Guest Loyalty Is Not Dead – It’s Just Really Boring
Ellis Connolly | May 19, 2022
Nomadix Appoints Mike Womack VP of Partner Sales, the Americas
Nomadix | May 17, 2022
Guest Experience
Beachy Builds Executive Team With Appointment of Third Hospitality Industry Veteran
Beachy | February 24, 2022
Resort technology solution provider accelerates 2022 growth initiatives with addition of three highly respected hospitality industry professionals. Miramar Beach, FL – February 24, 2022 – Beachy, a leading provider of cloud-based hospitality solutions purpose-built for outdoor use, today announced the appointment of Beth McClure to senior vice president of marketing. The third addition to the Beachy executive leadership team in recent months, Ms. McClure joins Tim Hansen who was named senior vice president of business development earlier this year, and Michael Hinojosa who has been leading strategic product direction as vice president o...
INTELITY Partners With Paramount Hotels to Offer Guests Complete Mobile Experience
INTELITY | February 23, 2022
Boutique hotel collection transforms digital guest experience across three properties Los Angeles, CA — February 23, 2022 — INTELITY®, the provider of hospitality’s broadest guest experience and staff management platform, announced today a new partnership with Paramount Hotels. This collaboration will see the INTELITY platform implemented across three properties including Paramount Hotel Seattle, Paramount Hotel Portland, and Maui Coast Hotel. Each property will be outfitted with guest-facing features including a branded app, mobile check-in, mobile key, smart-room tablets and GEMS®, INTELITY’s staff-facing suite of tool...
Make Your Customer Smarter: Create an Educational Experience
Shep Hyken | February 17, 2022
By Shep Hyken It’s natural that you would gravitate toward a person you perceived as an expert. When someone demonstrates a level of expertise and shares information you didn’t know, you tend to trust them. That expertise creates confidence. For example, when you go to Best Buy and are looking for a new TV, you’ll find there are so many to choose from. Even when they have them all hanging on a wall, turned on so you can compare the quality of the pictures, it’s still confusing as to why one would be so much more expensive than another. They are the same size, and many have similar great pictures. So which TV should you buy?...
A Restaurant That Offers Car Washes on the Menu
Shep Hyken | February 3, 2022
By Shep Hyken I recently wrote an article about the little surprises that companies – and people – sometimes give us when we do business with them. We received some great feedback, and it got me thinking of other ways to surprise our customers. That’s what this follow-up is about. I’m often surprised at how companies find ways to improve a customer experience with something that has nothing to do with what they sell. It’s best illustrated with an example. I pulled into a restaurant parking lot where there were several valets waiting to park our car. The gentleman opening my door greeted me and then asked, “While you’re ...
Verdant Thermostats Deliver Seamless Compatibility With LG VRF Systems
Verdant Environmental Technologies | February 1, 2022
Montreal, Quebec – Verdant is proud to announce a new collaboration with LG Electronics, U.S.A.’s Air Conditioning Technologies that allows for seamless integration of Verdant’s energy management thermostats with the LG Multi V™ VRF series product line available in the United States. Whereas some other HVAC controls rely on costly third-party adaptors to achieve such integrations, the collaboration between Verdant and LG ensures a native integration using LG’s VRF InDoor Unit protocol, preserving the full benefits of thermostat and VRF system alike. “We estimate that over 25 percent of new construction projects in our core m...
Mills James’ Secret to Meeting and Event Success Is Service
MILLS JAMES | January 25, 2022
Exceptional pre-production sales and service is enabling this boutique hospitality AV group — named ‘Best AV Provider’ in Ohio — to bring revenue-generating differentiation to hotels COLUMBUS, OHIO — January 25, 2022 — Award-winning hospitality audiovisual services provider Mills James attributes its ongoing success and growth to one thing: SERVICE. Recently named Best Audiovisual Provider by Ohio Business Magazine, Mills James helps corporations and nonprofits connect with their audiences through relationship building and event objective deep dives. With offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Boston, ...
Five Lessons on How to Personalize the Customer Experience
Shep Hyken | January 6, 2022
By Shep Hyken I love to receive great examples of outstanding customer service. I’m always on the lookout for great stories, whether I personally experience them, or they are sent in by our followers. What I share with you today is a great example of personalized and proactive communication. While I provide the lessons, the example comes from one of our subscribers, Dawn Mushill, who shared a letter that BarkBox wrote to one of its customers. BarkBox caters to dog owners and lovers and is a subscription business that sends a box of dog toys and treats to dogs – actually to the dog owners – every month. Recently, some severe torna...
How Much Do You Trust Your Customers?
Shep Hyken | January 3, 2022
By Shep Hyken One of our loyal subscribers, Darrell Grant, The CXO at Hightower Wealth Advisors, shared a great story that provides an excellent customer experience learning opportunity. Darrell stopped by a local bakery to pick up some treats for a client. There was a longer than usual line, and some of the customers were becoming frustrated. Apparently, the internet was down so they couldn’t ring up sales. The staff was struggling. The customers were frustrated. That’s when a staff member asked the customers to please be patient, and they excused themselves for about two minutes, stepping away to discuss the problem....
