MJS Hotels

Perfection and the Perfect Fill

Si Sloman — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:00:00 -0800

The perfect Bordeaux, the perfect age, the perfect temperature, in the perfect delicate and perfectly shaped crystal glass shared with the perfect partner in the perfect place.

Perfect!

Ok. Wakeup from the perfect dream and back to reality.

The perfect fill! A common goal in our business yet not consistently achieved. And why is it so important?

You, as a hotel owner and/or operator work tirelessly to drive business into your hotels. This is always most difficult in times throughout the year where demand is at its lowest point.

But what about the missed opportunities when your market is at 90% occupancy? The pressure to fill is there, but your hotel ends up with 5 vacant rooms? And think about the impact over 10 hotels.

I recently went thru an excercise with our Teams that we go thru every year when they are building their budgets.

The question is:

How many nights did you achieve 95% occupancy but not 100% ?

Translate the answer into lost revenue and lost profit.

In our small company we measure that daily. The Hotel Teams have become very competitive. One of our hotels has been particularly effective this year at achieving this goal. In 2013 they have increased Perfect Fill revenues by $75,000. This is 672 additional occupied rooms compared to last year.

Even more important, this revenue is all incremental NOI.

How do they do it?

Just a couple of numerous steps they take:

Make sure Perfect Fill is a strategy unto itself in the Business Plan with measureable goals
Make sure the goal of the Perfect Fill is clear to each Team Member responsible

I would love to hear how your Teams accomplish the Perfect Fill?

Press Release

Si Sloman — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:39:00 -0700

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lauralee Dobbins

Phone: (703) 435-6293

Email: Lauralee@dalygray.com

MJS To Operate LA’s Historic Mayfair Hotel

PHOENIX, Ariz., - - June 10, 2013 - - Officials with the Historic Mayfair Hotel today announced the selection of MJS Hotels, a nationally recognized owner and operator of full service hotels, to manage the 1920’s era downtown Los Angeles hotel. The hotel will undergo a substantial renovation, as part of an overall repositioning strategy.

The hotel was the site of the first official Academy Awards after party in 1929, and, over the years, has been featured in numerous movies and television shows including “True Lies”, and “Weeds”.

“Los Angeles hit a new record high for tourism in 2012, welcoming 41.4 million visitors who occupied 26.6 million hotel rooms,” said Si Sloman, managing partner of MJS. “This growth, due in no small part to the tremendous success of the LA Live complex and the efforts of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, has caused many of the industry’s most prominent brands to continue to commit substantial capital to build new hotels in the area that this hotel currently serves. Our team has decades of experience turning around under-performing hotels, and I am confident that with the Mayfair’s inherent assets, a great location, unique style and glamorous history, we can quickly establish a firm foundation from which it can become the preferred choice for people traveling to Los Angeles.

“The Mayfair has great bones and a back story befitting its Los Angeles location,” Sloman added. “I have no doubt that its future will be as exciting as its past.”

Located at 1256 W. 7^th St., less than a mile from L.A. Live, including the Staples Center and the Nokia Theater, the Historic Mayfair Hotel was modeled after European hotels of the 1920s and features a soaring, three-story lobby, 309 guest rooms and suites. The full-service hotel offers ample meeting and ballroom space to accommodate as many as 225 people, as well as a business and fitness center and complimentary WiFi.

About MJS Hotels

MJS Hotels is a national, full-service, owner and third-party management company with offices in Phoenix, Ariz., Danbury, Conn. and West Palm Beach, Fla. MJS principals—William Meyer, Richard Jabara, and Si Sloman—bring more than 100 combined years of hotel experience and are actively engaged in each property they operate. The company currently manages a portfolio of 35 hotels under the industry’s leading brand families, including Marriott, Hilton, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hyatt, Starwood and LaQuinta, as well as independent boutique hotels and resorts.

High Tech High Touch…”And And” Experiences

Si Sloman — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:53:00 -0700

I began writing my blogs a little over a year ago, in an effort to share my belief that we as an industry have a real and profitable opportunity to leverage technology to unleash new revenue and profit sources. I knew this would be a great learning experience.

