What are the advantages of using service benchmarking in hospitality?

Service benchmarking is the process of measuring and evaluating service performance compared to your competitors and as well your property standing. The collection of data’s mainly focused on few aspects- - Overall delivery of service - Customer service - Net Promotor Score - Overall F&B service - Cleanliness Scores - Working Order Score

We can use that information, shared by guests on different platforms, e.g., Google Reviews and Meddiela, to improve our services to match the standards of the industry. Identifying opportunities for improvement: These benchmarks can help us identify areas where we can improve our operations to meet industry standards.

Service benchmarking is like taking a peek behind the scenes of your favorite restaurants. It's all about checking out how well you're doing compared to the cool places in the biz. We look at our own data and also spy on other top-notch hospitality spots to see what they're up to. The idea? Spot where we shine and where we could use a little boost. It's like getting tips from the pros. We're not just in it for ourselves – it's about making everyone's experience awesome. So, we learn from the best, tweak our game, and keep rocking the hospitality scene. After all, who doesn't want to be the cool kid in the industry?

Its a process of comparing and evaluating the performance and outcomes of our services against our other industry standards. It helps to identify our mistakes and area of improvement to make it better.

The article provides a comprehensive introduction to service benchmarking, a powerful tool for improving service delivery and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. However, it might be beneficial to add a real-world example to illustrate the application of service benchmarking. For example, a hotel company could use service benchmarking to compare its customer satisfaction scores with those of its competitors on OTAs where it competes for market share. If the business finds that its scores are lower, it could identify areas where it falls short and take steps to improve, such as training staff in better customer service techniques or implementing new technologies to improve the guest experience.

Hotel's management might be reaching their KPI's and set objectives by their owners / top management and think that they are the best in the market, if they are not benched against the competition they will never grap the opportunities and aim to work smarter and make extra efforts . There are a lot of international third party companies that sell data to hotels , this data allows a hotel to benchmark the " best in class " type of data to see where are they in terms of gaining market share , without such type of Benchmark data a hotel would not understand their positioning in the market , therefore , it is a very important tool to have !

We have a lot to learn in Nigeria. In my experience cover 3* Hotels mostly owned by independents, this is Service benchmarking is not a norm, but the 5* and 4* are taking the lead . This can explain the poor management and service in 3* hotels in my clime. This is a topic that Nigeria can learn from.

By measuring important metrics like customer satisfaction, response time, and service quality, benchmarking helps identify areas for improvement and sets goals for achieving higher levels of service excellence. This process not only enhances the overall guest experience but also ensures that businesses remain competitive in the constantly evolving hospitality industry.

measures the gap between customer expectations and perceptions of service quality based on five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles.

In my experience, leveraging service benchmarking in hospitality has been a game-changer. Using service benchmarking in hospitality helps set performance standards and identify areas for improvement. Customize benchmarks to your business needs for meaningful insights. For example, a hotel improved guest satisfaction by adopting best practices from industry leaders through service benchmarking.

A company needs to:- 1. Select the right KPIs to measure success. They should be lofty but not unattainable for the key players in the business. 2. Seek correct benchmarking resource - industry specific benchmarking resources. 3. Track and manage your data diligently 4. Collect the necessary data via primary or secondary sources. Derive the data from both internal and external sources 5. Distill and use the data to make informed decisions and drive positive changes within the business that will ultimately make it more productive and competitive

O benchmarking de servi?os é um processo estratégico dividido em quatro fases. Inicialmente, planeja-se o projeto, definindo escopo e objetivos. Em seguida, coletam-se e organizam-se dados, tanto internos quanto de parceiros. A análise desses dados identifica lacunas e oportunidades. Por fim, implementam-se planos de a??o para melhorar pontos fracos, aprimorar pontos fortes e garantir uma melhoria contínua nos servi?os oferecidos.

Os resultados do benchmarking de servi?os s?o eficazes quando utilizados para aprimorar a qualidade e a satisfa??o do cliente. Compartilhar os dados com a equipe, gerência e partes interessadas, obter feedback e implementar práticas viáveis e sustentáveis s?o passos cruciais. Estabelecer metas realistas, monitorar o progresso, ajustar conforme necessário e reconhecer as contribui??es da equipe s?o elementos essenciais para o sucesso do benchmarking de servi?os.

O benchmarking de servi?os na área de hospitalidade enfrenta desafios como a obten??o de dados confiáveis, garantia de confidencialidade e respeito à privacidade dos parceiros. Evitar a mera imita??o de práticas, considerar custos e benefícios, e gerenciar a resistência da equipe s?o cruciais para o sucesso, exigindo comprometimento e criatividade.

In my experience, in order to keep the commitment and collaboration… we must make it a part of our team/business culture. The whole team must be committed to it. Make fun activities or rewards, involve other departments, involve rising stars, get the team’s buy in by showing them the “why” it benefits us all… and it usually aligns with your mission, vision and values. ????????

I remember back in 2017, at the Lovely W south beach hotel, the director of What When and IRD would periodically ask me to help them with audits for their service benchmarking. I would love to participate on those, as we would get free lunch. We would rate the phone pick ups, the order taking standards, speed of delivery, and presentation of food, quality and taste. It was a very fun activity. Thank you for keeping me in mind Juan Alvarez and Ivanna Juaya. ??

In our webinar on the subject, I often conclude by emphasizing that service benchmarking is not a one-off task. Instead, it should be an ongoing process involving regular reviews and adjustments to ensure that benchmarks remain relevant and effective in the face of changing circumstances and customer needs. In my opinion the article does an excellent job of explaining what a service benchmark is. However, it's crucial to remember that service benchmarking also requires the use of real-world examples to illustrate its applications. Moreover, this process should be continuous.