The document provides tips for hotel managers and staff to improve customer service and increase patronage. It discusses the importance of customer satisfaction, cleanliness, competitive pricing, marketing, and staff training. Specific recommendations include renovating equipment regularly, getting feedback from customers, ensuring power reliability, and implementing a performance review system for staff. The goal is to treat customers well and make the hotel a comfortable "home away from home" for patrons.

1. TRICKS TO SUCCESS IN A HOTEL BUSINESS
INTRODUCTION:
The tips in this article would assist hotel managers and staff to provide
quality service that will lead to increase patronage and success in the
hotel business.
Hotel business is a hospitality/ Customer service business, the
relationship between the staff and the customers goes a long way to
determine if the customer would come back or go somewhere else. A
hotel is supposed to be a home away from home, but many staff
doesn’t seem to treat their customers well. Smiling face of the staff
would make a customer feel at home and feel free. If you know your
hotel rooms are empty, these tips would be helpful in reviving/
boosting customers patronage of your hotel. Being visible in your hotel
and making contact with your guests builds rapport and trust. Once
you’ve gained this you’re in a far better position to gain valuable
feedback first hand. The same goes for your staff too, so encourage
them to talk to your guests. Give them the appropriate training to ask
for feedback in the knowledge that they are confidence to deal with
feedback – good or bad – in a positive way. Bear in mind your guests
will tell you things that they wouldn’t feedback to your staff, and vice
versa.
1. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Every hotel is established for the use of
guest or customers; it must be comfortable and hospitable.

2. Good customer service is the best way to market your hotel
than any other marketing strategy. The quality of service
determines the rate of satisfaction a customer would derive.
Once a customer is satisfied with the quality of service of your
hotel, he will go nowhere else but your hotel and tell others
about your hotel. The staff of your hotel must continue to see
customers as the reason for the establishment of the hotel and
treat them well in return. From the reception desk, to the
kitchen, from the kitchen to the bar and also the Laundry, they
must improve on their services and treat customers like a King.
This will boost customer’s confidence on the hotel which will
make them always come back and stay for longer period.
2. DO CONSTANT RENOVATION/ REPAIR/ CHANGE OF
EQUIPMENT: A hotel that the telephone is not working well,
the heater is not working in the bathroom; wireless not
working, many switch/ socket gone badly would tend to lose
customers. Constant renovation of equipment and even
outright painting of the hotel is necessary because it would
make the hotel beautiful and the beauty of the hotel would
attract customers with class. Change of fuse/ socket as well as
bad electronic materials in the hotel such as TV, telephone and
fridge is very necessary; these are the things that make
customers comfortable and happy. A researcher like me would
not visit or go close to a hotel without a stable wireless in
place. Do the right things and ensure everything is working and
make your hotel the right place to go for a vacation or leave.
3. BE COMPETITIVE: There are hotels everywhere, so to keep
your hotel alive you must be very competitive. As a manager of

3. a hotel, it is necessary to know other hotels around, their
strength and weakness, their quality of service, their customer
relationship. This study will assist you in improving in your own
hotel service and make you a step ahead of others in the
industry. Know the things they are not doing well and correct
those things in your own hotel, know their marketing strategy,
if it is better than yours then change your marketing strategy.
These steady interactions with other hotels around could help
you to structure your hotel well and make it very competitive.
4. CLEANLINESS OF THE HOTEL ENVIRONMENT: The environment
of your hotel must be very neat. Everywhere should be
sparkling. The bed spread/ pillow cases must be changed
regularly, the toilet and the bathroom also should be washed
by the cleaners. Dusting of everywhere in the room is also
good. Moping of the floor of the hotel and sweeping of the
outside is also very essential. Cleanliness is next to Godliness,
ensure your hotel and its environment is very neat.
5. CHANGE OF STAFF UNWILLING TO LEARN: “Some staff take
the light in saying sorry, I won’t try it next time” for you to pity
and manage them, but you can’t manage someone at the
expense of your business. The staff you have in your hotel can
either build your hotel or kill it. Constant assessment of your
staff Is necessary and the ones not competent should be
corrected from time to time.
6. STUDY YOUR ENVIRONMENT AND KNOW WHAT SERVICE TO
RENDER: The people in every environment have what they like
depending on their culture. The location of your hotel should

