Want to do better? Try listening twice as much as you talk

Mandy Clarke, Editor editor@accomnews.com.au

I bet if he were alive today both his ears would be ringing, from the lack of active listening and authentic communication that now exists. Our lives are saturated with very public forms of ‘shouty’ communication. So many are keen to share their voice on social media, to document even the most mundane events. Businesses showcase wares with no real thought to what their customer wants

Epictetus understood the importance of listening and maybe his message has been lost over time but the lesson to ‘listen’ is one you’re never too old to learn. Even in a career that requires a curious mind and an avid interest in people, I still must remind myself to ‘listen’ closer – to the team, to customers, and especially to the readers of our publications.

When I ‘listen’ to readers, I’m more likely to publish an engaging article and if I ‘listen’ to both the good and bad feedback I can respond with something even more interesting. Hopefully, this leads to more readers, improved SEO results, more subscribers, happy customers, happy publisher, and an improved bottom line. In other words, remove ego and the temptation to shout out what you think is important, instead actively listen to your customer. In the accommodation and tourism industry isn’t it better to ‘listen’ to guests, to leaders and experts, and take note of trends so you can give customers what they want and even exceed expectations to improve your bottom line?

On that note, this edition of AccomNews gives you a lot to listen to!

According to our optimistic industry leaders, the sector is trending in the right direction. But they warn there are still some missing pieces of the jigsaw like the full return of international visitors and the staffing crisis that remains the number one issue.

The successful day-today management of an accommodation property relies on fitting together hundreds of operational jigsaw puzzle pieces and in this issue, we cover some absolute essentials. From choosing beds and bedding to laundry space-saving ideas, noise control, paper products and floor cleaning machines.

Enjoy our interview with Graham Perry, BWH Australasia Managing Director (page 14) as he looks to the future. Read about today’s door lock solutions (page 54) and in our 2023 Guide to PMS learn what leading experts say about new developments in their space. As for me, I am looking forward to the Maximum Occupancy conference in Sydney on June 6 and 7, 2023. See you there!

Cheers, Mandy.