Valentine’s Day: A Whole Lot of Hospitality Love
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner – not only is this day about loving your loved ones, it’s also about loving and investing in you, your business, your venue and your customers.
Loving Your Customers
We all play our part in someone’s moment, someone’s memory. From the small artisan bakery where people are picking up pastries for breakfast in bed, to the high-end luxury restaurant chosen to wine and dine your loved one, hospitality plays a key role in being able to create an experience for others.
In Hospitality, we are creating moments and memories that warms the heart, through our experiences. These moments can often cost very little, but mean a great deal to the customer and can usually bring in a much bigger return.
It could be all staff wear a hint of pink or red, popping red roses on every table, having truffles or chocolates on a platter for customers arriving, introducing a Valentine’s special cocktail, putting up balloons in the room or sprinkling rose petals on the bed
As leaders in hospitality, our role extends beyond managing the business; it’s about actively participating in the customer experience, understanding their needs, and ensuring we and our team know to make sure the human touch and wow moments remains at the forefront of all we do, we must champion the return of genuine connections.
This is also a great opportunity to show appreciation and thanks to your regular customers. Whether it’s a social media post, email mail out, Valentine’s offer…show your clients that you care.
Loving Your Staff
Valentine’s Day is also a great time to thank and appreciate your staff.
How could you thank them? What have you done previously? A box of chocolates on everyone’s desk or in the staff room for all? A card for everyone? Or simply, let them know that are appreciated.
Love what you do… find your mojo again!
As mentioned in my recent blog ‘stuck in a rut’ (https://thehospitalityhero.com/the-hospitality-hero/groundhog-day-stuck-in-a-rut/) – many hospitality leaders and workers are feeling stuck in a rut? Like you’re not making any progress or gaining any momentum?
The current state of play means many hospitality managers and staff have become monotonous, stuck on autopilot and stagnant. Many have lost their mojo!
But, worryingly, this lack of engagement can lead to poor customer service, higher turnover rates, poor employee morale and ultimately reputational problems – something your business and ultimately the hospitality industry really can’t afford right now.
Come back to your why. Why did you get into hospitality in the first place? What impact do you want to make? What parts of the role do you enjoy? What parts of the role do you need training or support with? What can you outsource to others? Have your finger on the pulse — understands trends, data, what’s going on… and get connected with others in the industry – you don’t have to do this alone. Start by joining The Hospitality Hero Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thehospitalityhero/
Finally, create or tweak your mission statement, trust me, this will help guide your actions and decisions – it will give you your purpose and you will find that as you connect with you why, you will get your mojo back!
Leading with Love
Once you’ve invested in you and found your mojo and love for the industry again. You can then lead powerfully and with love.
I read this great piece on LinkedIn about Leading with Love by HR Expert, Amit Chilka – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/12-things-leaders-who-lead-love-do-differently-amit-chilka/ “Leading with love is an absolutely powerful approach to leadership. In an organisational context, love refers to a deep and genuine care for the well-being of others. It involves treating employees, colleagues, and other stakeholders with kindness, empathy, and compassion, and creating a positive, supportive environment where everyone can thrive.”
This is something I absolutely agree with. Leading with love is a powerful way to build a positive, supportive workplace and hospitality venue where everyone can thrive.
Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine’s.