The Benefits of Partnerships

For long, many companies have discovered the virtue of partnering. When they don't have all the skills or resources needed to truly delight customers, it makes sense to partner with a company that can contribute those missing pieces.

Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble (a key Wal-Mart supplier) are among the firms that have made this discovery. The challenge is in getting two (or more) different and separate entities to act as a single aligned enterprise in the interest of shared customers. By making their processes and systems seamless in service to those customers, two parties can create greater value for customers and for themselves.

These two giant companies knew that they weren't serving customer needs as well as they should. Each considered how they could work together to do better. To explore that question, they facilitated a meeting in which 30-some senior people from the two companies entered into a dialogue. They quickly realized that each had different ideas about what Wal-Mart customers wanted.

As the Wal-Mart people saw it, customers wanted everyday low prices with no sales, promotions or coupons. The P&G people held the opposite view. These two perspectives explained in part why the companies were failing to optimize their relationship in service of Wal-Mart shoppers. Through a partnering dialogue, the two parties agreed on policy and process changes that would better align their efforts and deliver greater value to customers and to themselves. Those changes resulted in a 300% increase in P&G sales through the giant retailer over an 18-month period. And, of course, those sales were rung up on Wal-Mart cash registers.

Partnering like this can take the supplier-customer relationship to a new and higher level and improve each partner's work processes. This is also a key factor for hotels, restaurants, lodges, etc. and more so in their relationship with procurement companies. Working together as a long term partner rather than a short term business relation the (financial) benefits for both parties will improve tremendously.

Here are some questions that you and your partners should ask one another in order to work together more effectively:

1. What do you really need from me?
2. What do you do with what I provide you?
3.  Are there gaps between what I give you and what you need?
4. What problems might I help you with?
5. Am I providing things you don't need?
6. What are the possibilities of standardizing between our companies?

Answering these questions will help you and your business partners to help yourselves. A coffee supplier we worked with did just that with outstanding results. Since coffee is a commodity product, this company's discussions with customers had revolved almost entirely around price. The coffee company's contact wondered if there was a way to break out of that constrictive arrangement. So, using our partnering dialogue, he learned that coffee cost was at a unnecessary high level due to playing it save on the commodity market.

The company contact asked the hotel, "If I can change my pricing based on the weekly commodity price of coffee, will you pay me a slightly above-market price for it?" The deal was agreeable and the math worked out favorably for both parties.

Below are a few more tips for partnering with external and internal customers:

• Bring guests and customers into your organization to meet face-to-face with people other than the ones they usually do business with.
• Ensure that meetings whose purpose is to improve processes include representatives of the affected functions.
• Map each major process' value chain to identify internal suppliers and customers as well.
• Then bring them together with the goal of better understanding each party's requirements and how each can add greater value.

About Hospro

HOSPRO|Hospitality Procurement prides itself on being a bit different. Traditional values are sustained and a good reputation is something to be proud of. Good business is building lasting relationships, helping us to grow our assets together. With a background in international hospitality and procurement services for some 30 years, our combination of market knowledge and expertise ensures the best possible service for our business relations. We support our clienteles with specific recommendations and references to stay focused on the total process. 

(source: smartbrief.com)

The Art of Story Telling

Distinctiveness

Often the hotel is about hardware such as rooms, facilities in the rooms, F&B facilities, the latest bar, location and service level. Furthermore, for chain hotels the (added) value of the brand is important as well. So, what (brand) promise is being made, both towards the guest and the operator?All of this is captured in a property or hospitality concept, which more or less has now become a standard in the hospitality world. However, there are also many hotels that are not or insufficiently distinguished from the mass and simply will not be noticed.

Storytelling

Storytelling or telling stories can be used to distinguish your product in a competitive market. It is more than the impact of a hotel concept. Storytelling is about an identity or image, a way to be remembered, building a lasting relationship with guests and creating a certain feeling.

Storytelling facilitates communication between the property and the target audience and enhances the positive image of the property. It can be used for both business and leisure guests and is also a good channel for communication to your target audience. Today's guests definitively are looking for more than just a bed with or without breakfast. The modern guests are looking for authentic experiences in addition to the stay. A unique opportunity for hoteliers to integrate a story or theme into the product and add value. When referring consistently to the main subject, a property builds a strong brand identity. This also makes it easier to establish a good communication strategy. After all the reference to the story is there already! 
 
Stay in your Service ModelThe telling of stories is not only for the big chains that have a lot of money available to fully diagnose and integrate their "story" into the product or the brand. Small or independent hotels with less budget easily can build a strong identity and guest loyalty with their own story.Consider which stories for your property can be valuable and contribute to the experience of guests. Stories that can be used can relate to the history of a building or place, your guests stories, a saga, a lifestyle, artwork, your mission or your employees.If that story has been found, mind mapping on all "service touch points" may determine which part of the central story comes back over and over again. This could be implemented from on-line visibility, communication with guests via social media to the menu, staff uniforms or hotel room layout.  
 

Storytelling is only successful as the employees are aware and know their role in the story, get trained and perform the role with real enthusiasm and fun. The story is only "believed" if it is consistently "lived" by the employees.

Stories Connect

Talking stories or listening to stories makes for connecting guests with your property (increasing loyalty) and also connection between guests. A restaurant where guests just eat but do not communicate between themselves certainly will receive a lower rating than a restaurant where vibrant conversations arise. As a property, you can stimulate those stories, for example at the time of booking, through the interior or through a menu that has interaction.

