providing exceptional guest experiences

Providing Providing Exceptional Exceptional

Guest ExperiencesGuest Experiences

Definition of a ResortDefinition of a Resort

A hotel property which provides enough activities and facilities

to provide a total vacation experience.

-Travel and Vacations Dictionary

Definition of HospitalityDefinition of Hospitality

The act or service of welcoming, receiving, hosting or entertaining

guests.-http://en.wiktionary.org

Guest ServiceGuest Service

People think that providing great guest service is the

only way to provide great hospitality.

Guest Service is a part of it…

However, providing great guest service alone

will not provide your customers with a

4-Star Experience.

Expectations have changed…

• Guests already assume you have comfortable rooms, excellent service, enough activities to

keep them occupied and good food options.

This is the standard in our industry and after all the

definition of a resort.

What can you do to exceed standard expectations?

Recap:Comfortable roomsExcellent service

AmenitiesFood options

7 Keys to Provide a 4-Star Experience

1. Extremely proficient and effective guest service

2. Cross-selling products3. Cleanliness of entire facility4. Providing an array of activities5. Providing memorable dining

experiences6. Branding your property and creating

atmosphere7. Updated accommodations

Providing Extremely Efficient

Guest Service

• Show, Not Tell- When asked a question by a guest, take them to the location and show them the answer…

• Practice the Five and Ten Rule daily, with everyone (employees and guests). (Within 10’ of someone, make eye contact and smile. Within 5’, greet them verbally.)

• Pay fantastic attention to detail and make things easy for your guests. Predict their needs.

Use the Hilton LEAP System

• L- Listen to the guest fully and without interruption.

• E- Empathize. Make sure they know you would feel the same in way in that situation.

• A- Apologize and let them know you are sincerely sorry this happened to them.

• P- Problem Solve. Give them a choice of 2 solutions. Give power back to them. Follow-up later (this will make you stand out from your competition).

Something you can do right now:

Radiate KINDNESS

It is free.

Everyone is capable of it.

It feels good.

Cross-Selling Products

Cross-Sell to Add Service…

•88% of guests want to be advised of services that suit their needs.

•42% of those people will purchase an additional service.

-Kevin Dwyer-4Hoteliers

The truth of the matter…• In general, the hospitality industry is

behind the curve.

• Many employees are uncomfortable with cross-selling b/c they believe it is intrusive to the guest.

• And the real problem is, most of our staff does not know what to cross-sell.

Cross-Selling Shows You Care…

• If the product or service you are trying to sell relates to what they already bought, you will come across as helpful.

NOT as an annoying sale person!

Train, Train, Train!• Constantly update your guest service and

food and beverage employees about what your facility offers. Otherwise, they really won’t know!

• Give examples so they understand how to cross-sell and make it real to them.

Ex. A guest wants to purchase 4 day passes. Why not offer them a pre-paid card so they can buy food?

Cleanliness.

You can create your guests first impressions…

A Dirty Facility is a Deal breaker…

• People pay for experiences and they want it to be better than where they came from…

and they came from their home!

It is everyone’s responsibility…

• Facilities are just too large to only have one department in charge of cleaning.

• Teamwork makes a difference…everyone from the top down must work together to maintain a greater level of cleanliness that people have in their homes.

And the job never ends…

Cleaning, while exceeding standards, is a

24/7/365 a day operation on top of your regular job!

Create a schedule!

• Maintain regular deep cleaning schedules and stick to it.

• Create daily checklists for your a.m. and p.m. shifts to complete. Don’t forget your parking lots!

• Management must routinely check up on the quality of cleanliness.

Pick up a piece of trash and like it!

Activities, Amenities and Entertainment!

Simple ideas to create some added fun:

• If you have an arcade, host daily or weekend arcade tournaments.

• Speak with schools and have local children perform at your facility.

• Purchase simple arts and crafts from an online site and start an activities program.

• Partner with your food service provider and host dinners or buffets that is an ‘add-on’ to their day pass or overnight package. (Luau’s, New Years Eve Party, Easter brunch, etc)

• Celebrate the seasons! Decorate and theme your facility.

- Have a trick or treat day- Easter egg hunt- Photo with Santa

The more you offer…

the longer they will stay…

& the more $$$ they will spend!

No added staff needed!

• Believe it or not, there are several employees right now that would love to take on a project such as developing an activities program.

• Create relationships with your local university and utilize interns!

Memorable Dining Experiences

Offer variety!• The number one reason guests leave

a facility (besides having to go home) is to seek out food options.

• Even if you only have the space or budget for one eating establishment, provide enough choices so that your guests don’t leave!

