How can we create the ideal business climate for hospitality entrepreneurs?
About
Koninklijke Horeca Nederland is the largest trade organization for the hospitality industry in the Netherlands. They represent the interests of over 20,000 hospitality entrepreneurs and 250,000 employees in the hospitality industry. They lobby the government and politicians for favorable laws and regulations, strive for good working conditions, promote quality and safety in the hospitality industry, offer support to entrepreneurs and facilitate knowledge exchange within the sector.
Challenge
KHN has the ambition to support its members in keeping knowledge about the hospitality industry accurate. KHN concluded from research that the current IT infrastructure does not sufficiently match the ambition of KHN: to create the ideal entrepreneurial climate for hospitality entrepreneurs.
- Industry Hospitality Industry
Observation
'KHN's current portal environments have insufficient capabilities to support hospitality entrepreneurs and employees in the hospitality industry in their ambition'
A 24/7 digital environment for everyone in the hospitality industry
Stay up to date 24/7 with the latest news from the hospitality industry. Get up-to-date information on new trends, innovations, regulations and developments in the world of restaurants, hotels, catering and more. Always be aware of important events, such as new openings, awards and recognitions, mergers and acquisitions, and changes in consumer behavior. With continuous access to the latest news, you as a professional in the hospitality industry can make strategic decisions, identify opportunities and strengthen your competitive position. Stay ahead in this dynamic and challenging industry by staying connected to the latest hospitality news 24/7.
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01 Close your benefits
"Lock in your benefits" refers to the importance of utilizing and locking in benefits that are available in a given situation. It can relate to different contexts, such as personal finances, work benefits or even maximizing opportunities in everyday life.
By being aware of available benefits and utilizing them effectively, individuals and organizations can strengthen their position, cut costs, work more efficiently and achieve their goals. These may include locking in financial benefits such as discounts, bonuses or tax breaks, locking in working conditions such as flexible working hours or training opportunities, or locking in benefits in personal relationships such as appreciating each other's qualities and talents.
Closing benefits requires awareness, action and taking advantage of opportunities that arise. It involves seeing opportunities, taking advantage of them and ensuring that they positively impact desired outcomes. By focusing on benefit closure, individuals and organizations can maximize their potential and be successful in their pursuit of growth, well-being and fulfillment.
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02 Participate in events
Actively participate in events in the hospitality industry. By participating in relevant events such as trade shows, conferences, workshops and networking events, you can gain valuable knowledge and insights, make new contacts and expand your professional network.
Events offer a great opportunity to stay abreast of the latest trends, best practices and innovations in the hospitality industry. You can participate in educational sessions, panel discussions and presentations from industry experts. This allows you to expand your knowledge, gain new ideas and improve your own skills and expertise.
In addition, events provide an excellent opportunity to network with professionals, suppliers and other key players in the hospitality industry. By making contacts and building relationships, you can make valuable connections that can lead to new collaborations, business opportunities and even mentoring relationships.
In short, actively participating in hospitality industry events allows you to position yourself as an engaged and knowledgeable professional. It allows you to expand your knowledge and network, which in turn can lead to growth opportunities and success in the industry.
The question
Hospitality entrepreneurs come in very many varieties; varying in size, but certainly also varying in type of business. That every hospitality entrepreneur needs different types of information seems logical. After all, a larger chain like De Beren has different information needs than a small café on the corner of the street. But how do you organize that on a digital platform? Koninklijke Horeca Nederland's ambition is to inform and support all members in their day-to-day operations, with all the knowledge that is centrally available and can be shared. Central themes on which the Royal Catering Netherlands wants to communicate are, for example, legislation, fire safety, hygiene and personnel information. But also providing financial advice, information on permits, energy savings and sound rights from Buma Stemra.
KHN concluded from research that the current IT infrastructure does not sufficiently match KHN's ambition: to create the ideal entrepreneurial climate for hospitality entrepreneurs. BTTR set to work to develop a new digital platform.
To find out the customer's requirements and explore the most appropriate solution, we have created service blueprints blueprints. These are visual tools that map the user experience and interactions in a service environment. By using these blueprints, you ensure that you create a good overview of what needs to be done, both at the back-end and the front-end.
Applying business innovation contributes to an effective IT infrastructure
Read moreCollaborating on innovation
Strategy, design & technology
At BTTR, strategy, creation and technology are inseparable. That is why from the very beginning we work with multidisciplinary teams. A unique mix of thinkers and doers working on the case in all phases of the process.
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01 Strategy
At Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, a "less is more" solution turned out to be the best fit. The platform my.khn.nl was built in a way that is as functional as possible. That means that the flows are as accessible as possible and the steps to get to the information sought are short. Simply put, only what needs to be shown is shown.
Within the platform, the existing crm database of KHN members has been used. A member can manage (and close) his membership himself, but also be able to find all information in the environment.
Within the platform is a part publicly accessible, and a part that is behind a login. From the moment logged in, the user is shown only the information relevant to them. BTTR's task was to make the information as accessible and available as possible. A personalized mailing is sent weekly, with topics that match the type of hospitality business. Sometimes topics are relevant for all target groups (think of collective bargaining information), but also specifically for the local business. For example, consider an emergency ordinance in Amsterdam when current circumstances require roads to be closed and your own business is temporarily less accessible.
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02 Design
The design of my.khn.nl is geared towards helping the target audience be as functional and as user-friendly as possible. As a result, the platform has a clear, fresh look. Clear blocks and, for example, buttons that immediately contain clear information about what can be found behind the button.
The platform for members has three main themes. The first is "Stay Informed 24/7," with information here on new trends, innovations, regulations and developments in the world of restaurants, hotels, catering and more. The second is "Attend Events," with information on trade shows, conferences, workshops and networking events to gain valuable knowledge and insights, make new contacts and expand the professional network. And the last one, "Close benefits," with information about financial benefits such as discounts, bonuses or tax breaks, closing benefits such as flexible working hours or training opportunities. For all three topics, again, only the information relevant to the entrepreneur is shown. New logins always start with a tour, pointing the user to the appropriate information. Think of it as a tour of the "need to knows."
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03 Technology
For the my.khn.nl platform, we used a MACH architecture that allows for simplified IT management. Different front-end environments (progressive web apps) can be developed for different target groups.
The advantage of the progressive web app is that all actions are implemented incredibly quickly. To make your MACH architecture one logical whole, it is important to work headless. This means that the front-end should be separate from the back-end. The back-end functionality is separate from the visible front-end.
During the development of the platform, much effort was put into linking the UX copy to the UX interface with the goal of conveying the information to the target audience as clearly and concisely as possible.
During the process, this was tested both by the BTTR multi-disciplinary team and with test subjects from the target audience.Users went through all the steps in the process within a prototype. The optimizations made as a result have made the platform more functional and smarter.
