Kickbacks are an all-too-common restaurant and hotel crime involving insiders and outside vendors. Hospitality companies that acknowledge their vulnerability to these schemes are one big step in the direction of preventing and deterring significant losses. Kickbacks in hotels and restaurants can take many forms, but regardless of their unique and often ingenious qualities, nearly all kickback crimes boil down to improper payments being made to a company employee by an outside vendor. READ MORE

Soft-selling is suggestive selling. No one likes to feel like they're being "sold" anything, including food. Suggestive selling is an art form. Guests should never feel like they're being pushed into buying the most expensive item on the menu. When done properly, guests never know the server is artfully guiding them toward a higher check average, which is actually excellent customer service. Quite possibly, the best marketing line ever created was, "Would you like fries with that?" Fries go with a burger; therefore it's logical to ask a guest if he would like fries to accompany his burger! It works the same in any kind of restaurant, burgers or steaks, fries or baked potatoes. We can learn a lot from the fast food chains... READ MORE

Benjamin Franklin needs no introduction. His accomplishments and contributions to our country in the seventeen hundreds were many. Likewise, his words of wisdom have been recited to us by our mothers and fathers for many generations. Some of my family's favorites included: "A penny saved is a penny earned", "A place for everything and everything in its place", and "A small leak can sink a great ship." But some of the less known phrases are the ones that can perhaps teach us the best lessons if we relate them to the world of hotel franchising. In particular, two Ben Franklin quotes come to mind: "Well done is better than well said," and "A countryman [or hotelier for our purposes] between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats." READ MORE

As our labor force increases and we evolve into more of a leisure society, many of our new-generation workers do not want to spend as much time on their jobs as employees of the past. This means that one of the key words we as managers, should keep in mind when seeking new talent is balance. We need to make sure that the people who work in our industry keep a balance between work, family and leisure time. The more balance, the more stability. The more stability, the more productivity and less turnover. If we are going to attract the new wave of talented managers, we need to measure a person's worth or accomplishments based not on how much time is spent on the job, but rather on the person's productivity. A highly productive 50-hour, gung-ho enthusiastic manager who gives 110% is much more valuable than a tired, half-conscious 70-hour manager going through the motions. READ MORE

Hospitality spas are highly vulnerable to branding disconnect. "Branding" often occurs at the corporate level, far away from a spa's employee training programs. Marketing spins gorgeous fantasies to lure customers in and Operations deals with gritty day to day realities, often completely unaware of the marketing promise. When the two contrast sharply, the brand can be badly damaged. READ MORE