Mr. Chris Lohmeier, Capital Asset Manager for B. F. Saul Company Hotel Division, is committed to driving revenue through the implementation and reinforcement of a division-wide technology initiative for hotel operations. In an effort to improve overall guecontinuing training program of team members has been established to ensure measureable results of the program are achieved,

‘When our Senior Vice President, Mark Carrier, issued the directive, I knew our staff really needed to see the solution,” said Lohmeier. “You have to show belief in a program, fully train people to implement the technology, and make them accountable; otherwise, you are just adding work to an already busy day that hotel staff will not make time to do.”

To carry that message, Lohmeier and his vendor representatives traveled to each of B. F. Saul Company’s 18 properties, met with the general manager, and management team to set the vision and requirements for training, and introduced a certification program.

“We require every user of the system to be certified, and that includes all our operational teams: executive housekeepers, chief engineers, front office managers, guest service reps, general managers, assistant general managers as well as food and beverage personnel,”  said Lohmeier. “Certification is earned by watching a 20-minute, self-paced video series by the vendor in 1- and 2-minute video snacks if you are a user; and 40 minutes of self-paced video snacks for managers.” When each group completes the certification by answering 20 or 40 questions, respectively, individuals are awarded a framed, linen certificate from the vendor.

“It is a point of pride and community,” Lohmeier said. “The new system’s automatic translation of messages into Spanish and other languages is also an important benefit. We made a commitment to do everything we can to drive revenue, and this solution puts us ahead of the pack. The goal for the entire division would be to raise guest service and maintenance scores.”