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Each episode of GAIN Momentum focuses on timeless lessons to help grow and scale a business in hospitality, travel, and technology. Whether you’re a veteran industry leader looking for some inspiration to guide the next phase of growth or an aspiring executive looking to fast-track the learning process, this podcast is here with key lessons centered around four questions we ask each guest.
GAIN Momentum episode #20 - Getting Perspective on Each Person's Role | with Tanya Pratt
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Adam Mogelonsky: Welcome to the Gain Momentum podcast, focusing on timeless lessons from global leaders on how to grow and scale a business in hospitality, travel, food service, and technology. I'm your host, Adam Mogelonsky, and I'm here with my special co host, Michael Cohen. How are you, Michael?
Michael Cohen: I'm great, thanks, uh, you know, I'll do my best to, uh, hold up to the high standard of our usual co hosts, but thank you very much.
Adam Mogelonsky: And our guest today is Tanya Pratt, vice President of Opera Cloud Strategy and Product Management at Oracle Hospitality. Tanya, how are you?
Tanya Pratt: I'm great, Adam. How are you guys?
Adam Mogelonsky: Fantastic. We're going to dive right into our first question. Of course, we're focusing on timeless lessons. And our first [00:01:00] question is, Tanya, when it comes to scaling a business, what is the single piece of advice you would give entrepreneurs from your perspective as a professional in hospitality technology?
Tanya Pratt: Excellent question to lead off with, but as proud Canadians, should we put it first, put it into the universe that the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup this year? I feel like that should be something that we put out
there.
Michael Cohen: Except if you're a Montreal Canadiens fan, sorry Tanya, to be fair, so, but oh
Adam Mogelonsky: Just for our listeners here as a little aside, we are all Canadian on this episode.
Tanya Pratt: Yeah, very
good. But back to your question and thank you for that. So, I would, you know, I've been in this industry my entire, not quite in my entire life, but my entire career. I fell into it accidentally. It was a summer job that was just going to pay the university bills. 30 years later, here we are. It's an industry that raised me.
It's an industry that I love and I [00:02:00] can't stop talking about it. And so this question is very, very important because through all my years, even being on the hotel side of things, I always sort of connected the most to those that came in knowing the industry. And I think that is probably the number one, and it sounds so simple, right?
Know who you're talking to. But I think everybody thinks that they know hospitality because they're a traveler. I made a reservation online. I checked in. I stay in a hotel. I checked out. What's the big deal? I know everything there is to know about it. And so often there's that kind of a preconceived notion that the industry is known. But there's a lot of nuances to it, right? It's an industry that's built on service. It's an industry that's built on frontline users interacting with the guests and trying to deliver the brand message, essentially being the essence of the brand, they're dealing with their guests every single day. And so probably the most important piece of advice [00:03:00] that I ever give anybody that wants to sort of like, I'm going to develop something for hospitality is know the industry, know the pain points, know how to help them win. It's not like every other. It's not like the airline industry, because hotels don't kick people out of the hotel every, you know, when they, when they get to a destination. There's subtle differences, and that, to me, I certainly found a best way for somebody to win, is to know who it is that they're talking to, know who it is that they're dealing with, and understand those nuances that are specific to the industry that they're trying to enter.
Michael Cohen: really good point Tanya, what many people have talked to us about while we've done this process at meetings, leaders like yourself, Adam and I and others at our organization say the same thing.
It's an industry about people
and understanding coming in and doing the research and obviously having relationships. It's a relationship business, both at the commercial side and also I think what you're to concur or to amplify what you're saying. It's about relationships.[00:04:00]
Tanya Pratt: It's about relationships. It's about that the hotels know that the expectations that are set upon them by the guests that they service. And so they have the same expectations of the partners that they're going to do business with. And then those service levels are not provided. It's immediately like, well, I need to do this for my guests.
Why isn't somebody else doing it to me? And that is where I think it becomes even more important. And I know every industry will think that they're special and they're unique. Granted, they could be right, but what I know to be true about hotels, Michael, as you said, it's built on people, based on people, and based on service, and because majority of that service is actually delivered by somebody for whom it's likely their first job in the industry. Right, front desk is like very few people that it's like, I've had a 30 career, your career at the front desk. Maybe it happens, but that's not usually the case. It's like you go in there, I got to put in my time, 12 to 18 months, be yelled at because you know, it's raining and the room is not ready or all that kind of [00:05:00] stuff. And so these are the people that are just sort of entering trying to learn the ropes, but they're the ones with whom that service promise first needs to be executed on. Right? And that's why it's really, really important to know what they have to go through every single day.
