IAM203- Innovator Creates a Hospitality-Focused Solution For Better and Easier Staff Communication

Juan Carlos Abello saw the need for a hospitality-focused solution such as Nuvola after working in the hotel industry for more than a decade. His first-hand experience sparked the notion that there has to be a better and easier way for staff to communicate with each other and with their guests.

Abello began his career in the hotel industry shortly after moving back to the U.S. at the age of 17. He has worked in nearly every aspect of hotel operations but always found himself focused on one thing – elevating the guest service experience. It’s his passion for the guest experience that led him to managerial and director of operations roles with leading hotel brands such as Morgans Hotel Group and DoubleTree. It’s also what made him take an interesting career move into technology that later resulted in the development of Nuvola.

• CEO Hack: Waking up at 4 am to plan and organize
• CEO Nugget: (1) Collaborate with other companies for growth (2) Change the strategy but don't change your objective
• CEO Defined: A good listener and asking good questions

Website: https://www.mynuvola.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mynuvola
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mynuvola
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuvola-software-llc/?trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas%3AMyNuvola.com%2Cidx%3A1-1-1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my_nuvola/

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE.

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, Juan Carlos Abello of Nuvola. Juan, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Juan Carlos 0:37

Thank you Gresh it's a pleasure to be here

Gresham Harkless 0:38

Definitely pleasures all mine and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Juan, so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Juan saw a need for a hospitality-focused solution such as Nuvola. After working in the hotel industry for more than a decade. His first-hand experience sparked the notion that there has to be a better and easier way for staff to communicate with each other and with their guests. Juan began his career in the hotel industry shortly after moving back to the U.S. at the age of 17.

He has worked in nearly every aspect of hotel operations but always found himself focused on one thing – elevating the guest service experience. It’s his passion for the guest experience that led him to managerial and director of operations roles with leading hotel brands such as Morgans Hotel Group and DoubleTree. It’s also what made him take an interesting career move into technology that later resulted in the development of Nuvola. Juan, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

Juan Carlos 0:38

I am. Yes, Gresh. Go ahead.

Gresham Harkless 0:38

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had, which I know we touched on a little bit was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Juan Carlos 0:47

Of course, absolutely. So as you mentioned, briefly, I came to the US when I was 17. And the first job that I landed was in a hotel in hotels. So I spent about 10 years working in hotels, for the most part on the customer service side. So anything that was touching the guests or related to operations, I later worked briefly for two to three years in a technology company where I learned about software that was very enticing to me.

So I decided to combine my hospitality and my technology experience because I found that hotels are very particular in the sense that if you look at a hotel in one building, imagine a hotel with 200 rooms, you might find 200 to 300 employees working on any given day. So I said, Why not build a solution that can streamline communication? So initially, what we did was just basically connect all departments to ensure that communication was more effective at the hotel.

Gresham Harkless 2:37

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah, that's absolutely huge. And, just in true entrepreneurial form, you kind of see a problem. And rather than just saying, oh, there's a problem, somebody needs to fix it, you decide to kind of create something yourself. That kind of sounds like what's happening in your case.

Juan Carlos 2:51

It was. And a funny story really was that I was having lunch with a friend that I worked in hotels, and we were just remembering, five years back issues that we had when a guest complaint and we had to lock them in what we call the hotels and read the book, which is basically writing physical notes, something that happened to one of your guests, and we were just impressed that the industry really hasn't evolved much. And through those jokes, and through remembering a conversation, that's basically how the big idea came about.

Gresham Harkless 3:20

Wow, it is hard to believe in this day and age, they were writing some down in like a red book, like you said, when with all this technology out there. And now you've actually developed something to help kind of increase that communication and make it a lot more seamless.

Juan Carlos 3:31

Absolutely. And now, I mean, this was, of course, seven to eight years ago. Now, there is technology, of course for communication. There are a lot of players in the market. Now I guess the focus is more on guest engagement. Right? So not only internal communication but how do I use technology to speak to the guests even before they arrive at the hotel or after they check out from the hotel? So that's basically what's going on in combination, of course, with voice technology, which is something that's happening right now. And of course, two-way texting. So that's basically the 2019 focus for the industry.

