Important product/Service components - Essay Example

Section/# The Competitive Edge The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries within the currenteconomy today. Part of the reason for this growth is the increasing mobility of large amounts of individuals combined with the demands that globalization has placed on the need for businessmen and women to travel as a means of conducting business. Due to the increased demand and growth that the industry has faced, one of the prime questions that a hotel manager or shareholder within the process should seek to answer is what key product or service components best engage the current generation of customers.

In seeking to provide the answer to such a question, the manager/shareholder will better be able to provide high quality of goods and/or services and at the same time increase customer satisfaction and profitability. For purposes of this brief essay, this author will analyze three of the effects that are believed to most profoundly affect the way that costumers engage with a given hotel.The first of these will be referred to as the “clean/fresh/new” principle. When a hotel guest enters his/her room for the first time, they are automatically attuned to several factors which include the overall level of cleanliness, the smell, and whether or not the hotel chain has expended money recently to update and refit the room.

All of these factors have been measured by a litany of further studies and proven to be among the first things on the list of consumer demands within the current discussion in question.Secondly, the experience of service quality at the front desk cannot and should not be ignored. Due to the fact that the front desk is the first representation of the physical service interaction that the consumer has, it is of vital importance that this be a pleasant one which engenders the qualities of a fast, helpful, cheerful, and painless process.

As the customer is shown that the brand is willing and able to place a high level of emphasis on the quality of service and speed of transaction that takes place at the front desk, a level of impression is made that carries over into the consumer’s experience with a litany of other key factors within the hotel. Finally, but not least importantly, the level of standardization along with additional perks or bonuses is something that has a profoundly important impact upon the way the consumer views the establishment.

For instance, a level of standardization is now expected. Goods or services which were not previously universal have now been all but expected and demanded by consumers who have experience staying in all manner of mid to high end hotels. Due to this fact, it is highly important for th hotel to ensure that they comply with the level of standardization that exists elsewhere within the industry while at the same time offering some small ancillary benefit that will help endear the customer to them.

These ancillary benefits could be something so small as an added good in the hotel room itself, an additional service, or the introduction of a new/rethought perks/benefits package for frequent guests (Katz 2003).Each of these factors that have been listed area of profound importance to the guest. By seeking to promote these factors and work them into the business plan, any given hotel can ultimately notice that their final profit margin will increase. Moreover, constant growth even within these factors cannot be static and will require that reconsideration and change is a regularly entertained topic of discussion and research.

ReferenceKatz, R. (2003). Hotel Incentives Steer Planners. Meeting News, 27(14), 1.