Adam Mogelonsky: From the perspective of a technology vendor who has not had 20 years experience working at a hotel, what's the fastest way to learn?
Tanya Pratt: Go and see. Go and, you know, ask a hotel down the street if you can lurk behind the front desk for three to four hours. Experience it from the inside. And I think that is the best way to know what is the right thing to do, is if you can figure out how to, you know, how they communicate and operate from within. What does it take to get somebody that is new to the industry, that has [00:06:00] come in, their first job is at the front desk? What sort of training do they need to go through What are the processes that they have to follow what did they have to deal with on a on a regular basis when the guest comes and says my you know I'm trying to check in I know you told me not to come till three but here I am at one and I'm really tired and I have five kids with me and the room is not ready basis RighAnd when the guest comes and says my you know I'm trying to check in I know you. told me not to come till three but here I am at one and I'm really tired and I have five kids with me and the room is not ready What do they have to do in order to accommodate those requests And so I encourage everybody even here within or or hospitalities like Go and see what actually happens down there in the trenches. I think it will be eye opening.
Back to what I said earlier about people thinking that they know the industry because they've stayed in a hotel or, you know, flew on a plane or they were at some sort of a campground, it's very different from within. There's a lot that goes on. It's a 24/7 business. The doors never close. Sometimes the systems go down, but you still have to check that guest in. And so there's a different kind of energy and vibe. [00:07:00] That happens in the hotels. And I would say, you know, for anybody that's been in the industry for a long time, it's really addictive. And that's why I think a lot of us never left because when that adrenaline starts flowing in a 24/7 business like that, it, it's really, really captivating on so many levels.
Adam Mogelonsky: I've never actually heard someone describe a hotel or working at a hotel as addictive, but that's, I'm going to give that a lot of thought. Okay, on to our next question. Tanya, what are some of the common pitfalls or failures you have witnessed that business owners should look to avoid when scaling their business?
Tanya Pratt: It probably one of the biggest lessons learned from me. When I moved from a hotel level into like an enterprise and a corporate entity is that you're elevated up and you now get to see the big picture. But not everybody gets a chance to see the big picture or care about the big picture. For them, it's like my day job.
How are my processes going to get impacted by [00:08:00] whatever change is happening? And that change could be expansion. It could be going from, you know, five hotels to a hundred. That change could be implementing new technologies or a new process. People are very ingrained and emotionally attached to the process that they have to follow every single day. And so, if we don't pay attention to that, if we don't sit there and listen and involve those that have to do the doing, in whatever decisions get made, not every single one of them, but for those that are going to impact them, it will not be successful. And so, again, for me, many, many years ago, it's like, well, this is the right thing to do. Big picture. You put it down, you give handed over to operations to execute and it's like this, the stupidest thing I've ever heard whoever thought of that this, this is like going to bring our checking process down to a halt. And so the moment that we kind of pivoted and changed the process by which some of these kind of projects came to life and involved those from the [00:09:00] ground up that are have to do the doing every day, got their buy-in, made sure they had some skin in the game. The initiatives became that much more successful, no matter what they were, either technology, some sort of transformation, or expansion from an overall business perspective, new business model, and whatnot.
Michael Cohen: Interesting because one thing you mentioned that is very well put in general is that there's a cascading effect. When something is dropped into the machine, either it's revision, expansion, new technology, as you mentioned, the many various inputs that could happen, but there's a cascading effect that needs to be, people need to be aware of, they need to plan for it, and then to be somewhat patient about as well, because you have to, many times, we all have had experience where you have to slipstream things into operations, existing, you know, very complex scenarios.
So well put. Thank you.
