NO SMOKING/WEEDING/VAPING

As a regular guest at a nearby inn or a hotel downtown, you must have seen this inscription a thousand times, isn't it???

* What does it really mean to you?

* Does it look just like a fanciful phrase pasted on the colourful walls of every office facility?

* Does it have anything to do with a guest or a new customer that wants to take a rest or rent the dining space for an alumni meeting?

The NO SMOKING/WEEDING/VAPING rule is introduced into the organizational policy of every hospitality organization that I know. However, what I have found out is that this policy is either not being enforced or it is outrightly flouted by guests due to familiarity and the desire of many organizations to retain their customers. On a general scale, many policies, however simple and lenient, are not followed. After all, we are just unique beings.????

As a hospitality business, empathy, respect, firmness, assertiveness and consistency must be your 'holy grail'. But what you do not want or stand for, must not be condoned.

Scenario:

A 25-year-old bloke visits your facility to lodge for a night. The young man books a room (Room Royal for example), smokes all sorts, leaves room in a bad shape and exits in the early hours of morning. The reality is that he will likely visit or not visit again. The same way we have random people come and go out daily.

But the question remains.... What happens to the lovely Room Royal he has checked out from? The odour from the smoked hemp? The messed-up fridge and furniture with cigar ashes? Remember, no healthy person will book a room stuffed with foul odour. An asthmatic guest wouldn't either. Never!

Let's look at the Math: ??

Room Royal has not been used in a week and has been turned down 5 times on each passing day by incoming guests. Room Royal is N15,000, and it is one of the regularly used rooms. That is a minimum N75,000 lost for the week. Add the high cost of materials, liquid and air freshener application, plus the price of losing familiar customers who will rather LOOK FOR OPTIONS elsewhere. Remember, a room that is not used loses its value gradually.

As a business owner in the hospitality space, you cannot afford to be laidback or lackadaisical in approach. If you do so, you will "get your fingers burnt". Please always be reminded that the growth, development and success of the business rests solely on you, and your organization, not on the consumer. Do you want to remain passive or start doing what is appropriate and right? It is up to you.