all of their insights in one place. Looking at key measures and how they correlate helps to form deeper actionable insights.
Feeling part of each other’s community makes suppliers feel like an extension of your business and vice versa. A great example of this comes from our clients Peach Pubs. They hold a regular conference for their suppliers, encouraging them to stay invested in their ethos and business objectives.
Not being afraid to talk to your suppliers could create further opportunities in your business - is there something innovative you can work on together? HGEM’s products are very much inspired by conversations and challenges from its clients.
Conclusion
Recognising internal and external elements of your business from employees to internal departments to suppliers, and balancing how each fits into your business strategy can lead to better and more consistent results. Bringing it all into one place filters out the guess work.
By closely measuring and supporting each of the stakeholders involved in creating your guest experience, you make better use of your and your employees time, getting more purpose out of data and allowing you to turn it into actions. HGEM’s platform The Hub allows managers to pinpoint issues and take appropriate action whilst using data for reviews and reports to your wider team.
Our industry trained Client Relationship Managers work with operators to look at the bigger picture, suggest areas of improvement for your business and build action plans.
To find out more about The Hub and discuss how we can support you with your overall guest experience, call 01225 470999 to speak to a member of the team or email enquiries@hgem.com.