Tanya Pratt: Yeah, yeah, no, I think there's many stories like that. You know, some that kind of take me back years. And [00:10:00] on one hand, you can have a strategy where it's like, let's improve our guest database. Let's make sure that every single one of our guests is reachable. Let's make sure we get the address correctly in all the emails. Best way to do that, oh, when the person is checking in, let's have them fill out a form. Well, that doesn't last very long because by the time person number five has to fill out a form, they're like, okay, I've now been waiting here for half an hour. So those sort of thoughts and considerations, understanding again, and I always say this as publicly as I can, is in the end, it's an industry that lives and dies by what operations can execute. And unless their processes and input is considered right from the beginning, it's very unlikely that the initiatives will be successful.
Adam Mogelonsky: a key word that I'm, I'm really getting from what you're, you're, you're saying is feedback. And in this case, we're talking about feedback from the corporate to the operations side. And how do you instill that culture of feedback and pivoting in the face of [00:11:00] feedback based on what operations is telling you?
Tanya Pratt: think there have been a lot of initiatives that weren't successful. And I think as an industry we've seen how things have changed even in the last few years. When I first moved from hotel operations into technology, there was only one stakeholder at the table, typically, let's say even talking to a vendor, right?
Technology people, CIO, director of technology, whatever their title was, would sit there and negotiate things, ask the business, what is it that you're looking for? This more often than not is like, here you go business, take care of this. Now the discussions that we're having and the industry as a whole, all the key stakeholders are at the table. You have people from the commercial side, from operations side, from marketing. So I think through input and probably a lot of maybe failed initiatives, the industry on its own learned. I think there were some best practices that were shared. I think there were maybe some projects that were handled in a certain way that were more successful than others, [00:12:00] but there's been a change.
There's definitely been a shift. Very, very different people seated at the table these days than even 10 years ago.
Adam Mogelonsky: Was there a proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in terms of saying, okay, listen, we can't just have this same structure and how things move. And then this is the last time. Now we're going to move more towards a holistic stakeholder input structure.
Tanya Pratt: Yeah, that's a great question. Probably a combination of straws. I would say what was probably one of the largest catalysts for change is what happened over the last couple of years ago. With the pandemic, uh, what that did to staff and the shortages of staff, and now hotels were short on staff. They had these legacy technologies that they needed to replace.
There was no money to replace them. That definitely caused a big move to the cloud before that it was happening, but everybody's like, I'm gonna get to it one [00:13:00] day, right? I have other things I need to do. And so what's happened over the last couple of years is that there's been that like real big thrust from the industry to move to the cloud. Now, all of a sudden, from an IT perspective, it's like, what am I going to do if I'm no longer responsible for managing the server in a hotel? Right? And so I think that sort of forced them to think about technologies differently. And invite their business counterparts to the table to have those discussions and try to move the initiative forward. So, because
no longer with that heavy dependency on very technical skill sets to make something happen, anybody can contribute to the selection and implementation of a cloud technology.
Michael Cohen: yeah, Tanya, that's so well put because, I mean, for many of us who've been doing this for a while, it was the IT director at the property level was really the only stakeholder and we had to hope that he or she was going to get approval from the ownership. The GM said, yeah, whatever Joe [00:14:00] or Sally says is cool. That's been obliterated in, in, in the present day. Pandemic is a huge part of it. Um, you know, now to your point, there's digital marketing, there's guests, and you know, experienced people. There's, you know, the finance has always been around, but they've not always been in the meetings and now many more times they are because it's all about a holistic review and a holistic. 360 decision making process, which has changed things, made things sometimes more, the technology may be more simplistic, not, I'm not talking about in, not innovative, more simplistic, you know, less servers and stuff, IDFs and things, but the decision making processes I think have actually gotten more complex.
Tanya Pratt: Completely agree with you. And I think the, you know, sort of like thinking about how has all of this evolved over the last couple of decades, certainly that I've been in it. I think technology has definitely become less scary and more available and in the face of the masses, because they're [00:15:00] all have gotten kind of a little bit closer to it.
Oh, I now have a phone and I know this and all that. So it's become a lot more accessible, a lot less daunting, a lot less Oh, that's really scary. You don't want to touch it because then what if it goes down? What's it going to happen? So I think kind of people's mindset and acceptance of it has evolved over time and no longer this daunting thing that, you know, you need three PhDs in order to know how to manage. So I love the effect that has had because I've always, always believed that the business needs to be involved from the beginning. Because ultimately they're the ones that are driving the strategy from a business perspective, either that is, you know, gain more revenue or operational efficiency or guest satisfaction or something like that, whatever else. And technology simply needs to be there in order to support those business strategies, not the other way around. Here's the technology, figure out how to, how to use it. It needs to work the other way around, which is here's the problems that I'm have, that I'm having. How can technology help [00:16:00] me solve it?