• People want to have a significantly different dining experience than what they are accustomed to at home.

• Serve quality foods, within budget, with a few unique options.

(fried pickles are great!)

• Think outside the food: the atmosphere they will be dining in, the tables and chairs and the comfort level.

Force the guests to ask themselves:

Do we really need to leave?

Don’t forget about providing themed dinners, family meal

options and cards so the guests can add-on money in advance.

Branding and Atmosphere

The Image

• So much surrounds us on a daily basis that we cannot control.

• One thing you can do is manage the image of your company.

• This can effectively be done with the right PR person, graphic artist, management team and a vision for the future.

Complete Your Look…

• Consider creating, reworking or revisiting your mission or vision

statements. Employees and guests personal values should

match your company’s mission statement.

Plan 6-12 months ahead

• All of your marketing materials (ads, website, billboards, in-room tent cards, memos, resort TV channel, etc) should be branded with your theme or vision for the year.

• Use the same font, color scheme, symbols and logo.

Centralize• When various departments are

putting out messages, whether internally or externally, messages become mixed and mistakes can happen.

• Appoint one person to oversee the image of the company and help brand and proofread all of the pieces leaving your company.

Keep it Fresh• Just because you are planning ahead

does not mean your information gets stale.

• The easiest place to start is your website. Update photos, change color schemes and reword the same info.

(Interns will help with this!)

Don’t forget about your

physical space• Your branding makeover cannot be

complete without some refreshers to those stale public areas.

• Lighting and greenery are relatively inexpensive and will capture your guests imagination as soon as they walk into your doors.

• Even though your park’s features may remain the same inside, there are plenty of surrounding spaces to spruce up with lighting, artwork, furniture and plants.

• Lobbies, restrooms, dining areas, foyers, retail spaces, parking lots, arcades and even break areas are a good place to start.

Updating Accommodations

Massanutten Resort, VA

7,000 acre resort with 2000+ condo units, 6 hotels, indoor/ outdoor WaterPark, skiing, 2

golf courses, spa, 2 rec centers, 1600+ employees.

Case Study

• We needed to renovate and upgrade almost all of our units.

Here is the current plan:- Flat screen TV’s- Pillow-Top King Mattresses- New linens, bedspreads and curtains- New cabinets, backsplash and

countertops- New kitchen appliances- Overall upgrade of paint colors, lighting

and furniture

• This will be a 6-year plan and then it will turn over and repeat itself.

• It is crucial to stay on top of renovations and upgrades due to the vast amount of competition out there.

• When you make upgrades to your facility, it is best to advertise those to your guests.

• Bid out your jobs. Everybody wants your business.

• Use secret shoppers. They have a unbiased viewpoint and will really tell you what paint color to use!

• Use a scoring system with your comment cards so you can easily track your progress and know you are investing your money in the right areas.

Even if you can’t afford the whole package…

Do something!• Updating paint color is the most cost

effective way to make a difference in your rooms.

• Lighting can be relatively inexpensive as well.

• When you buy items for your rooms, always think ahead. Don’t always go the least expensive route. It may cost you more in the end!

Tips and Tricks

• Use employee contests to name new menu items, retail areas, slides, etc.

• Create contests for guests to submit their vacation photos from their trip. You will greatly increase your photo library while getting your guests involved!

• Befriend local bakers or florists and promote their items in your facility. You will have fresh flowers or cookies in your lobby weekly!

• Hold After-Hour Chamber of Commerce functions at your facility. It is a great way to gain local exposure.

• Always use press releases, even on the smallest item. You never know when the newsroom is slow and they will pick up your story.

• Get in touch with your local and state tourism entities and CVB’s. Invite them to tour your facility.

• On top of that, ask them what programs they have for businesses in the state. Many will offer FREE guest service training seminars at your facility, website assistance and a host of other free services.

• Look into ‘green products’ such as light bulbs, cleaning supplies and paper products. Many of these items cost less per unit and are good for the environment.

• Use the GM response tool on TripAdvisor.com to personally connect with the guests that have stayed with you.

Use the Web• Use social media outlets such as

blogs, video sites and networking. Often these are free and provide good exposure.

• Create a simple sign-up form on your site so you can build your database and send out emails to those that really want it.

Helpful websites

• Track your competition’s web traffic: www.compete.com

• Know how your site looks in all browsers: www.browsershots.org

• This will tell you the exact demographics of the people visiting your site: www.quantcast.com

• This will tell you your Google page rank (above a 5 is good): www.popuri.us

• Create alerts that will be sent to you via email through:

www.google.com/alerts alerts.yahoo.com

alerts.live.com

Contact:

Sarah Elsonselson@massresort.com