I was stopping in to speak with a potential client last week, a beautiful hotel here in Richmond, and spent some time chatting with a gentleman at the front desk. We both happened to be on the same page about numerous issues: love of the city (him-Fan, me-Church Hill), Richmond's great restaurants, and the disdain for people who do not follow simple rules. The latter topic came about while we were on the issue of parking, or lack thereof, in the Fan. I told him a situation I encountered that previous weekend of a less-than-conscientious driver in my beautiful neighborhood while I was on a morning walk with the dog. As Morgan and I are walking Colt down Broad street, we pass Captain Buzzy's (highly recommended for coffee lovers) just as someone pulls into an empty spot along the curb right in front of the shop. For starters, this is a no-parking zone and there was a perfectly legal spot directly across the street. Secondly, he was facing the wrong direction(!!!!).... I am not one that understands or grasps the mindset of being above the law or common rules of humanity, so this situation slightly infuriated me...and on such a beautiful day! In case you are wondering, no he was not the President, Pope, or God (I would have loved to back a tow truck up to his car and move to the other side of the street, but I do not have such resources). This rolled back in the folks who feel that rules simply do not apply to them. I inquired if that came into play while doing his job, and while he was more than professional and politically correct by deflecting a question that would put his guests in poor lighting, it got me thinking about the logistics of a hotel....and how I probably could not deal with that if it were my job.
Just think for a minute about what has to go into a full scale, happening hotel on a day to day basis. The amount of people checking in and out, the rooms that need to be cleaned, the food served, the amount of drinks consumed at the bar, shuttles taking people to and fro (not sure if that is still an acceptable phrase these days). Every hotel has check in and check out times, but who really wants to wait until 3pm right?! I guarantee if you managed a hotel, or had the privilege of fielding the questions such as "Why do I make a reservation if my room isn't even ready!?" (5 hours before check in time) you would never ask that question at a hotel again. My point being-hotels HAVE to be an efficient, well oiled machine to keep their guests satisfied and coming back. (And the hotel I am speaking of does that amazingly).
This thought process, once I had some coffee, started to swirl and lead me to think what I could do to assist a hotel in achieving operational perfection. I cannot, nor do I want to, handle those questions from customers. But I can directly impact a customer's stay at the hotel, as well as assist the hotel staff and management in streamlining hotel processes. What we do, in the maintenance contract world, is create a plan to achieve a goal. I am expending much energy getting the topic of mechanical equipment and operation into the discussion of "a means to achieve a goal" so to speak. There is endless amounts of money poured into poorly operating HVAC equipment. Money that could find its way down to the bottom line as PROFIT instead of being paid to energy utilities, repair work, parts, etc. In addition to the back end of this, I can also affect the front end-comfort conditions. If I help develop a plan that has the equipment operating effectively and efficiently then guests will reap the benefits of simply being comfortable, and that goes an incredibly long way.
This entry was more about my personal observations and opinions as opposed to hard data, but I look at this topic as my responsibility and my "masterpiece". The recommendations I propose to potential clients are carefully thought out and crafted with a focus on detail that makes the finished proposal essentially my work of art. If I can affect, positively, an operation with my recommendations and plans then I have succeeded and that gives more satisfaction than anything else.
Luke
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