Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 94 | Page 84

FINAL WORD
Benefits of AI in hospitality
The benefits of implementing AI into a hospitality business are everywhere . Here is a quick rundown of the benefits of a hospitality business from a human perspective .
# 1 Staff retention
AI benefits hospitality staff and leads to an overall happier team . And what that means for a business is better staff retention , as recorded by the 86 % of hospitality shift workers from a recent Deputy study who can identify ways to improve their work environment . For business owners , this means saving on hiring costs , saving time in reduced performance for training periods and better customer service and experience .
# 2 Service and experience
When people go out to eat , there are just three things they want . Great food , great company , great service . To a customer , a great experience is ordering in their own time , not having to leave their table with their friends and family to order food or drinks , and having someone around to answer their questions .
By allowing a customer to look through the menu at their own pace , order in their own time , and make customisations without feeling like they are being annoying , they get much more enjoyment out of the experience .
# 3 Profits
Increased profits are a big benefit when it comes to implementing AI into your hospitality business . The Director of The Henchman in Queensland said their sales doubled within a week after they implemented Ai-Menu products . It automatically upsells for you , and people feel more comfortable ordering what they really want if they are able to do it privately .
Now , if your software allows you to increase your profits like that significantly , you will not need to worry about the cost of your staff providing great service to your customers .
# 4 Processes
Processes can always be improved . Providing a solution for this is what AI and automation software in hospitality have been specifically designed for . With solutions like online ordering , an order goes directly from the customer to the kitchen . You automatically know a bill without needing to calculate it because it has all been recorded from the moment they ordered .
There is no end-of-day tallying or clients getting overlooked because the staff is too busy running orders to the kitchen . With streamlined processes , you get happier staff , happier customers , and happier owners who all have more time on their hands . questions , giving recommendations , clearing tables , even having a laugh , and cracking some jokes now that they have the time !
One of the most frustrating things that can happen in hospitality is an order going wrong . Previously , a customer would give their order , the waiter would write it down , pass it to the kitchen , and they would prepare it . Sometimes when the order came out , customers would say , that is not what I ordered .
When it would be , in fact , exactly what they ordered , they had just forgotten . Now that was not all of the time .
Sometimes , waiters would take an order down wrong , or the kitchen would not be able to read their writing ; a docket would go missing or be put in the wrong place in the queue . But regardless of the cause , mistakes were common , and they led to a lot of waste .
Today , customers can punch in their own order . To have it sent directly to the kitchen , they do not have to guess what it says , and the customer cannot say that it is not what they ordered because they ordered it themselves !
This is what AI in hospitality does . It makes a process more efficient with instant service and minimizes error and waste with more accurate orders . It is winning all around for the customer , staff , and business .
One of the biggest stressors for employees in hospitality is when they are short-staffed . They need to work much harder to get the work done , and they will not be able to engage with customers the way they want . The whole business suffers when you are shortstaffed , and the customers are not going to have as good of an experience .
By implementing AI , automation software , and automated food delivery solutions , the time-consuming and non-customer-facing tasks are taken care of . Although you still need enough staff to work the floor , at least if you are one or two people down , the team on deck can focus all their attention in one place rather than running all over the venue .
When the main pain points of hospitality staff are taken away , they are going to enjoy their job more naturally . They are not going to dread coming into work knowing they will be run off their feet or that they will get in trouble for getting an order wrong . Instead , they will know they get to engage with the customers and have a happy boss .
When a business owner is transparent about the implementation of AI , employees are quite excited about it . They know it will make their job easier and it will eliminate most of the problems associated with their jobs . AI does not need to replace staff . What it can do , though , is streamline efficiencies , allowing staff to focus on customer service and giving clients a better experience at your venue . p
84 INTELLIGENTCIO MIDDLE EAST www . intelligentcio . com