Playing offense to delight your guests

Plus: The Instagram concierge in Mexico

November 14, 2021

Today, you’ll find:

  • Why providing a complaint-free experience isn’t enough

  • The Instagram concierge in Mexico

  • What’s great about working in hospitality

Fill the pits, then build peaks.

That’s what customer experience experts Chip and Dan Heath argue for in The Power of Moments - a book I enjoyed reading this weekend.

Great experiences start with “filling the pits” - taking care of the basics:

Providing reasonably good accommodation is table stakes. But exceptional hospitality experiences aren’t just the result of removing complaints.

The authors continue with the example of the Magic Castle Hotel in LA - a hotel gets glowing reviews online because of how they “play offense” to delight their guests.

They nail the moments that stay with you.

The moments that make your jaw drop.

I love that.

Are you working towards a complaint-free stay for your guests - or an extraordinary one?

The Instagram concierge

At first glance, this ABC story of a W hotel in Mexico with a new “Instagram concierge” to help guests with their selfie game sounds like a PR ploy.

But maybe there’s a bigger opportunity here.

“Personalization is not just a travel trend; hotel guests want to experience unique moments, tailor-made for their vacation. Having highly specialized staff that is able to cater to the most extravagant aspects of their travel will definitely create added value for the guests. We will see in the long run whether the demand actually meets all these particular offerings.” - Emanuel Schreiner, RVS Hotel Consulting.

Even a Hyatt in Portland is starting to do this. Beginning this month they are offering a “concierge of weird” to help guests find unique and little-hyped tours and experiences.

“What makes Portland so great is that it's the weird, off-the-beaten-path destinations and characters that make the city so beloved. We both wanted a way to highlight these quirky entities, which don’t always rise to the top of Yelp, yet are so crucial to the liveliness and the effectiveness of tourism in our city.” - Jamie McKinney, Hyatt Regency Portland

Hoteliers on why they love working in hospitality

Finally, a video from HOSPA on what’s great about working in this industry:

What about you? I’d love to hear your answer - tag us @Hospitality365 on Twitter or here on LinkedIn and we might feature you in an upcoming issue.