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Mr. Reitknecht

Robert Reitknecht

Founder, Robert Reitknecht

Robert Reitknecht's philosophy about customer service can be summed up as the following: Companies must live and breathe service excellence every day. A veteran customer loyalty professional and guest experience expert for over two decades, Mr. Reitknecht has provided service-focused insights to a number of Fortune 100/500 companies while holding positions as General Manager, Director of Operations, Regional Human Resources Manager, and Director of Fitness Operations to name a few.

 

He has worked primarily in the hospitality and guest relations verticals, crafting cultures of excellence by spearheading quality standard initiatives, process improvements, and hands-on training and development programs. Mr. Reitknecht has held many customer-facing positions throughout his career, working at the AvalonBay Communities; Town Sports International; Costco Wholesale, Inc.; and Dolce Hotels & Resorts, among other companies.

 

His promise to help clients by driving their internal teams to go beyond today's expected level of service to create a “wow experience” is driven by his passion for professional development. He has completed The Ritz-Carlton Executive Education Series and several performance and operational excellence leadership courses throughout his career to further maximize operations and profits. He is currently a board member of the National Diversity Council, and has been awarded several accolades that honor hospitality leaders who exemplify legendary customer service. Most recently, he led a series of customer experience training seminars across Southern CT.

 

My goal is simple: paint the picture for customer service excellence, find the right strokes, colors and canvas, and design a customer service masterpiece. In painting the picture for employees, my clients have a better understanding of their unique functions and what is expected of them to ignite and deliver legendary service excellence. 

Please visit http://www.robertreitknecht.com for more information.

Mr. Reitknecht can be contacted at 203-894-9412 or robert@robertreitknecht.com

Coming up in January 2019...

Mobile Technology: The Future is Now

Mobile Technology continues to advance at a relentless pace and the hotel industry continues to adapt. Hotel guests have shown a strong preference for mobile self-service - from checking-in/out at a hotel kiosk, to ordering room service, making dinner reservations, booking spa treatments, and managing laundry/dry cleaning services. And they also enjoy the convenience of paying for these services with smart phone mobile payments. In addition, some hotels have adopted a “concierge in your pocket” concept. Through a proprietary hotel app, guests can access useful information such as local entertainment venues, tourist attractions, event calendars, and medical facilities and services. In-room entertainment continues to be a key factor, as guests insist on the capacity to plug in their own mobile devices to customize their entertainment choices. Mobile technology also allows for greater marketing opportunities. For example, many hotels have adopted the use of “push notifications” - sending promotions, discounts and special event messages to guests based on their property location, purchase history, profiles, etc. Near field communication (NFC) technology is also being utilized to support applications such as opening room doors, earning loyalty points, renting a bike, accessing a rental car, and more. Finally, some hotels have adopted more futuristic technology. Robots are in use that have the ability to move between floors to deliver room service requests for all kinds of items - food, beverages, towels, toothbrushes, chargers and snacks. And infrared scanners are being used by housekeeping staff that can detect body heat within a room, alerting staff that the room is occupied and they should come back at a later time. The January Hotel Business Review will report on what some hotels are doing to maximize their opportunities in this exciting mobile technology space.

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