Do more with less: How to fuel operational efficiency with the support of a hospitality procurement company

May 7th, 2026

Q&A with Jeffrey Simmons, VP of Supply Management, Sodexo-Entegra

How far does your operational budget stretch these days? With rising costs, growing labor pressures and higher guest expectations, today’s operators are facing a major challenge: doing more with less. Tackling that challenge starts with improving efficiency — without sacrificing quality.

We sat down with Jeffrey Simmons, our Vice President of Supply Management and 20-year lodging industry veteran, to learn how a hospitality procurement company can help operators accomplish this complex goal.

Save your seat for the upcoming webinar: Do More With Less: Improve Efficiency, Reduce Costs

The term “operational efficiency” can be a bit abstract. What does it really look like on-site?

Simmons: Efficiency needs to be viewed from the perspective of continuous improvement. It’s a journey — and if we’re doing it right, we never really reach the finish line because we’re constantly evolving process, procedure, operations and team culture to achieve the best results.

Here’s how to start building an efficient operation:

Create strong SoPs: Start with the convenience-building basics by building standardized processes and procedures, creating preventive maintenance schedules and securing consistent procurement from GPO-contracted suppliers.
Empower your team: By partnering with a hospitality procurement company, you can build a more resilient team with resources for staff cross-training and professional development. Additionally, celebrating great performance and offering team input panels can help ensure everyone on staff feels appreciated and heard.
Make guest-first decisions: By building a strong foundation, you can elevate guest satisfaction, which leads to a higher average check size, average daily rate, occupancy rate and revenue per available room. This ultimately leads to stronger bookings and return customers.

Get your guide: Doing more with less: How to boost operational efficiency in 2026

What is something that people aren’t talking about yet when it comes to operational efficiency?

Simmons: There’s a lot of talk about how AI can help your operation become more efficient. But what people aren’t talking about is the change management that’s necessary for successful AI adoption. I see this question as a direct parallel to switching to a new supplier. If the switch happens too quickly and without the necessary planning, it disrupts operational efficiency.

To avoid this disruption, you can build out contingency solutions, socialize the new supplier with the team and outline guardrails and expectations. Then, consider tapping into the support network of your hospitality procurement company to ensure the adoption process goes smoothly.

Now if we compare that to AI: No matter what industry you operate in, when you’re introducing something new that fundamentally changes your team’s processes, it’s important to be sensitive to how it can impact morale and shape the perception of your business. If you introduce a change too quickly, adoption happens slowly — or it might not happen at all.

In the hotel industry, for example, if you launch a room-readiness tech solution but the team is not trained on it, they won’t use it. If you don’t educate the team on how it will improve their jobs, they won’t use it. And if you don’t show how the tool will improve guest satisfaction (and thus, job security), they won’t use it.

The way you communicate about AI internally is critical. This includes educating your teams and supporting them throughout the adoption process. How you talk about AI directly impacts how fast your team will adapt to it — and how efficient your operation will be.

How are customer expectations changing?

Simmons: Hospitality has always been a people business. It’s about looking into someone's eyes, shaking their hand, checking them at the desk, serving them in the restaurant. When you move away from the people part of the business, it becomes sterile and clinical and not what guests want from a hotel experience.

At the same time, hotel operators are facing tighter budgets and labor challenges, and that means they have to do more with less. One way they’re managing this is with guest self-service, like on-demand room cleaning and self-check-in. This has become standard at many hotels outside of the luxury segment. But as room rates go up, guests are beginning to expect more — and they notice they’re getting less.

This is an opportunity for hotels to engage guests more dynamically with small doses of upscale service. It’s surprisingly simple to integrate “luxury” into services your hotel already provides with personalization. For example, when guests who are part of your hotel’s loyalty program check in at the front desk, staff can greet them by name and include a small token of appreciation in their room to say, “Welcome back!”

Another example of simple personalization: If your hotel services rooms less frequently, your staff can instead proactively call guests to ask if they need any extras, such as towels or soap. This ensures guests feel well attended to while reducing the need for your team to visit every room.

And as all guests develop a more sophisticated palate, an easy way to elevate your hotel F&B experience is to offer upscale add-ons like truffles, caviar or trending items like Dubai chocolate.

How should hotel franchise owners respond to pushback from corporate leadership on operational changes?

Simmons: Hotel franchisees typically have brand standards to follow, including what products to purchase and how to purchase them. But these brand standards are just guidelines. It’s up to you to implement those standards in your operation, and you have the autonomy to go above and beyond.

There are many elements of the procurement process that are in your power, like how you receive products, how you store them and how you manage your inventory. You also generally have the flexibility to train your staff at your hotel location, which means you can make fundamental operational changes, like the level of personalization your team offers guests, how they handle room cleaning and what the F&B experience is like at your hotel. When you tackle the basics first, it can have dramatic effects on your hotel’s efficiency and on the guest experience.

Running a tight ship is incredibly important. Building a team that feels involved and connected to your business is how you overcome the things you can’t control.

As a long-time lodging industry veteran, what strategies are you seeing operators use to “do more with less”?

Simmons: Let’s start with fundamentals. Training your team to have a guest-centric focus, follow your processes and understand your protocols can help them do their jobs more efficiently. It’s as simple as teaching staff to welcome guests with eye contact and a friendly greeting as they check in to the hotel. This typically costs very little and it’s something you can start implementing immediately.

Zooming out: The volatility of today’s world events means the cost of goods and products are on shaky ground. And that means the best course of action is to move forward with pragmatic business planning by asking yourself these three questions:

Does my tech stack have the tools I need to manage my business in the current inflationary environment? Does it reduce manual processes? If not, what technology do I need to build resiliency that is scalable?
Is my team trained and empowered to make decisions that promote guest satisfaction, allocate time and resources appropriately and continue to improve operational efficiency overall?
Have I implemented all energy and water savings solutions available to me? If not, do I have the opportunity to invest in my hotel the necessary dollars that can yield a 12-month or less ROI?

Ready to boost your business performance? Learn more from Jeffrey Simmons and other operational efficiency experts at Entegra’s upcoming webinar, Do more with less: Improve efficiency, reduce costs.

Don’t miss it! Register for the webinar here.

Frequently asked questions

What does GPO stand for?

GPO stands for group purchasing organization.

What is a GPO, and how can it help my business?

When you partner with a GPO, you join other buyers in leveraging your collective purchasing power — in Entegra’s case, totaling over $50 billion globally. That purchasing power enables your business to access better prices and a broader selection of high-quality items, services and support than would typically be accessible to an individual business.

What is a hospitality procurement company?

A hospitality procurement company, also called a group purchasing organization, is a company that provides you with everything you need to help your business deliver high-quality customer experiences. When you’re looking to reduce overall costs, securing more savings, deeper discounts and better contracts can make a significant impact on your margins.

You can use a hospitality procurement company to help you lock in cost savings on nearly everything your business needs, from the food on your hotel’s menu to the tables where guests gather to the uniforms your team wears (and so much more). While it’s certainly possible for hotel operators to negotiate directly with suppliers, the process can be extensive and complex, taking up valuable time and resulting in high retail costs.

To reduce costs, save time and simplify the purchasing process, many operators leverage a procurement service. As your GPO, Entegra negotiates contracts on your behalf, helping you access better prices, more reliable supply agreements and deeper discounts. Entegra currently serves the following types of businesses: hotels, restaurants, golf, senior living, leisure, faith-based, education, acute care and more.

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