WHY DO WE NOT STEAL SOME GLAMOUR AND SOME PRESENTATION SKILLS FROM RETAIL.
Is it not a shame that we allow our public areas to drown in a sea of mediocrity? When so much of what we try and do is to WOW our public, to exceed their expectations. Why are our restaurants, our bars, our shops and our reception areas not dressed to tempt?
Hoteliers are generally great fans of colour, of taste, of shapes, of style and of art. As hoteliers, we are always on the lookout for ways to intrigue our clientele. Always looking for ways to please, to entertain, to amuse.
However, we are still operating in the dark ages when it comes to temptation and, I think that the retail trade can teach us a few tricks. What can we learn from them. Where are our shop windows? Who dresses them? Who designs them? Who is planning the presentations for the Fall, Spring and Winter? Who is in charge of Temptation?
The answer is no-one!!
There are exceptions but they are few and far between.
Why is it that the bed and bath shop in a hotel is a desk?
Why is it that the fruits & vegetable shop in a hotel is a menu board?
Why is it that the wine and spirits shop in a hotel is a cocktail list?
Why is it that the Christmas celebrations for a hotel is a poster?
Why is a local tour of a special historic site just a folder?
Why is the wedding shop in a hotel an office?
Where are our shop windows? Oh, I know, we like those silk covered sofas and Chinese screens with ancient vases with oil paintings of faraway places. But we are tigers in a cage waiting to get our teeth on that guest's wallet. Why else do we have Yield Management and flashy sales departments and upselling?
All of us walk down a high street at some point in our lives, we stop, we look, we enjoy the presentations and we are sometimes tempted. The shop window is nothing more or less than a temptation. It is never static but it changes often, it is sometimes sparse, sometimes shocking, sometime amusing and sometimes roudy. It is pitched to the young, pitched to the mature, pitched to the singles and pitched to the families. It is however always a pitch!
The first few steps into a department store expose us all to the scents and beauty of perfume. Rarely are they displayed in sealed boxes and they always are available for trial. Rarely will one find a salesperson who is
less than perfectly coiffed, in fact the general appearance of those providing a welcome and a farewell are stunning.
Having the great fortune to work with the famous hotel architect John Portman years ago, I was fascinated to learn that hoteliers have but four minutes to make that great impression. In that first four minutes, either we grab him.....or lose him.
Most retailers do it in seconds! Some use visual, some use sound, some use scent and some use it all but none use nothing.
A hotel is a place where life imitates art, where dreams are realised, where lifestyle is portrayed. Brands take aim at types of customers. Brands are created to deliver dreams to those with room for more. We aspire to our favourite brands. We want them to excite us, to surprise us, to titillate us.
What is a 5 Star Hotel if it is not a 5 Star hotel for a 4 Star customer?
What is a 4 Star Hotel if it is not a 4 Star hotel for a 3 Star customer?
Am I a Five Star customer on the expense account during the week and a Four Star customer on weekends? I still enjoy the smell of fresh baked bread, sheets with an astronomical thread count and soft towels.
The only natural conclusion is that there is always a progression forward. Four star customers become Five star customers. They expect more and we must deliver more. Exceeding their expectations is what we strive for. That's how we got into Entertainment. That's how we got into Fashion and that's how we need to get into Retail.
This is where we gravitate from Four Seasons Hotels to Six Senses Hotels in which the local community and their products come to life in an explosion of temptations.
Think about it.
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