Today in the blog we have the testimony of Sonia Agudo, Assistant General Manager Operations of Sercotel Hotels.
Currently, Sercotel Hotels has 176 hotels established in 122 destinations in Spain, Andorra, Portugal, Italy, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador and Panama. In total, they manage about 17,551 rooms and its motto is “People First”. The company came to Iristrace with the idea of digitizing their audits, provide the equipment quality data collection and evidence in hotels, and improve quality and service excellence offered, decreasing the time in the reports and optimizing their daily tasks.
“We have been investing more than 1 full day doing the report of each of the hotels we audit, to download a PDF report automatically after inspection that is sent to the Director of the same hotel to resolve issues that have been found.”
And now, we are going to the testimony of Sonia, vision of quality for Sercotel Hotels and how Iristrace has helped them carry it out.
- What is your job in Sercotel?
“Responsibility and tasks”.
As for my skills, the area of operations Sercotel Hotels is responsible for monitoring, plan and arrange -through their procedures- the proper functioning of the hotels of the company; maximizing all available resources and achieving a constant and direct communication with all areas of the organization, to meet the expectations of the company reaching the hotel excellence from the satisfaction of our customers.
I am responsible for establishing corporate procedures guide behavior-habits necessary for business development, maintenance and growth of the company.
With quality audits, I verify the effectiveness of our quality management system and the ability of equipment to meet customer requirements.
I am responsible for the both departments Flats & Reception, as well as being the liaison with QUAMTUM? ensuring preferential agreements for all our hotels. Also, I carry all part of the company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).
- When looking at responsibility, who consider that you should participate in a process of improving quality and service?
The whole pyramid from the first to the last members of the company.
- What is the commitment to quality and customer?
Sercotel’s motto is “People First” and I think this says it all. Our commitment is to the people. Daily we deal in meeting the needs and expectations of our customers.
There is a department that works daily in the approach to new approaches to reach the hotel excellence. We tried to make innovation part of our everyday thoughts to get in the head and stay there.
- What aspects are those considered necessary for a product / service to be considered of the highest quality?
Quality, product innovation, commitment, truth, constant effort, imaginative solutions, WOW effect and large doses of love. In my view, if you work selflessly for your customers and your employees grow and be happy with it, success is assured.
- Why is it important to have a process of continuous improvements? And what challenges you face every day in terms of quality/service?
Continuous improvement is necessary to stand out from the welter of information, to connect significantly with the client, to create experiences. In short: to make the world a better place to live.
- How do you perform quality control now in each of the hotels?
There are three tools or processes that we follow. On the one hand, we rely on control by making audits where we review our internal processes if quality are met. At the same time with questionnaires that we sent to our customers, where we collect the service and especially what they value most about their experience, identifying deficiencies and enabling early resolutions. And, a third, intangible that “pop” effect when you open a bottle of …… champagne. that it is in the air and makes us feel different.
What do you think Iristrace has contributed in terms of value to your everyday life?
The tool allows a direct assessment in real time minimizing the time to make reports and something that motivates us, especially sustainable tool replacing paper cloud. Without forgetting what unites us: passion for the customer.
Sonia Agudo, we thank you for the couple of minutes that you have spent with us and tell us how Sercotel uses Iristrace for quality management in your hotels.