What I have learned is the use of technology can be leveraged to significantly enhance profitability. However, it doesn’t work unless the technology is used in connection with a Team that is well trained. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite can occur.

Recently I took the opportunity to visit a new “fast food” brand that prides itself in gourmet hot dogs and a unique customer experience. I was very curious what was really different about this new brand.

Upon arrival at the location, I chose to use the drive thru. What I experienced next was an OMG moment.

The drive thru experience began when I met one of a number of “greeters’ in the drive thru lane who approached my car… clad with communications earpiece and microphone on his head, hand held ordering device in his hand greeting me by saying “ What would you like to order?”. As this was my first time at the restaurant, I replied “I don’t know. This is my first time here and I have no idea what you have on the menu”. The experience went downhill from there. After the ordering challenge, I was passed on to another “technology clad” person, complete with a change making device on his belt, who took my payment but didn’t have correct change.

So, what’s the learning here?

The Guest experience is an “and..and” experience. For it to be a truly “differentiated experience” leveraging the use of technology, we must train our Team Members how to create the experience every step of the way, using the technology to enhance their ability to provide that experience that creates repeat guests.

How do you train your Teams to create an experience worth repeating? I would love to hear from you.

When our “vision” becomes blurred, do we care?

Si Sloman — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:49:00 -0700

In the past year, we have been engaged a number of times to “fix” hotels. Whether it is for one owner, a large institutional investor, a “Receiver” or a “Special Servicer”, the tasks and challenges are all very similar. Somehow and for some reason their hotel has “lost its way” and is not performing well.

During these engagements, when put to the task of improving performance of the asset, we have consistently found the basic “blocking and tackling” are missing.

Why?

Every owner begins a new hospitality venture with the best intent. Every hotel has a Business Plan developed complete with all the necessary components to bring the “vision” to reality. Live the dream.

In each of the hotels I am referencing, people lost sight of the business fundamentals.

Let me give you an example.

We recently began managing a large historic hotel in one of the gateway cities in the USA. What we discovered was an asset stripped of its “personality” in a death spiral that was self-inflicted. For example, the rates being charged at the hotel were as much as $100 below market. The Hotel Trip Advisor scores were tragic, with no response from management. Guest rooms and many areas of the hotel were dirty. And the employees at the hotel, many of whom have been there more than 10 years, were hungry for change and leadership. The passionate desire they each had for the place they came to each day, every week, for so many years, was ignored.

Nothing I have cited above costs anything to fix. Everything I have cited above is avoidable. Yet time after time, this happens.

I met with the owner of this hotel last week. He asked me how we have been able to make changes so quickly. My response is….”We care. Nothing magical or mystical…we care” We simply give the employees (we call them Team Members) the tools necessary to show the guest they care. As an owner ,or Manager, when your Team sees you care….everyone wins.

I would love to know how you show you care.

The promise

Si Sloman — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:03:00 -0800

Every year in December, I take the time, as I am sure many of you do, to look at the past year to see what I can learn from it. I also look forward with great hope and anticipation in January to a time of new beginning, and to the future and what opportunities the New Year will bring.

For all the years since we started our company, I have written my Performance Promise to our Team Members. Every year, the General Managers and other Team Members help me write my Promise. I also share that Promise with all of the owners I work with. This Promise is meant to help these constituents understand what I will do to help them be successful in achieving their goals in the year to come.

In developing my Performance Promise I ask myself what 2 or 3 things I can do as the Leader of the organization, to coach and support our Teams in achieving their success in the coming year. In doing so, I want them to hold me accountable for this Performance Promise.

Indications are this approach works. For example in 2012, here is how one component of my Performance Promise finished the year:

Promise: The Owner: Coach, support and hold accountable, Team Members, to deliver the Cash Flow/NOI/ROI that meets or exceeds owners’ expectations.

Measures:

1. Revenues: Revpar Budget & Budget Revenues

2. Year over Year Revpar Growth vs. Comp Set

3. Owners NOI Goal met

Goal:

· Improve Occupancy from 95% to 100% on every night our hotels are forecasting 95% or higher. In 2011, the “fill ratio” was 63% on nights we forecasted a minimum of 95% Occupancy or more. In 2012, the “fill ratio” was 87% on nights we forecasted a minimum of 95%.

