Case Study 1: Business Evaluation.

Client A :  The owner/manager of a 45 bedroom tourist mid-range hotel in central London required an evaluation of his business due to personal circumstances and his wish to dispose of the business. At the time the property market was poor and the business was trading down, there were staffing issues and a high ratio of complaints from service users. This client has been brought to me by a colleague who had done some work for the owner/manager and felt I could be of assistance.

After a brief conference call I learnt that all of this had an effect upon the owner/manager and the daily running of the business and its profitability and the owner/manager was ready to give up and walk away from the business due to personal circumstances.

CSC arranged to visit the property as a prospective client and complete a mystery shop and report back the general findings of the visit. CSC issued a questionnaire to the owner/manager as part of its business evaluation process.

Information gained from both the visit and the questionnaire would form the outline for the business evaluation session and help prepare an action plan for change.

From information gained the hotel was trading well on occupancy but down on revenue. Complaints were high due to a lack of service delivery and understanding by the majority staff, due to language barriers between staff and clients. The owner/manager showed a lack of leadership and did not like confrontation with his workers so differences and problems were not being resolved. I also learnt that the owner/manager had at one time employed a manger, who unfortunately had ran the business like their own and had since parted company with the business.

Prior to the business evaluation session I was able to complete a competition analysis of similar properties within the vicinity which would show comparisons of business trends (Occupancy and Revenue).

We were able to identify service level issues which could be turned around through OJT (On job training) and staff development.

We advised the owner/manager that the recruitment of a manager would be good for both him and the business, freeing his time to develop the business further.

We proposed an action plan to address each of the issues using S.M.A.R.T techniques (Specific, Measurable, Actual, Real, Time Managed Solutions), which assisted and supported the owner/manger and the business. We were given the project to recruit a manager for the property as part of an ongoing agreement of consultancy projects for the business. This consultancy continued at intervals for over ten years and formed a lasting friendship between the owner and his family.

Needless to say the business moved forward and significant improvements were made in all areas identified through the business evaluation and work commissioned.

Case Study 2: Business Development

Client B: A corporately owned Serviced Apartments, Kensington. An associate contacted me to seek assistance and advice on rebranding of a serviced apartment building in Kensington, London. The property having previously been owned by a hotel/apartment group and now independently owned and managed.

A business evaluation was completed in its sales and marketing activities and we found that its target audience were clients using both hotels and apartments. The property lacked its own identity and was well managed but had capacity to improve on occupancy and revenue. (We also felt in time the current client base may transfer to the previous sister group who had contracted with the majority of corporate clients currently using the property).

An action plan was developed with the onsite manager and a new look and image for the property were discussed and agreed. A new brochure and web site were implemented and launched at World Travel Market that year. The new look brochure and web site focused on the property facilities, services and used the location and London land marks to back-up the image now being presented.

Again, using S.M.A.R.T techniques and working as part of a team CSC were able to assist in rebranding the business and improving occupancy and revenue.

Additional consultancy services were commissioned by the business and we were employed on a contracted basis to work for the corporate owners in regular evaluation and review of the business. This took place every three months with reporting of findings to a director of the board and our consultancy partnership lasted for a period of six years until the property was sold.

Further case studies involving specific work projects can be made available on request. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Please include in your e-mail details out lining the area of interest as detailed within our services page.  

Case Study 3: Mystery Shopping?

Client C: CSC were commissioned to develop and delivery a mystery shopping for a small tourist hotel using information collated from the property owner and the business records.

The programme was designed in partnership with the hotel and used real live guest to carry out the mysytery shopper visits and report back the individual findings via a web based questionnaire.

The results were formulated and reported back to the property with a list of recommendations to each of the findings whether good or bad and the hotel took on board this information and included the findings in its staff training programme.

The mystery shopping was carried out on a regular basis and the owner/manager was able to take over the running of the mystery shopper programme directly.

CSC could develop a mystery shopper prgramme for you and your business. For further information and details, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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