4. determine the service to be rendered. Like your hotel Possi
Hotel and Suites is situated in an Igbo dominated area of Lagos
state. Your study should be:
• The kind of food the Igbo’s eat
• The kind of drinks they like
• The kind of TV stations that make them happy etc.
A hotel situation in VI, Festac, VGC and banana republic axis
should expect more of Foreigners and should have in its stock
foreign wines and should be competent in preparing
Intercontinental dishes.
7. MARKETING YOUR HOTEL: There are different marketing
strategies for hotels. But like I said earlier, the best way to
market your hotel is good customer service, that is the only
way to keep your guest coming back to spend longer time.
Never talk back to a guest no matter your anger, the only
response that can come from a staff is “I’m sorry sir/ ma”.
Saying sorry won’t remove anything from you but will resolve
any issue or anger of a guest in your hotel. Find below some
marketing strategies that should be considered:
• ORGANISE SHOWS OF DIFFERENT KINDS FROM TIME
TO TIME: One benefit of organising these shows is that

5. it would make new people aware of your hotel. When
crowd come for the show, of course more than 80% of
the crowd will be new to your hotel and would always
consider lodging someday or tell others about your
hotel.
• HAVE A GOOD MARKETING TEAM IN PLACE: The
criteria for selecting a marketer depends solely on the
environment of your hotel. Like the location of your
hotel “Possi hotel and suites”, any marketer that
should be employed must be proficient in English and
Igbo, proficiency in Yoruba language is also an edge.
Payment of the marketer should be based on
commission (%) or the customers they attract to the
hotel. Female is preferable to male as a marketer for a
hotel business, she must be beautiful, intelligent and
have a good sense of humor. She must know the
places to go to get customers and know the right
things to say. She must know everything about the
hotel like:
1. All the food in the menu of the hotel
2. The classes of room the hotel has
3. She should be able to tell a customer that the hotel
has a bar, a pool, restaurant and the comfort of the
rooms in the hotel.
4. The beautiful condition of the hotel
5. The warm reception that await him when he comes

6. When a good marketing team is in place, the hotel will never
lack guest in the rooms and that is always the target of hotel
business owners.
8. HAVE AN UNINTERRUPTED POWER SUPPLY: It is never
comfortable to pay your money and sleep in the dark. Many
guest would prefer a hotel that has uninterrupted power
supply to those that have epileptic power supply. Constant
power supply is the one of the best comfort a guest can get,
ensure your power is stable and make your hotel comfortable
for guests to stay. This will help in advertising your hotel also.
9. ALWAYS REQUEST FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMER: Customer
feedback is known as the best way of improving on the state of
service of every hotel. Customer’s opinion should be put into
consideration. Customer should evaluate all the services of the
hotel because this assessment if compiled properly and
inculcated in the hotel culture, there will positive change that
will lead to increase in patronage but it is not all the opinions of
customers that should be considered. A customer can tell you,
“he need harlots in the hotel for example” if it is against the
policy of your hotel then don’t consider such a suggestion.
Customers should be able to assess the following:
• The food
• The drinks

7. • The quality of service
• The staff
• The rate of comfort he/ she derives
• The if he or she would love to come back
These assessments would help the hotel improve in their service
and staff would treat their guest well to avoid been sacked due to
regular complains from guests.
10. HAVE A GOOD MANAGEMENT STYLE IN PLACE AND
INCULCATE IN THE STAFF TEAM WORK, RESPECT AND LOVE
FOR EACH OTHER: Team work can never be achieved without
love and respect for each other. If you want your staff to put in
their best to your organisation ensure there is love between
them and mutual respect. In every organisation like hotels
there are different level of management, like the top level,
middle level, and low level managers. Every staff should treat
his superior with respect. Working as a team helps to produce
greater output than working in anger or with malicious mind.
Every customer tends to be happy when they say the
coordination of your staff and the quality of service they get.
The best management style for hotels is the Management by
walking around (MBWA). This management style is the best for
hotels because of the numerous departments a hotel has. The
managers/ supervisor should move from time to time to the

