HOLIDAY INN • BINGHAMTON, NY
DCG helps Holiday Inn, Binghamton improve both the guest experience and profitability
Tony Dottino had a bad guest experience during a stay at a Holiday Inn in Binghamton, NY. After reviewing his comments on a customer satisfaction survey, the General Manager contacted him and asked him to give the Holiday Inn another chance.
CHALLENGES
- Hotel had low customer satisfaction scores
- Staff had poor morale, and displayed no initiative in improving the guest experience. The pervasive attitude was anything that went wrong was somebody else’s problem
- The rooms were old and smaller than the current industry standard
- The combination of a poor guest experience and newer hotels opening in the market resulted in fewer bookings and declining market share
- The city was in a recession, and businesses were moving out of downtown
- The leadership team had no clear strategy for improving its competitive position
SIGNATURE SOLUTIONS
- DCG conducted Leadership Frameworks sessions with hotel leadership to set strategy
- DCG assessed the commitment of the leadership team, and identified leaders with passion
- Leadership identified service offerings that could differentiate the hotel from its competitors
- Through the GRI workshop, front line staff identified guest satisfaction opportunities and efficiency improvements
- Helped reposition the hotel competitively
RESULTS
- Within 18 months, overall revenue increased by 35%, occupancy increased by 13 percent, and the customer satisfaction improved from 25th to 8th within the region
- Increased occupancy and demand for special events allowed the hotel to increase their room rates to be higher than the new hotels in the region
- Due to the hotel’s unique location on a river, it began offering “Party on the Patio” on Friday/Saturday nights. This brought hundreds of new people to the hotel each weekend
- Hotel leadership and frontline workers innovated, offering theme nights such as Mardi Gras, and set up the hotel lobby as a living room. The hotel’s motto became “we are welcoming each guest into the living room of our home.” When your workday was done, you visited your friends in the house/hotel lobby
- Staff members continuously identified opportunities to reduce expenses by eliminating waste and improving their own productivity