Adam Mogelonsky: Well, I think that's the perfect transition into our third question. Tanya, what do you see as the key opportunities and challenges for hospitality tech companies in 2023 and beyond?
Tanya Pratt: It's really about how the technology is evolving to help two primary stakeholders, right? And I'm going to kind of roll it up to the money part of it, which is hotel owners, hotel brands, anybody that sort of has a financial investment in that. How is it going to generate more revenue, help them make more money?
So that's sort of like the number one priority focus on that. The second one is make it easier for the employees to deliver the service for the guests. Because if the technology is easy to use, it's intuitive. The employee will more likely be able to use it and more likely to deliver the service that the guest is expecting. And then the third one, and probably an even more important one, because again, it takes me back to sort of the fact that it's an industry built on people, is we're still [00:17:00] experiencing significant labour shortages. I heard even as recently as last week that there's something like a million different openings out there.
I think certain areas of the hotel have seen a return of staff coming in, but there's still shortages in front office and food and beverage and sales. And so technology needs to help hotels do the same, if not more, with the fewer people that they have. So those are sort of the three areas, which is, let's have the industry come back by generating. Even more revenue than they would have had in the past, let alone trying to kind of make up for the last couple of years of not generating as much revenue to make it super easy for the employees to use. So they can be onboarded faster. And then the third one is make up for these labor shortages and allow them to more with less. I also heard an interesting stuff last week, and I've seen it kind of for the past couple of years is that Because there isn't a sort of an influx of new talent coming into [00:18:00] the industry at the pace that we saw a few years ago, there's a real concern
as to what does that mean for leadership in the industry in 10 years. 15 20.
Because you need to put in the time, you need to go through the rigor and the discipline and the grind of the regular kind of day to day as a young person in the industry or as a new person in the industry, not necessarily young, in order to be in position to lead then The future new entrance into the industry at some point in time. And so, and only few people make it that far, right? For some it's like, yeah, this is not my thing. It's not my vibe. I'm going somewhere else, some other industry. Maybe oil and gas is really exciting for me. Whatever it may end up being, right? But for those that do stay, and even if it's that is 10, 15, 20%, if the sort of the taps have been turned down, if there isn't that influx, What does that mean for the industry in the long term, and the kind of talent that we need to grow and nurture in order to [00:19:00] keep things going a generation from now?
Michael Cohen: That's again, super important to, to highlight. Adam, we've talked about it, other people in
our organization and many people on this podcast have talked about where's the next generation. Of course, there's some people coming, but because of the pandemic, because people, you know, there was a challenging, this particular industry was hit maybe more than others. And people either vacated, went to other positions, or they just got, you know, their flow moved somewhere else. Where is the next generation and encouraging, mentoring, brands, making specific initiatives and programs, hotel ownership groups, vendors, making specific inroads, you know, into that, enticing in some ways, whatever that means, the next generation into hospitality technology and hospitality is super mission critical right now.
Tanya Pratt: You know, as, as an industry, the entire industry kind of needs to react to that. Right? It can't just be sort of pockets here or there. And I'm not sure to what extent that's necessarily even being realized. It [00:20:00] probably is, right? It's just that there isn't kind of a really, really big discussion about it.
You hear about it everywhere. Everybody sort of talks about the labor shortages, but to an extent, it's also different companies that are competing for the same talent. Right. And so what is it that they're putting in front of them to not only get them in, but keep them? Because I think that may be an even bigger concern, right?
Which is like, why would I want to stand here at the front desk? And maybe somebody gets upset with me because their room is not ready. I can go and work, I don't know, Amazon Warehouse or something like that, whatever it is that they want to do. And you need to be in it for a little bit of time to, I think, to truly gain an appreciation for it and kind of catch the bug that stays with you for years and years and years to come.