Lodging Interactive Launches CoMMingle-PLUS Premium Customer Engagement Service
Lodging Interactive | January 3, 2022
Lodging Interactive, award-winning digital marketing, and social media engagement agency exclusively serving the hospitality industry, today announced the launch of its CoMMingle-PLUS customer engagement service for resorts and luxury hotels. CoMMingle-PLUS provides properties with the highest level of guest engagement services 7 days a week with social media marketing, direct social media messaging responses with property escalations, and customized guest review responses for all OTA sites and Google Business. “CoMMingle-PLUS is like having your own in-house social media marketing and guest review response departments with all the ...
How Hoteliers Are Tapping Into Technology to Bolster Ancillary Revenue and Boosting Customer Satisfaction
Shawn Tarter | December 16, 2021
By Shawn Tartar Hoteliers worldwide are embracing a significant return of leisure travel through the end of the year while anticipating a massive spike during winter holiday periods. Many are turning to technology to drive revenue while providing a personalized experience to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The trend towards technological innovation began before COVID-19 but is increasing in acceptance, as hoteliers and customers understand the critical role of technology in managing their stay. There’s little question that hoteliers are reviewing, updating, and embracing traditional customer-facing services thanks ...
Customer Experience Transformation: How to Get the Essentials Right First
Dr. Alessandro Inversini | December 13, 2021
By Dr. Alessandro Inversini If we believe that the customer experience is the future of business, then understanding how your customers perceive their interactions with your company is a vital key to success. Getting essential customer experience right in every touchpoints can lead to more meaningful and transformative moments during the customer journey. What exactly is Customer Experience? Customer Experience is a multifaced concept which can be understood as the cumulative cognitive, affective, sensorial and behavioral impact of multiple touchpoints interactions between an organization and a specific customer. In other words, cus...
Here’s a New Word: Skimpflation
Shep Hyken | December 9, 2021
By Shep Hyken The other day my friend asked me, “Is mediocrity the new customer experience?” He mentioned how he’s had to wait longer when he called customer support and that there weren’t enough cashiers at the grocery store. I said, “You are a victim of skimpflation.” The word skimpflation was introduced recently on NPR’s Planet Money podcast. I’ve already written several articles about this ugly word, and I thought it was time to introduce it here. Skimpflation is a result of rising business costs and the labor shortage caused by what we’ve been calling The Great Resignation, in which employ...
Adding a Guest Experience Management Mobile App Is Aiding the Labor Crisis
Thomas Zarikian | December 8, 2021
5 ways a task-oriented mobile app can help hotels attract and retain talent while improving operations, driving revenues, and ensuring positive online reviews By Thomas Zarikian In today’s world there is an app for almost anything, and one can’t deny that apps have greatly simplified our lives. Just think of how many apps you’ve used today! Some you may even deem essential to your daily professional life. Yet, for some reason, it seems the hotel industry has fallen behind in adopting the technology and leveraging the increased productivity that apps bring. Contrast that with the airline industry, which is at the forefront of technol...
Zoox Smart Data Unveils Advanced Facial Recognition Capabilities With Launch of Zoox Pass
Zoox Smart Data | December 7, 2021
Industry-leading provider of guest profile technology engineers ultimate combination of big data and guest identification technology. Alpharetta, GA — December 7, 2021 —Zoox Smart Data (“Zoox”), an international provider of technological solutions that harness big data to build customer profiles from existing Wi-Fi networks, has today announced the launch of Zoox Pass, hospitality’s latest advancement in the field of facial recognition technology. A cloud-based service that seamlessly integrates with Zoox’s big data profile technology, Zoox Pass instant facial recognition is set to provide industry professionals with the enhance...
Renovating Your Hotel? Don’t Overlook Baby Boomers
Cicero Construction Group | November 8, 2021
PLAINFIELD, IL – November 8, 2021 – While Millennials have received the bulk of the travel industry's attention of late, the baby boomer generation still represents a wealthy niche for hotels to pursue. On average, this generation takes up to five trips and spends over $6,600 annually on travel, making it a market segment that the hotel industry ignores at its own peril. Born between 1946 and 1964, the so-called "boomers" spent a whopping $157 billion on travel in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Besides their spending power, boomers have also proven to be highly loyal to hotel brands that meet their needs, taking advantage of loyalty ...
When Your Customer Experience Hits a “Bump in the Road”
Shep Hyken | November 3, 2021
By Shep Hyken One of our faithful subscribers sent in a question. While he’s in the hospitality industry, this could apply to any type of business. There have most likely been times that many of us have fallen short in taking care of our customers. It could be an isolated incident, which is easy to fix. But what happens when it becomes a trend? With that in mind, here’s his question, followed by my answer and comments. He writes: I would love to get some service-related feedback. My hotels have struggled this year with our service scores. In years past both of my locations were consistently in the top 30% of brands. This ...