Gresham Harkless 4:03

Awesome, awesome. Did you I guess, drill down a little bit deeper, I know you're helping to, like you said elevate the guest service experience. Could you touch on a little bit more on like, how exactly you guys are doing that? And how that helps, as you said from before they check in so even when they leave?

Juan Carlos 4:16

Yes. So really, the focus is very CRM, customer relationship management, the approach is very CRM focused in the sense that you want to anticipate guests' needs, right? So if you have a guest that travels between hotels from the same brand, you want to make sure that when they check in we know about what type of tea they want, and if they like an extra pillow in the room before they check in, or if they usually request a late checkout.

So that's one of the things that we do, and it really helps to elevate the guest's experience because of course, once they check in, it's kind of like the whole staff knows about this guest and that's basically what we call preferences in our system. And part of the thing that really has impacted positively, this CRM focus as we call it, which is knowing more about the guests is the fact that there are more tools to communicate with it.

So right now, texting, for example, is huge in hotels, just text the guests even before he checks in and just ask them, What does he want? what are you looking for? Do you want tourists? Do you run reservations to restaurants, that way, even before he checks in, he kind of has these imaginary plans, and all the staff is aware of his obvious plans, during this day,

Gresham Harkless 5:25

Right, and that definitely, makes it obviously better to be able to, like you say have a really great experience, because he knows all that information. It's not like, you know, and then read books, as you talked about, that used to be the way of the hotel industry. So it's great to kind of hear and see that evolution in the part that you're playing in that. And you might have already touched on this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this is what you feel kind of distinguishes you and or your organization.

Juan Carlos 5:50

So as a CEO, I think something that you hear we joke around a lot in the office. But I think that one of the things that really helps me a lot is having mentors, having people that can also judge the way I do things, and kind of focus on weaknesses that I need to work out, in my own performance. But as a company, what really stands out is that in this company, in order to work in New World, you have to have hospitality experience. So anybody that you talk to you from customer service to sales to support, they've all worked in hotels before, and we're the only player in the market that we can say this, at least today.

Gresham Harkless 6:26

Awesome. And that's definitely huge, obviously, because that's the industry that you're focusing on and that you're working with. So to be able to have people that have experience that have that perspective that can see the value that you're providing, and be able to speak to that at all levels of the organization is definitely huge. And of course, being able to lean on the insight and experience of mentors and people that have been able to be successful is definitely a great way to ensure or increase the likelihood of being successful.

Juan Carlos 6:51

Correct, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 6:52

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Juan Carlos 7:03

Yeah, I think what really helped me was get to this point is that it might not even funny, but I wake up at four in the morning, every morning. And the reason why I do this is that it allows me to organize my day to ensure that I can send messages out to every department, I can have up to expectation for the day or for the week or whatever it might be, so that when I arrive to the office anywhere between 8 or 9 am, then I'm just going to spend time with them, and just listen and try to get guidance. So I wish I wouldn't have to wake up at four in the morning. But right now, I've been doing now for close to four years. And it's been a tremendous help for me.

Gresham Harkless 7:42

Yeah, I've definitely heard that myself, I'm not a forehand person. But I know that anytime I have woken up early, I have always say, I'm more of a 2 am type of person than a forehand type of person. But I can understand because it probably gives you the opportunity to get ahead of the day before the day starts to take hold of you and you have to worry about 10 different things that are going on, you're able to kind of start your day and set the standard for that day.

Juan Carlos 8:06

Yeah, I mean, if you're at a point where the business has picked up, and usually your calendar is back to back, which again, that's something that again, I don't recommend because then you're not spending time with your team. But sometimes it happens. There's demand from clients, presentations, whatever it might be, having that time to wake up early. And of course, you're on your own. So nobody's asking you questions, you will be impressed by how much you can get done in those initial three hours of the day, it will make a tremendous difference in the productivity of the business.