There are many examples in which storytelling is applied well. A good example of a story in a concept is Mama Shelter. The mainly young guests feel completely at home at Mama Shelter, under the wings of mother chicken. The restaurant is completely furnished as a living room but at a high culinary level. Mama gives advice everywhere, so guests have a safe and comfortable feeling. They are really taken care of.

The Ace Hotel in New York also tells a lot of stories. The stories are genuine and authentic and based on the culture, building and surroundings of the hotel. Such a vision is also found at Hotel New York in Rotterdam, a place where the rich history of the famous Dutch cruise company Holland-America line comes to life again. A place of thousands of stories.

The last excellent example of storytelling must be the Ice Hotel, a hotel made of the frozen water of the Torne River in the far north of Sweden. Sleep at -5 °C! Developed from an igloo in 1990 to a world-renowned hotel with a living address as mentioned above. Collaboration with a vodka brand has led to cool Ice Bars in London, Copenhagen and Istanbul and other cities. These Ice Bars are used as "sales offices" for the unique story of the Ice Hotel. The Ice Hotel receives both business and leisure guests. For both groups, the same story is used with nuances per audience. In this way, the story of Ice Hotel's origin is incorporated into conference packages and focuses more on the beauty and artistic side of the project for the leisure guest. All staff are trained on the story of Ice Hotel, including the employees working in the various Ice Bars.

Trust your Story

The chosen storytelling can be based either on facts or fiction, but it is important that the property continues to carry the story consistently. Storytelling can lead to a strong image, will lead to lasting memories of guests, can facilitate the communication and marketing strategy and promotes word-of-mouth advertising.Tell your story, listen to stories and give space to stories. Your company can also apply storytelling in the service model. And that's not a bad story at all!

About Hospro

HOSPRO|Hospitality Procurement prides itself on being a bit different. Traditional values are sustained and a good reputation is something to be proud of. Good business is building lasting relationships, helping us to grow our assets together. With a background in international hospitality and procurement services for some 30 years, our combination of market knowledge and expertise ensures the best possible service for our business relations. We support our clienteles with specific recommendations and references to stay focused on the total process.

Sustainable Procurement (4)

Trends in Sustainable/Responsible Purchasing

Some of the findings of the Responsible Purchasing Trends 2010 report published by the Responsible Purchasing Network, a group of buyers dedicated to socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing, were:

• Recycled content, energy conservation and human health considerations are the most important criteria for companies; key general considerations include product performance, price and availability;
• Only one in three purchasers publish a report outlining their green purchasing initiatives;
• Cost is the most significant barrier to responsible procurement;
• Respondents report needing more help with clarifying what is "green";
• More companies said they would be procuring increasing numbers of "green" products over the next two years and indicated that improving their tracking and reporting will help them achieve this.

Collaborations and partnerships
Many companies are partnering with others in the industry to develop industry-wide procurement standards and share knowledge and best practice. Examples of such initiatives include the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange), the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and the International Council of Toy Industries' (ITCI) CARE Foundation.
One of the biggest challenges for hoteliers is not having a consistent “green” measurement. It’s the reason why some hotel chains has teamed up with hotel suppliers, architecture firms, purchasing companies and sustainability experts to launch the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium (HSPC), whose aim is to help create common industry standards for sustainable purchasing.
Working with MindClick SGM, several hotel chains are developing the web-based Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Index (HSPI), initially for fixtures, fittings and equipment (FF&E), that will measure and report on the CSR, environmental and product sustainability performance of suppliers. Consortium members will work together to facilitate alignment of HSPI with industry-accepted sustainability standards, including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and various product category standards.

"AGREE ON REALISTIC TARGETS OR KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI'S) WITH SUPPLIERS TO HELP YOU EVALAUTE SUPPLIERS!"

 

Local sourcing goes beyond food
Sourcing food and drink locally is now an established strategy for many in the hospitality industry and the practice will continue to expand into other areas of procurement as well. The benefits of local sourcing are many, including reducing transportation costs, support for the local economy, creation of a strong community relationship and more certainty and predictability of delivery.
Palacio Nazarenas in the Peruvian city of Cuzco that opened in summer 2012, sourced and is sourcing nearly everything in Peru, from its linen to its ceramics and artwork. The hotel is working with a community of local weavers to produce its textiles and rugs, a local wood carver is making furniture pieces and two of Peru’s top fashion designers are creating the staff uniforms.

Recycling industry as a new product provider
As the recycling industry increasingly finds ways of turning waste into new products, so the choice of quality items made out of recycled and/or reclaimed content will grow. Sustainable/responsible procurement managers will be increasingly looking to the recycling industry as a supplier of alternative "green" products, whether it is recycled aggregates for construction, crockery and glasses made from reclaimed materials or furniture created from salvaged timber. Many hotels around the world use carpets made with up to 100% recycled content and wall art is mounted on bases made from reused car tires.

Energy and water efficiency are priorities
The ever changing price of crude oil, natural gas, electricity and heating oil will continue to compel procurement managers to look for products that use less energy. Concerns about water shortages will also focus hoteliers' attention on finding suppliers committed to using less water in the manufacturing process and water-saving products, from shower heads and taps to dishwashers.

About Hospro

HOSPRO|Hospitality Procurement prides itself on being a bit different. Traditional values are sustained and a good reputation is something to be proud of. Good business is building lasting relationships, helping us to grow our assets together. With a background in international hospitality and procurement services for some 30 years, our combination of market knowledge and expertise ensures the best possible service for our business relations. We support our clienteles with specific recommendations and references to stay focused on the total process. 

(Source: Greenhotelier.org)