Tripadvisor Content Moderation Transparency Report Reveals New Data in Fight Against Fake Reviews
TripAdvisor | October 27, 2021
2021 Review Transparency Report analyzes a full year of traveler contributions — over 26 million reviews — to examine how review trends shifted during the pandemic A total of 3.6% of all review submissions in 2020 were identified as fake – Tripadvisor’s robust platform protections ensured the vast majority never made it onto the platform In-depth report findings coincide with launch of new Trust and Safety information center on Tripadvisor NEEDHAM, Mass. - Tripadvisor, the travel platform trusted by hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide for its traveler reviews, has today published its 2021 Review Transparency Rep...
Silverware POS Improving the Guest and Employee Experience for Dallas-Based Makeready Hotel and Restaurant Brands
Silverware | October 26, 2021
Hotel and restaurant operator seeing a rise in employee and guest satisfaction as Silverware POS is easy to use and drives consistency across all hotel restaurants Markham, Ontario — October 26, 2021 — For hotel and restaurant operator Makeready Experience, creating unique local concepts for travelers and satisfying work environments for employees across their multi-property portfolio is key to brand success. Recently, the company began standardizing the point-of-sale systems at its hotels’ restaurants with Silverware. Today the Alida Hotel in Savannah, Ga., (Rhett restaurant, Trade Room bar, and Lost Square rooftop), Emeline Hotel in ...
Six Crazy Wellness Ideas for the Decade Ahead
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | October 20, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky While everyone is still looking to mitigate the ongoing staffing shortages, it’s also important to ponder what’s possible in the years (or decades) to come and to ask the question, “What if?” After all, if you don’t think about what the future can hold for your hotel, then the market will choose for you, and the result may not be in the favor. As the ‘wellness’ industry recovers from the pandemic, it’s simultaneously branching out into new niches by incorporating new trends or technologies to maintain branding moats and offer more lucrative services. The world is only going to get crazier, so...
How Digital Transformation Is Facilitating Servitization in the Hospitality Industry
EHL | October 19, 2021
Today, guests expect to be provided with a consumer-centric hotel experience from the word go, including when they are choosing a destination. They also want new experiences, faster customer service, the utmost comfort, ... and the list continues to grow. So, how can hotel operators meet these needs? An industry that is ready As various new technologies crop up and market disruptors get to their climax, businesses across various industries are faced with the need for a major overhaul. The hospitality industry is no exception. In 2020, the global hospitality market hit the $3486.77 billion mark and is forecasted to grow to $4132.5 ...
The Cadence Hotel Selects BeyondTV for Advanced Guestroom Entertainment and Future-Proof Guest Service Compatibility
Hotel Internet Services, Inc. | October 19, 2021
Newly opened luxury hotel provides instant access to personal streamed content while leveraging BeyondTV’s comprehensive service design to deploy additional experience-enhancing capabilities. NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y — October 19, 2021 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has announced the adoption of its BeyondTV content streaming and guest services solution by The Cadence hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. A recently opened boutique luxury property within walking distance of the Niagara Falls State Park, The Cadence’s implementation of BeyondTV ser...
Sense of Arrival Back at the Forefront
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | October 13, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky A keyword to keep in mind in this post-coronavirus era of travel is ‘friction’. While vaccine statuses will soon become ubiquitously digitized via uploads to a mobile wallet or shared amongst governmental databases referenced at each passport swipe, it’s the COVID-19 tests that present far greater an obstacle, in turn broadly impeding the hotel industry from reattaining 2019 occupancy figures. Until such time as antigen or rapid PCR tests are no longer required, getting across international borders is a steep burden in both the time taken to arrange the test prior to departure and the cost of the test ...
Wellness Travel Association’s 2021 Wellness Travel Survey Reveals Future Booking Motivations
Wellness Tourism Association | October 6, 2021
Denver, CO – October 6, 2021 – Just under 2,500 consumers from 52 countries and territories took part in the Wellness Tourism Association’s (WTA) 2021 Wellness Travel Consumer Survey to help the hospitality industry, tour operators and travel agents/advisors have a clearer understanding of wellness-minded consumers’ priorities as they begin planning their post-pandemic travels. This latest survey from the WTA was designed to reveal what assets, amenities, activities, and other offerings are “extremely important” to key consumers as they plan their future wellness travels, what is “not important at all,” and what might influenc...
The Culture Challenge
Shep Hyken | September 29, 2021
By Shep Hyken Culture is one of the most important parts of customer service and customer experience. I’ve written numerous articles about this and have included a chapter on this topic in my latest book, I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again, which by the way, is finally out. (Shameless plug: Get it today!) It’s always been my philosophy that customer service is not a department. It’s a philosophy to be embraced by everyone in an organization. It’s part of the company’s culture. In the past, I covered six steps to creating a customer-centric culture. These are still the right steps. B...
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