So I think that will be a really, really important thing to continue to talk about and keep an eye on. To continue to ensure that we have an industry that's growing and is prosperous and continues to deliver and be loved by everybody as it is today.[00:21:00]
Adam Mogelonsky: when we talk about hospitality technology companies helping hotels succeed. And to draw on this point about labor and inspiring the next generation of, of hoteliers, what can hospitality technology companies do to help hotels retain their young talent and to nurture and grow that young talent?
Tanya Pratt: So, if we kind of think about it, like, why does somebody leave a job? Because it's hard for them to do. Right. It's like I have so much to learn. It's really difficult for me to do it. And so what we can do as a technology provider and our biggest focus is make sure that our technologies are something that people want to use. And again, if I think about this generation, and I have kids of this generation, which is nobody wants to read a manual. Nobody wants to sit in a classroom for two weeks to learn about something. They should be able to be handed a tablet or [00:22:00] a mobile phone or log in for something and say, go figure it out, right? Because that needs their generation, I would say, that's almost grown up with instant gratification and haven't had to Put up with a lot. Now, I know some people would argue that comment. I'm sure they've had to put up a lot. That's definitely true, but it's, it's, things have changed over the last few years and what is considered acceptable or not. And so what we can do as a technology vendor is at least take the pain point of using technology away. So that it's not something that's super cumbersome to learn and difficult to learn, takes a really long time to execute on a task. So if they do have a guest on the phone or somebody standing in front of them, they're now getting impatient because the poor person is like, you know, typing on their keyboard while they're trying to smile with their eyes at the same time and have a conversation. Make the technology not be painful for [00:23:00] them. As far as keeping them, I think there needs to be a sort of a conversation again as to why somebody enters the industry in the first place. What is it about that it's appealing? I don't think that I necessarily entered hospitality because I was excited about the hospitality tech. I didn't even necessarily know that that was a path one could take, right? That just ended up
being something that's just a lucky coincidence, I think. But I think if we continue to sort of focus on who uses our technology and think about our development efforts from their perspective and making sure that everything is looked at through the lens of those that are going to be using it for their day job and have to perform the same task 10, 20, 30, 1, 000, 1, 000 times per day, then at least that part of their job will be easier. And then everything else kind of needs to go along with it. And I know there's training programs and many, [00:24:00] many different things that hotel companies do in order to show their loyalty to the employee. And therefore the loyalty have the employee have loyalty towards them.
Michael Cohen: But for the technology component that we're, that we're specifically talking, the layer that we're talking about in regards to hospitality, what I got from what you said was onboarding, user interface. And a clear win for the employee, meaning like if
I use this tech, if I invest in this technology and I put some time into it, my job will be more seamless. I'll get more positive feedback if I am a guest facing asset. So therefore, the juice is worth the squeeze. I'll put the time in. I'll learn. I'll spend. But I know that it's going to be A, I'll be proud of what I do as an employee and B, there'll be hopefully a better experience and maybe that'll give me a reason for retention and to think of this as a career.
Tanya Pratt: Yes. And I think you, you said a key word there, Michael, which is proud. I think anybody [00:25:00] that maybe not enters the industry for this reason, but stays in the industry for this reason, is because they are truly happy when they make the guests happy. Right? It gives them joy, it gives them a rush, it makes them feel good about what they've just achieved. And so, a lot of their reliance on, in being able to deliver that is on the technology itself. It's either knowing who the guest is, what their likes and dislikes are, what their historical stays are, so they can kind of tailor the next experience accordingly. All those things play a big part, right? Not only has the industry changed, and the industry has changed because the guest expectations have changed as well. They have a lot of choices, a lot of options out there. Sometimes it can be a seam, a
seam, a seamlessness, right? I think, moved from being a transactional type interaction. To a more relationship one, you know me, you understand me, you're going to give me something that I'm probably [00:26:00] not expecting and that is kind of where the service file comes in. And for that, the information needs to be current and it needs to be available for those that are delivering the service. Not somebody sitting in some sort of a corporate office, they're not necessarily the ones doing it, it's those that are in the front line. And so it needs to be there and available for them to use it so they can have the kind of interaction. That with the guests that they want, that ultimately leads to that emotional connection and loyalty and the creation and maintenance of a relationship that keeps them within the industry. Because it's like, my god, I did a great thing. Look how happy this guest is. I want to feel this again.
Adam Mogelonsky: That's definitely an insight you could only really get by working at a hotel and seeing that firsthand.
