As the Hospitality and Foodservice market makes the appropriate adjustments and looks to re-open in many areas, it is obvious the way we do business is going to change. The traditionally warm face-to-face relationships that make the HoReCa Supply Chain a family, will be a part of this shift for sure.
Manufactures, Reps, and Distributors alike are faced with gauging how quickly business may return in order to bring teams, and even mangement, back to the mix.
This extra pressure on the industry begs the question, how can our Resellers and Distributors be as effective as usual with their hands tied?
Hospitality and Foodservice Distributors have been adopting more technology driven solutions pre-Covid, but at a comfortable pace. Other industries such as Commercial Technology and Consumer Electronics boast an abundance of mature web based distribution resources. While there are certainly leaders in the channel, this is still very much an evolving component to the HoReCa Supply Chain.
The resourceful nature of teams and organizations within Hospitality and Foodservice suggests serious innovation ahead. Leaders are looking to refining their online customer portals and ensuring the integration of all team communication channels, while continuing to reach for the best solutions in sanitization technology. Some have suggested $9 Billion in new costs to hotel properties in efforts to follow new guidelines, the actual cost to the Supply Chain will be much larger, as one of the only industries to avoid a larger downturn is Commercial Technology sales.
This forced the first signs of what could be a somewhat frustrating yet necessary move to more remote roles, workplace guidelines, and cloud business management resources. When allowed to carefully plan these moves, consisting of hundreds to the thousands of employees and some of the oldest operational systems in use, they can be a cumbersome project management task. Taking into account the current environment, the family element of this industry will be the saving grace. People tend to make the difference and it will likely be no different here.
Increased utilization of Social Media and a strategy for better measurable engagement should be on the minds of every marketing professional, if they want to make the most of the market ahead. Converting this engagement to acquisition and making sure the breadcrumbs are clear is easier than it sounds, but crucial. Bridging the gap between online, field, and back office software ensures a complete customer story at every employees fingertips, this omni-channel type of efficiency is what a slow come back will need.
The better we can maximize on the capabilities of support teams, without over burdening work loads, the smoother a return to normal in Hospitality and Foodservice will be. Thankfully, some Resellers and Distributors, like Guest Supply, are providing financial resources to help with the increased spend. This is allowing fast access to important tools for properties to evolve and proving why they are an integral part of the Supply Chain.
Perhaps some of the silver lining will be more a more efficient Supply Chain outfitted with flexible software, remote readiness, and an improved customer experience?
Source:
Original Article – NonTheory Business Services
