If the sell is good, the goods will sell
This week, on the eve of Hotelympia - being staged for the first time at the ultra-modern ExCel exhibition centre in London's rejuvenated Docklands - it is appropriate that we take a look at the future. Why? Because, at Hotelympia, manufacturers and suppliers will be displaying their latest wares. And their latest wares - be they dishwashers, combi-ovens, porcelain plates or fat-free fajitas - will be, each in their own way, a company's attempt to predict the future - or, at least, to meet the demands of a future market.
Forecasting the future is not easy, but it has always been an important part of business planning. Those who set the trends are the entrepreneurs who take a stab at predicting where customers are going before they get there, or who lead customers down a particular route confident that they will want to go there.
These days, a lot of research goes into forecasting trends, but no one can ever say for certain what those trends might turn out to be. What is accurate today may be irrelevant tomorrow. Remember American social reformer Lincoln Steffens, who visited Russia in 1919 and said: "I've seen the future and it works." He was confident - but ultimately wrong.
Sometimes, however, a mood about the future takes hold and is hard to dislodge. When we asked a few past Catey winners - operators with an obvious pedigree of success - what they thought the priorities for hospitality would be in the future, one theme returned again and again.
They talked about things such as value for money, improved efficiency and better quality. But it was customer service that came through as the single most important factor affecting business in the future; it was the belief that customers will need to feel, more than ever, that they are unique and special (see page 46).
It makes sense, in an increasingly uncertain world, where the sands of change keep shifting and nothing seems quite like it used to be, that customers will want to experience the confidence that comes from being looked after well. And I'm not just talking about guests in hotels or restaurants, but about every client who comes into contact with a service provider. That, incidentally, includes manufacturers who sell dishwashers, combi-ovens and porcelain plates.
In the future, the quality of service at the point of sale and afterwards will become much more important than the cost, efficiency, reliability, taste and design of the product being sold.
I have seen the future and it works politely, sincerely, honestly and genuinely.