Gresham Harkless 8:35

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I think that's a phenomenal CEO hack. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. If you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Juan Carlos 8:47

So there's a couple. The first one is that it took me a while. And I kind of see this as something that I should have done differently. It took me a while to understand how much you can go through partners, whatever industry that you're in, you can collaborate with other companies. And if things are done well and strategized, then you can leverage from more visibility Duco marketing in my initial years because I don't know if I didn't think about it, or I didn't pay attention to it. Or maybe the business was small.

So maybe the other companies weren't interested in talking to us at the time. But once as soon as you have the opportunity to grow not only through your salesforce but also through partners is tremendous. For us. It drives nearly 30% of our growth today. So that's something that I would recommend today to entrepreneurs because it doesn't really matter what industry you are in today. There are solutions for everything. If I relate to technology, which is where I am right now, if you think about anything right now you'll find 10-20 or 100 competitors. So how do you differentiate yourself through having good partners, it's a good way to take a step forward in your business.

Gresham Harkless 8:47

Yeah, absolutely. And it makes sense because sometimes people will try to overextend themselves and be in different ways a different I guess, lane so to speak, but to be able to find a partner that is really great at what it is that they're doing, you're able to kind of create and have that partnership like he mentioned in any industry, it could definitely increase your likelihood of success and increase your growth. And, of course, it kind of speeds up your expansion as well.

Juan Carlos 10:13

Correct. And then there's the other part that my story is one that everything has been very organic. So there was really no capital race at the beginning. So it was a lot of like sweat and just knocking on doors. So if you have been forced to take that route, because it's usually not an option, right? If you have capital, and you would have said, Yes, to accelerate growth, you're gonna be turned down a lot. And it happened to me more so in the initial two years.

So you just have to stay focused, change the strategy if you have to, but never change the objective. Because the first, at least for me, or what I've seen friends that are also entrepreneurs, to the first 24 months, it's really the time where you need to make sure that where you're going and if you have one two or three meetings that really want to train you down, then you know how to stay focused and remain with your objective in line.

Gresham Harkless 11:04

Absolutely. And that's definitely a powerful change in the strategy but never changed the objective. I love that in a great reminder of just understanding that, as a fellow bootstrap sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and do that sweat equity and put that in and, be okay with the nose. Understand that's part of the process. And a no just gets you closer to Yes. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners on the show. But one, I want to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Juan Carlos 11:33

For me, it's being a good listener. I think wisdom is really the reward you get from a lifetime of listening. So I always tell my team, and then ask good questions to them. That's usually how I provide guidance, just asking them good questions and need to think about where they want to take this company. Because honestly, the real drive of any business, at least from my experience is really the team that you have.

So they need to be happy, they need to be connected, they need to be heard. But more it's not really the decisions that you make at the end, it's I think it's really all on the guidance that you provide, so that they make the right decisions, and they represent your brand, the way that you envision it.

Gresham Harkless 12:16

Absolutely, yeah, that's definitely a great perspective. And I truly appreciate you for explaining that and then like you said, wisdom is a result of listening

Juan Carlos 12:26

Wisdom is the result of a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk

Gresham Harkless 12:30

That's powerful. And, yeah, that's definitely a great reminder just because listening and being able to listen and be able to excel at that provides such great wisdom and insight. And I truly appreciate you, you provided loads of great content and information. And what I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and of course, how best they can hear more about everything that you're doing and get in touch with you.

Juan Carlos 12:56

Gresh Thank you, man, if I had to say one more thing, just never forget about networking, never forget about spending time with the community and reading as much as you can about the industry that you're in. And participate as much as you can in any event or community or program that is connected to the field that you're in. That's just huge.

Gresham Harkless 13:17

Absolutely, absolutely. And to find out more about Nuvola?

Juan Carlos 13:20

You can visit www.mynuvola.com

Gresham Harkless 13:25

Awesome, awesome, awesome, and we'll have that link in the show notes as well just so that anybody can follow up. But once again, I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Juan Carlos 13:33

Same to you Gresh Thank you very much.

Outro 13:35

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]