8. different departments to ensure they are carried out their
duties accurately. This will give staff no chance to gossip or stay
idle when there are jobs to be done.
11. MAKE SURE YOUR HOTEL IS SECURED: Guest in your hotel
would like to sleep well with both eyes closed. Security agents
should be in place in and around the hotel premises to boost
customer’s confidence of the hotel, if not hoodlums would
wake up one morning and visit the hotel to steal and do their
mysterious activities. The hotel should also take Safety first, all
safety ethics should be strictly abided to, to reduce the rate of
any hazard that could be harmful to guest. Security of your
hotel is key and helps to market your hotel also.
12. EVERY STAFF SHOULD HAVE A PERFORMANCE SCORE
CARD: This score card method for staff would make them
aware that the management is watching their back, this would
make them put in their best so that they will be scored well.
After scoring them, tell them ways they can improve on their
service. Managers should be constructive in criticism; this will
lead to an improvement in the quality of service.
THE (LEAF) FORMULA WOULD BOOST MANAGERS
RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMER
• Listen

9. Listen to the customer – they want to get it off their chest – You
need to identify the problem, Show you’re listening – remember
your body language and keep eye contact. Reflect back to the
customer to check your understanding and show the customer
you’ve understood. Park the emotion and focus on the facts
• Empathise
Apologise – this isn’t necessarily accepting responsibility, but
apologising that they’ve been put out or disappointed or that they
feel that way. Do not take it personally; show you care and that
you understand their concern, why they might be disappointed or
why they feel angry. They’re not interested in excuses – even if
the problem wasn’t your fault show that you’re looking to come
to a solution to the problem for your guest.
• Action
And ask what they would see as an acceptable solution
Offer alternatives so the customer feels they are in control of the
solution. Look to overcompensate by at least a few percent –
there’s no need to go overboard but just consider what would be

10. reasonable for both parties – It’s not always about throwing
money at the problem. Tell the customer what you are going to
do and not why things went wrong (unless that’s what they ask)
• Follow Up
Keep your promise and deliver- Check that the customer is happy
with the outcome. Learn from the feedback you’ve had and look
into recurring trends – aim to prevent a similar complaint
happening again. Pass on to your team so they know how to
resolve similar situations in future with the right approach
because complaints can turn a negative into positive. You can’t
always get everything right, but when you don’t make sure you fix
it immediately.
MY PURPOSE OF THIS WRITE UP: I carried out this
research for the success and growth of my uncle’s hotel
business. I know the management of the hotel is doing
excellently well but obviously some things need to be corrected
and inculcated in the hotel organisational culture. This
intellectual work done by me should please not be neglected or
swept under the carpet. It should be inculcated into the
organisational culture of the hotel; it is my prayer that this
work brings about positive changes to my uncle’s hotel,

11. increase patronage, and increase in the competitive power of
the hotel.
SUGGESTIONS
1. Staff should be motivated to put in their best.
2. Customer’s feedback should be taken seriously.
3. Regular cleaning of the hotel and its environment is very
necessary.
4. The moment it is made clear to staff that the reason for
establishing the hotel is Customer satisfaction, they
tend to respect and treat customers well.
5. Staff uniform/ clothes should always be clean and
ironed.
6. Inflating bills of customers by staff should be highly
prohibited.
7. A good marketing team should be in place to boost
advertisement of the hotel.
8. Staff should be made to write report of their duties over
a given period of time
9. Respect and team work should be encouraged among
staff.

12. 10. Gossiping should highly be prohibited among staff.
11. Staff suggestions on how to improve the quality of
service/ patronage should be taken seriously and
welcomed from time to time
12. A good safety plan should be on ground in case of
unforeseen circumstances like fire outbreak or crisis.
13. Ensure the lives of guests is secured in your hotel
14. More research should be carried out on this topic.
15. GM please take note, the front desk, pool bar and main
bar are not dressing completely, palm slippers is no
longer allowed in this century for hotel staff. They
should be putting on a cover shoe not palm slippers.
I want to thank my parents sincerely from my heart for given
me the best legacy any parent can give to their children which
is EDUCATION. I love you dad and mum very much.
GOD BLESS YOU FOR READING THROUGH THIS WORK,
IJIEKHUAMHEN OSAZE PATRICK.