20/20 Vision for 2010

20/20 Service Vision for 2010
Jan M. Smith

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce


My mom often used this axiom, “Shoulda, Coulda, Ifs Ands & Buts…” It was meant to describe what could have been, but wasn’t.

It’s a fitting description for a year that should have been different than it was. Don’t dismay though, because the second half of the adage was “there should be no regret for the past, instead, clarity to create the future.”

So we look backwards and say goodbye to a decade of mixed success, but more importantly, look forward with 20/20 vision for the New Year, and decade.

The upside to this year is you now have hindsight, which will help you move forward with:

• Hoteliers to consider how to be more innovative, efficient, and progressive with marketing, pricing, and reduced staff levels, and continue to keep high levels of RevPAR and service.


• Restaurateurs to evaluate how the customer wants to be served with friendly, courteous service, back-to-basics fresh and simple home-cooked style comfort food, and value pricing.


• Gaming industry to continue to look at effective techniques and approaches to obtain and retain customers through exceptional service, promotions, programs, shows, and an exciting and fresh atmosphere.


• Retail and Service companies to focus on product, pricing and service as alternatives to a diminished demand.

Interestingly, the operative word for a successful new decade in hospitality is: Service. It’s the one sustainable competitive advantage you can have over those who haven’t figured out how important service is to the success of their business.

The vision for 2010 should be filled with optimism and perseverance, and most importantly, elevated levels of customer service. Customers love those who love them. They sense a genuine and caring business. It’s fairly transparent to the customer if they are getting the type of service they expect (or feel they are entitled to), and let’s face it, they are the ones spending the money for your product or service, so there can’t be mistakes in service, not in 2010.

“Shoulda, Coulda, Ifs Ands & Buts…”, instead of using 20/20 hindsight to reflect on this difficult year, think of it as a tool to use for the future. Consider what you did right in 2009:

• Weathered the economic storm


• Likely streamlined your business operations


• Re-engineered your organization, product and/or service


• Tightened up your business practices

If you focus on what you did right to sustain your business through this year, and maximize your focus to look forward to 2010, you should have a good shot at hanging in there until this downturn shifts upwards once again.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Jan M. Smith is the Founder and Principal of Inland Management Group, a Human Resource Consultancy located in Temecula, specializing in the Hospitality and Entertainment industry. You can contact Jan at (951) 302-6483, www.inlandmgtgroup.com, or email at jsmith@inlandmgtgroup.com.