Tanya,
we're going to move on to our fourth and final question here. What are the key things innovative leaders and entrepreneurs should prioritize and focus to gain traction for their business?
Tanya Pratt: Be super, super [00:27:00] clear on the problem you're trying to solve. So often I've encountered technologies in the past that are a solution in search of a problem and you're sitting there and you're like, I don't get it. I don't get, I don't understand what it is that you're trying to do. And so to come into the industry, to go in front of people that you're trying to sort of present your solution for with super clarity on the problem and how the solution helps solve it. is what makes that interaction meaningful. And it's a big difference between if there's going to be only one conversation or there's going to be follow up after the fact. So that level of preciseness and understanding of first the industry, to the problems that the industry has, and then clearly being able to articulate the value of the solution and how it helps solve the problem are key. That's how you win.
Adam Mogelonsky: So, to unpack that a little bit more. [00:28:00] Because oftentimes problems can be at many different levels. So how do you, you take a solution, and it may solve multiple problems. How do you find which problem it solves best to then guide the sales and implementation problem?
Tanya Pratt: Yeah, again comes through observation and understanding of what that particular person you're talking to could be experiencing. And it starts with a conversation. It could be simply a conversation with like, what are some of the things you're experiencing today? If it's front office, is it, are your You know, is your check in too slow? Are you getting a lot of guests that are coming to the front desk with an expectation for something that they bought that they're actually not going to get? Are you getting issues where reservations may be missing so they can't be found at all and therefore you're now trying to scramble? For sales, it could be, is your conversion too low?
Are you trying to [00:29:00] convert? More business than you are today, so you're getting a lot of leads and opportunities, but you're not able to convert. Is it taking you a long time to respond back to the client? Because you're having to talk to front office, whether they have rooms available. You have to talk to catering and conference services, whether they can accommodate some sort of a special menu.
And you're having to kind of negotiate from within before you can put a proposal together and back to the client. For finance and accounting, it could be something like. How long is it taking you to do a monthly close? Oh, it's taking you 6, 7, 8, 9 days? Well, that sounds like a really long time. What is the opportunity cost associated with that? And so, I first kind of start with the conversation. Yes, there's an understanding of kind of the industry, but it's also a conversation with that individual, which is the, you know, let's talk about your day job. What is it that you experience every single day? And out of that, be able to sort of on the, you know, give some thought [00:30:00] as to how the solution that you have. helps actually solve that particular problem. So it may not be a one time conversation, it could be multiple ones, but getting to know the person or the stakeholders and what it is that they're experiencing and what kind of problems they're trying to solve themselves will ultimately lead to the best solution that helps them solve it. That's how I approach it. I think if you go in saying, I have this and it's going to solve all your problems, that's never going to be the case and it's more often than not going to lead to missed expectations. But if you take the time to understand what they're truly experiencing, allow them to have their own uniqueness because everybody will feel that they're unique.
I always used to tell my hotels, whether you're in Winnipeg or Hawaii, you think you're unique. And that's okay, so allow them to have that sort of uniqueness, understand them, the same thing that they do for their guests. I know I kind of keep coming back to that, but it's like the guest wants to be treated differently, you know, Tanya wants to be treated differently than Adam or Michael. And [00:31:00] so the hotels themselves want to be treated differently than the guy across the street and the guy down the road. And so if we take that time to understand them and what their expectations are and what they're truly trying to achieve, and then tailor the technology solutions to help them do that, that is what creates a relationship that's built on trust and ultimately a long term partnership.
Michael Cohen: But again, like we've been talking about, and it's, you know, Tanya, this has been some really very informative and experienced voice you have. But what's interesting is, it's so consistent that it's back to people, back to relationships, to kind of do full circle to this whole conversation today. You know, that kind of core, you know, skeleton, it kind of flows through the entire industry, front, back, tech. Guest service, finance, growth. It's fascinating. Really, really interesting.
Adam Mogelonsky: And on that note, Tanya, I can't thank you enough for coming on. This has just been a fantastic conversation. For all the [00:32:00] hospitality technologists out there, visit and work in a hotel. Listen to what Tanya said. That advice is just incredible. Tanya, can't thank you enough for coming on.
Tanya Pratt: pleasure.
Thank you,