Results:

1. Revpar 105% of Budget.

2. Revpar Growth 12% year over year

3. NOI Growth vs. Budget 107%

4. NOI Growth vs. Last Year 116%

How did we make it happen? Really simple “stuff”. But it takes consistent focus and discipline. The execution really focused on daily interaction with our Revenue Managers and the hotel Teams. The hotels received support calls every 3-4 hours managing inventory. I recall one evening when a Revenue Manager called one hotel at 9pm wondering why they still had 3 vacant rooms after having called the competitive set only to hear they had no vacancies. And then every night a hotel had a perfect fill, I called the Hotel Team and Revenue Manager to say thanks. Then every quarter, the 3 hotels with highest “Fill Ratio” received a party box.

In my next few blogs, I would like to share more about my Performance Promise; what I have learned and how it has affected my ability to achieve the goals we have set.

What Promise have you made to your constituents? I would love to hear from you.

Fundamental execution matters

Si Sloman — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:00:00 -0800

I was talking to one of our general managers recently about a sudden change (not a good change) in the ability to accurately forecast NOI for his hotel, only to find he had stopped doing what helped him be successful.

Six months ago, for two months in a row, he and his team missed their NOI forecast by more than 7%. After conducting a very thorough “autopsy” he discovered there were some daily steps he needed to add to his forecast accuracy daily regimen to return his hotels’ NOI to one meeting the owners’ expectations. With a return of his team’s daily detailed focus on cost management and revenue management, the hotels’ NOI once again returned to the “green” zone. Seems pretty fundamental.

Fast-forward four months. To my surprise, the GM called to tell me they were going to miss their NOI forecast by a whopping 12%. When I asked him what had changed, he indicated he and his team assumed they had “fixed” the problem and had stopped doing what had made them successful in recent months.

Pretty basic stuff, huh? What can we all learn from this story? Whether you are a lineman in football, a centerfielder in baseball or a hotel GM, consistent execution of fundamentals should be as regular as breathing.

How are your teams doing?

Excuses: Everyone seems to have them ...

Si Sloman — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:30:00 -0700

I am sure I’m not the only person who is happy the business planning season is now, for the most part, history. And as usual, there were excuses being used as a way of explaining past poor performance throughout the reviews.

As I sat thru owners’ presentations this year, I learned some excuses people use for poor performance that even I hadn’t heard in my 30 years of business plan reviews.

So, it occurred to me, there should be a different approach that might enable better performance. How? Focus on not accepting ANY excuses in ANY discussion I have with our teams relating to ANY poor financial performance or operational execution.

What was the result of this change?

It’s too early to tell. One thing I know for certain: This change has made for more brief and focused discussions on goal setting. No more excuses. Now only five questions are discussed that will help us return to acceptable performance:

1. Do you understand the goal?

2. Do you have the tools to get the job done?

3. Do you understand the timeframe?

4. How will you know when you have been successful?

5. Can you repeat back to me the goal so I will know you clearly understand the goal?

There is no excuse. I’ll let you know what happens. What do you think? I would love to hear from you.

What do "Fifty Shades of Grey and NOI" have in common?

Si Sloman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:00:00 -0700

Got your attention?

E.L. James' popular erotic series, "50 Shades of Grey" has taken America by storm. So much so, it’s difficult to be in any social setting where the topic doesn’t arise. The book has sold 25 million copies, becoming the fastest-selling book ever, topping the accomplishment of J.K. Rowling of “Harry Potter” fame.

But what could “Fifty Shades of Grey” possibly have in common with NOI? Let me connect the dots.

Barnes & Noble, due in large part to demand for E.L. James' racy book trilogy, improved profit by 28% year over year and posted a narrow operating profit — a turnaround from a loss a year earlier. However, as much as 65% of its book sales were digital. In a time when bookstores are being replaced by tablets and other electronic media, Barnes & Noble differentiated itself by partnering with Microsoft and embracing the change away from traditional book sales to electronic versions.

So here is the connection.

As in the book-selling business, our customer is buying differently today (no surprise). The shift from offline marketing to online presence to significantly increase connection to our customer continues. The need to increase revenues to improve NOI is tantamount to our success in achieving the goals set by our constituencies. Barnes & Noble shows us the way!

