Hospitality Review - Dec 2016

Own a smart phone? Smart decision. MAX HITCHINS

If you had a horse in the Melbourne Cup would you be happy to give the other horses a furlong start? No. I didn’t think so. Well, that is what you are doing if you are not using a smart phone to assist you in running your Hospitality business? Here are just three examples of how to get maximum benefit from your smart phone. Take pictures of anything that is ‘news’ in your hospitality business. Make your business more interesting to your customers. A customer achieves something - take a picture. Your betting syndicate wins - take a picture. You add something new to the menu - take a picture. You have a new staff member - take a picture. A celebrity is planning to visit your town, suburb or city - take a picture. When you take the pictures make sure you post them them to your Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. If you don’t have all these set up then find a teenager and pay them to either do it for you or teach you how to do it. Use Siri or Cortana. Whilst Siri is only on iPhones there are a number of ‘Siri like’ Apps for Android phones. One Microsoft App you can download for FREE is Cortana. Initially I thought it was a bit of fun to ask Siri a frivolous question. Now I regard Siri as a full time member of staff who does much leg work for me. If I am travelling to Launceston tomorrow I ask “Hey Siri what time are the flights from Hobart to Launceston tomorrow?” and “Hey Siri I need to hire a car when I arrive in Launceston tomorrow.” And I might follow up with “Hey Siri what will the temperature be in Launceston for the next five days?” And I might also ask her “Hey Siri can you find me a hotel to stay at in Launceston.” Here are other things I might ask Siri to do for me: “Send a text message to my wife telling her I will be arrive back in Hobart at 7.00 pm Thursday.” “Add to my Calendar an 11.00am doctor’s appointment on Friday morning.” “How far is it from Hobart to Strahan?” “What is AHA Tasmania’s phone number?” “Remind me to buy some milk and toothpaste at 5.45pm today.” “Remind me to send my article to Leanne Blackwell at AHA.” Become a specialist for a ‘specific’ event. My Dad used to say “Showing is better than telling.” So I will ‘show’ you how I became a Melbourne Cup specialist. Some years ago,

I set myself the the challenge of becoming a leading authority on the Melbourne Cup. Each year I created a huge scrap of Melbourne Cup information. It was a major chore assembling it and was an even bigger chore in searching for information in the scrap books I created. For example, if I needed to find details of the two Tasmanian horses who

have won the Melbourne Cup it could take me from anywhere from five to fifty minutes to find the information. Using my iPhone, I now collect the information and store it in Notes. I am able to import pictures into Notes as well as ‘underline and bold’ the text. Add to this the fact there is a ‘search feature’

which delivers any information information I need in seconds. Yet another feature of of the iPhone is that it ‘reads’ to me. Hence, on my daily exercise I am able to have all the Notes I make read back to me while I walk or ride an exercise bike. If you would like to see the results of how my iPhone has helped me achieve my Melbourne Cup goal I invite you to check out my web site - PickTheCupWinner.com.au. (And the two Tasmanian horses to win the Melbourne Cup are Malua in 1884 and Piping Lane in 1972.) By line: Max Hitchins’ weekly emails Secrets, Tips and Tonics to fill your Bistros Bars and Beds are read by thousands of hospitality professionals around the world. Tasmanian AHA members can subscribe to receive these (for FREE) by going to www. HospitalityDoctor.com. You can also get additional updates from Max at facebook.com.au/maxhitchins

December 2016

29

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker