Market Metrix Selected to Measure Feedback and Enhance Guest Loyalty for Kimpton
Kimmpton is North America's Largest North American Boutique Hotel Company and Industry Trend-set
Market Metrix's Groundbreaking Emotions Research Key to Kimpton Decision
SAN RAFAEL, CA, September 24, 2008. Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of customer and employee feedback and performance tools for the hospitality and travel industry, announced today that leading boutique brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, has chosen the company's real-time customer satisfaction survey system. Especially important to Kimpton is Market Metrix's breakthrough research on Loyalty EmotionsTM, which tracks how a guest's emotional connection to a hotel translates into loyal behavior, including how specific emotions impact willingness to "return and recommend."
"As the leader in the fast-growing boutique/lifestyle hotel segment, Kimpton looked carefully at several companies to help us measure and use guest feedback. We didn't want just a vendor to set up surveys, we wanted the experts - a company and people with experience and knowledge to help us drive guest loyalty through satisfaction and emotional connectedness," said Natalie White, Vice President of Customer Marketing and Relationships for Kimpton. "We are pleased to be working with Market Metrix, a company with industry focus and thought leadership that can deliver on all these fronts."
The companies started partnering in 2005, when Kimpton retained Market Metrix to help increase employee engagement. "Kimpton believes employee satisfaction is the lynchpin of delivering not only exemplary service, but also customer care and comfort," said White. "Market Metrix has helped us do a better job of engaging our employees and that track record led us to choose the company as our customer feedback partner." Kimpton plans to maximize use of Market Metrix for both products - Customer MetrixTM and Employee MetrixTM -- as a way of leveraging the relationship between an engaged workforce and customer satisfaction.
"As we've been doing on the employee side for several years, Market Metrix will arm Kimpton executives with the intelligence and tools to make decisions that will increase guest loyalty and translate into immediate and measurable improvements in performance and profitability," said Market Metrix CEO Robert Honeycutt. "We have seen that a five percent increase in customer loyalty yields a 20 to 80 percent increase in profit. Especially in a recessionary climate, more than ever, premier hospitality companies like Kimpton are increasing efforts to cultivate and maintain loyal customers as a means to not just survive the downturn, but emerge with even more market share."
Trend-Setting Loyalty Program
Kimpton's brand promise includes personalized care and comfort, as well as a distinct personality at each property that includes a unique location, history and architectural style. The company takes pride in its special lifestyle programs that include in-room spa treatments, pet-friendly programs and services for the unique travel needs of women.
"We want to add value to our loyalty program, which is different from most - it's not about points, but about personalization, surprise and delights," said White. "Every hotel provides service, but at Kimpton we provide care. With intelligence we gain from Market Metrix's products and services, we will take that care to the next level, creating emotional connections and personal experiences that guests won't get anywhere else."
Top MMHI Award Winner
Kimpton also selected Market Metrix for the company's benchmarking database, known as MMHI, the largest, most in-depth performance comparison of hospitality brands, including upscale and luxury segmentation. Because the MMHI contains data on more than 80 categories, Kimpton can analyze results by specific topic including demographics like women, for example, to make decisions about the company's program for female travelers. According to recent MMHI results, Kimpton Hotels posted the highest customer satisfaction score (92.3) among all hotels in the industry, outscoring the higher priced luxury hotel chains.
About Customer MetrixTM
The flexible platform of Customer Metrix melds to the various service offerings of the upscale, boutique hotel, enabling real-time feedback from across the operation. The intuitive reporting interface makes it simple for users to monitor results and isolate problem areas. Customer Metrix allows for real-time recovery of service errors by delivering instant electronic alerts, making it easy and seamless for managers to ensure problems get resolved and not forgotten. Feedback is categorized in a granular, detailed way to facilitate analysis and decision-making for performance and profit improvement.
About Kimpton
San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is the first and leading collection of boutique hotels, throughout the United States and Canada. Founded in 1981 by Bill Kimpton, every Kimpton hotel features personalized guest services, comforting in-room amenities, specialty rooms and suites, and provides a range of exciting culinary experiences through affiliated top-rated destination chef-driven restaurants. Kimpton takes pride in its commitment to social responsibility and leads the hospitality industry in ecological practices through its innovative EarthCare programs. Privately held, Kimpton received the highest ranking in customer satisfaction scores by the Market Metrix Hospitality Index for the entire year of 2007, exceeding all other hotel companies, including those in both the luxury and upscale segment. Among the company's newest properties are the Hotel Monaco Alexandria and Jackson 20 restaurant in Virginia, which opened in January 2008, and the Hotel Palomar Los Angeles in Westwood and the adjacent BLVD 16 restaurant. Additional projects are underway in Florida, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago and Virginia. For more information, please visit www.KimptonHotels.com or call 1-800-KIMPTON.
About Market Metrix
Market Metrix helps hospitality companies around the world foster loyal customers and engaged employees. Based on award-winning research and breakthrough concepts, our products deliver instant survey results, analysis and management tools for increasing revenue and reducing staff turnover. Our benchmarking database, MMHI, is the most comprehensive, independent comparison of consumer brand satisfaction in the industry. Our annual MMHI Awards are coveted by lodging and travel enterprises around the world. With clients that include more than 120 brands across 70 countries, Market Metrix has been helping leading hospitality companies turn feedback into performance since 1996. For more information, visit www.marketmetrix.com.
Contact:
Kristin Nash
Market Metrix
415-302-7951
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