Here is commitment you should consider for your 2013 business plans:

I will shift my team’s focus from offline/traditional marketing, and engage the travel consumer via multi-channel marketing efforts to build not only my rooms revenue, but also to significantly improve other revenue potential.

In our beta test hotels, in fourth quarter 2011, we shifted away from traditional marketing to “SoLoMo” and multi-channel marketing. Our total revenues YTD have improved 17.9%, leading to 21.7% improvement in NOI.

Focus on targeting and reaching your Internet customer more effectively.

What do you think? I would love to hear from you.

What do NOI, logic and business planning have in common?

Si Sloman — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 09:44:00 -0700

It’s that time of year again when we face the seemingly never-ending process of business planning and budgeting. Joyful bliss, right?

Seems this process always results in a monumental tug of war between all involved constituencies. And as I look back over the countless years I have been an active participant in this struggle, I began to wonder if there was any logic in this process. What is logical about the process? What is logical about the outcome of the process? Does it really have to be so difficult?

In Googling “logic,” I found the origin of the word began with the studies of Aristotle. Aristotle's logical works contain the earliest formal study of logic that we have. It is therefore all the more remarkable that together they comprise a highly developed logical theory, one that was able to command immense respect for many centuries. The core of this definition is the notion of “resulting of necessity.”

So, what is it about our business planning and budgeting that is “resulting of necessity”? The necessity in this case relates to the goals we are attempting to establish as the first step of the business planning process. What is it that we must accomplish?

Here is the question we must answer:

Do you really know what the goal for your hotel needs to be in 2013 for the owner to accomplish his goal?

Look yourself in the mirror and answer that question with acute clarity.

It’s CASH … NOI … ROI. Right? Not RevPAR, house profit, blah, blah, blah.

What do you think? I would love to hear from you.

SoLoMo. Huh?

Si Sloman — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:42:00 -0700

As I have discussed in virtually all of the blogs I have written, I believe our industry can learn from other industries how to maximize the use of technology to improve NOI.

I attended my first HITEC this year, and OMG! Where to start? There were over 2,500 exhibitors each with a “must have” product and strategy focus. I continue to be excited about what I am learning from successful retailers. So how can I leverage that learning into an improved NOI?

Mobile technology: Local Access to your potential customer

“‘Hyperlocal search’ may be dying, but the phenomenon is evolving and becoming more mobile,” says Greg Sterling, senior analyst with San Francisco-based consultancy Opus Research. “SoLoMo is a more mobile-centric version of the same concept with greater local precision: It’s about getting nearby information on demand, wherever you may be.”

“If you ever had any doubt about whether you needed to worry about your mobile presence, chew on this: There are more people on this planet who own a cell phone than people who own a toothbrush. And not by a small margin either; 1.1 billion more people own a cell phone,” says John Elston, principal/founder of YoDog Marketing. “With 17% of the global population surfing the web via their mobile device, not having a mobile-optimized site isn't even an option! People traveling and on the go in a new area are looking to make a decision fast and searching via their mobile device for restaurants, accommodations and activities. So if you're in the travel industry, your mobile presence is imperative! Not to mention the conversion — 61% of people call the business after doing a local mobile search.”

Service companies ranging from Groupon, Yelp and Foursquare to retailers such as Starbucks have embraced SoLoMo (social, local and mobile) and geo-location tactics, primarily in the form of apps. For example, a shopper craving a cup of Starbucks coffee can search for the store closest to his location.

Here is just one digital marketing resolution your hotel company should consider adopting in 2013. In our test hotels where we adopted this strategy, RevPAR has improved 21% in markets with declining RevPAR, and NOI has improved 17%.

I will bring SoLoMo marketing initiatives to the forefront of my hotel digital marketing plan, enabling me to reach more customers.

The success of location-based social media such as Foursquare has shown us that rewards and recommendations are only the beginning. Hoteliers need to consider how to best utilize SoLoMo to engage their customers and generate incremental revenues. When you consider building your NOI, think about how much revenue potential there is in your “local” customer when added to your Internet based “guest room” consumer. Where will your SoLoMo puck be in 2013? I would love to hear from you.