IS YOUR ADVISOR EQUIPPED WITH THESE SKILLS?
If you are considering the use of a Consultant, chances are that you might consider a large 'marquee' firm with a familiar international name whose base business is Audits.
We have no problem with that approach since the banks usually insist on a well-known firm to provide their client with a standard, acceptable report weighing about 1.0- 2.0 lbs with a dust-proof cover. It will not in fact be read but it is the proof they need to divert the blame in case the you know what hits the fan! The dust proof cover is useful because it will end up on a shelf gathering ......you know what......dust!
Large marquee consultant groups are indeed very useful. They are there to take the blame when things go wrong. However, they are also very good at the small print, or what the industry calls "the weasle clauses".
They do audits. If you want an audit, this would be a good place to shop for an audit.
If you want bank financing, these feasibility studies will provide the support.
They also hire young 'still-wet' graduates. If you are interested in the opinion of a hospitality student with an MBA who has never experienced either success or failure, this would be a rewarding experience. They have a lot of great ideas and are so enthusiastic as long as they do not actually have to get their hands greasy, or work beyond 'happy hour' or into the week-end.
They also hire former executives from the industry. Usually they are unable to find a good job in the industry and gravitate toward consultancy where auditors need their experience to lend credibility to their own written words. Luckily, most of the text is already available from previous clients and only names need to change which is a simple "Find & Replace" excercise.
It reminds me of the Wheel Alignment & Brake Specialist branching out into Bodywork.
Or a dentist looking at brain surgery or plastic surgery as a natural spin-off because it's all in the same general area.
Has the time come for the industry to demand Certification or Guarantees before an unqualified advisor provides critical guidance to an owner on a multi-million dollar/euro investment? Or is it still acceptable to hire representatives off the street to a streamlined downtown office where all the names on the front door are of people who are at least six feet under only to prepare a report for which there is no accountability!
Strategic advice requires vision. Visioning forward to the situations over the horizon, sideways to 
the markets of the competition and backwards to the history that will somehow shape the trends going forward.
Strategic advice needs not only vision but strong Quiet Communication Skills. These skills are mostly the power of listening, the power of hearing, the power of asking the wrong person the right question.
Hospitality Consultancy requires Non-Numerical Accounting Skills that include listening, questioning, digging, scratching, observing and gauging. This is auditing but audits of different assets in which liabilities are often invisible and assets often overlooked. This is an excercise that delves into the numbers that jump out at the experienced but are overlooked by the novices.
A successful hospitality business relies on chemistry. Human chemistry. This is the magic that exists between a manager and his staff, the client and the employees, an owner with the manager and between them all. Without the chemistry, it becomes just a job, a manufacturing plant, a bore. With it, it becomes a living space, a stage on which all participants perform.
Strategic advice can only come when the advisor becomes familiar with the Owners objectives. It is rare to find an owner who truly knows what his objectives are and so........strategic advisors formulate owners' objectives and only when these have been nailed down can the listening start.
Advice is useless by itself and is of value only when accompagnied by Nike-type Implementation, only when a solution has been introduced, not found or described, but introduced. As Nike says "Just Do It".
A fine hospitality consultant will also audit the Employee Marketing Plan . This will ensure that the property attracts and retains a certain calibre of Brand Representative that fully and faithfully projects the brand for whom they work. This can be done surrupticiously by observing the chemistry that is sometimes electric between members of a team that enjoy being together.
For more information or suggestions for additional skills , contact [email protected]
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