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HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW

APRIL FOCUS: Guest Service

 

Guest Experience - Moving from Transactional to Experiential

By Bob Megazzini Area General Manager, Sage Hospitality | April 2018

In most of the service industry today, we live in a sea of sameness - from airlines to car rental companies to hotels. We encounter numerous people at various touchpoints that are there with a smile (or not) to take our boarding passes, credit card or confirmation to “Process the transaction” and move us on our way to the next transaction. Most travelers are not getting a sense of appreciation for their business and the experience is not memorable. Service associates in various businesses need to move you through to get to the next transaction. It is the nature of the beast and it’s happening every day all over the globe.

 So what can we do as hospitality service professions to change the landscape?

I have had success over the years in making each transaction an experience by connecting with each customer to show genuine care and concern for what they are experiencing. Striving to create a place people want to go to - not just through - is a great way to think about how to transition from the transaction to the experience of service.

 It is important to change the way we interact with our guests and to create unique new hotel experiences. Some examples that have worked well at my hotels include:

Wine Tastings

We partner with our Food & Beverage experts and vendors to offer complimentary wine tastings in the lobby. This provides great one-on-one time to get to know our guests and build a connection while sharing the winemaker’s history. It is important to make sure the staff members running the tasting are well versed on the region where the wine is produced and the winemaker’s family story. In many instances, the guest likes the wine so much they go to the lounge to buy a glass. Lastly, many of us have had made a strong connection over a glass of wine, so this is an easy place to start.

Recognizing Special Events

During graduation at the nearby University of Denver, we greet each guest who arrives at the JW Marriott Denver for the weekend with a small bottle of champagne with an attached personal note from the team. It is a simple way to help kick-off their celebration and say “Congratulations on your graduate!” It is a great delighter and nice way to start a conversation about the child or relative they are supporting.

Pancake Social Sunday Brunch

Each weekend at the JW Marriott Denver, we offer a pint-sized pancake buffet for children 8 and under in our restaurant, Social Fare Denver Dining & Drinks. This complimentary experience allows parents to relax over a leisurely Sunday Brunch while someone from the JW Marriott Denver’s professional team works with the kids to build and create their own special pancake plate and hang out and enjoy kids crafts and family-friendly movies in the restaurant’s private dining room. We encourage the kids to wear their pajamas so they can be a comfy as possible. This has been a huge success for both families and the hotel – our Sunday brunch is sold out most every week and many families view the JW Marriott Denver as a favorite spot.

Art Experiences

Developing relationships with local artists is a great way to expose hotel guests to new talents, while also giving a local artist exposure to new customers.

At the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, they set aside a dedicated space for an artist to use within the hotel to create their pieces. Guests really enjoyed watching the artists actually at work. Most artists were happy to interact with guests and discuss the motivation and inspiration behind each piece – and hopefully convert them into customers.

Another take on the artist in residence concept was an Art App that we created at The Westin Cleveland. We recognized that we had a large amount of art in our public space that was all locally procured. Each artist has a story of why they painted the picture or photographed the picture. So, we took those inspirational stories and incorporated them into a complimentary Smartphone application that offered a self-guided art tour with-in the hotel. This was a popular way to bring people into experience something different and learn about our artists. It also encourages guests to explore different parts of the hotel that they may not have found on their own.

The JW Marriott Denver, which is home to more than 600 pieces of original Colorado art, has partnered with nearby Cherry Creek art galleries to showcase visiting artists and host art receptions, which have been fantastic for generating engagement and starting a cultural conversation with both hotel guests and local visitors. The JW Marriott Denver also partnered with Christie’s auction house to host an exclusive showing of Impressionist & Modern paintings, American art, 19th Century European art and luxury timepieces, which drew hundreds of new people to the hotel.

Get Involved in the Local Community

Hotels should seek out every opportunity possible to partner with local businesses and non-profits to create unique experiences to share with guests.

Each year, the JW Marriott Denver sponsors the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, a huge annual art event held over the July 4th weekend. The hotel also hosts the festival’s Opening Gala for several hundred people in our Grand Ballroom. This partnership ties the hotel to the local community as a strong local partner and art destination and builds strong loyalty with local artists.

Located in Denver’s top shopping district, the hotel has also hosted a variety of trunk shows featuring both local and national retailers. These trunk shows which are a fantastic opportunity to draw new people to your property – and guest love being able to buy local in the lobby!

Embrace Kids

This may be the simplest idea of all. When a family arrives with children, the Front Desk agent pulls out a box for the child to stand on behind the desk. The agent asks the child if they would like to come back here and help check his/her family in. The desk agent whispers to the child to ask mom or dad for a credit card. The child takes the card, swipes it, then returns the card to parent - I have seen engaged desk agents have child keep the card in their pocket, which always creates a laugh with mom and dad. The agent then asks child for their favorite number and tries to incorporate that number into the room number, which they have the child select. This is a very simple way to involve kids and create an experience for the entire family that I’m sure they won’t soon forget.

Last summer, the JW Marriott Denver launched a Friday Family Movie night, where we screened top family-friendly movies like Moana & The LEGO Batman Movie for free in our Fireside event space. More than 150 people showed up each week – and many came in before the movie to enjoy dinner at our restaurant, making in a win-win for the entire property. We are excited to relaunch Family Movie night this summer.

Dog Treats for Four-Legged Friends

Most dog owners who travel with their pets love them like children, so caring for their pet is a great way to make a lasting impression on the owner. Handing out dog treats is a nice opportunity for our valet team and doormen to engage with pets upon arrival and make a strong first impression on the guest. This also holds true by handing out treats to anyone walking by the hotel with a dog - the team creates good will with the entire neighborhood by sharing treats with the local dogs. We also offer dog walking services for our guests if they are attending a function. The team at the hotel is more than happy to take the dog out for a stroll while the guest enjoys their evening.

The simplest things we do today create an experience that is not found in most of the service industry. However, executing these simple tasks are not always as easy as one would imagine. It starts with hiring the right team members that want to make an experiential difference and not just process a transaction. Hire people who are dedicated to engaging, listening and sharing stories. As you build a dynamic team, creating the experiences become very easy to execute.

Lastly, we as leaders need to challenge ourselves by watching how we service our guests. Does it look like what everyone else is doing or is it unique in some way? How do we create lasting experiences out of a 3-minute transaction? Involve your staff in coming up with new ideas on how to better interact with guests – they are on the front lines chatting with customers daily and can have great insights to what makes your property stand out from the competition.

I feel the more we try and experiment the better we get at the simple things that create experiences that our guests will truly appreciate. This in turn will elevate the service industry as a whole.

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