Whether it’s in Hangzhou, Cabo San Lucas, or Atlanta, the best hotels in the world consistently deliver exceptional service every day.
Leaders in the luxury hotel sector view service quality as a competitive advantage. They set their sights on replicating the most personalized and premier service every day for their guests. And the top hotel brands often succeed in spectacular fashion.
So what’s their secret and how can other leaders learn from it?
Luxury service providers who cater to highly demanding clientele understand that selecting the right employees is a critical part of the formula. Finding people who genuinely want to please others and enjoy putting a smile on their faces is the first step.
Once on board, getting these colleagues to appreciate how each and every person must do their part in delivering the highest level of service is the next ingredient to team success. Naturally, giving these colleagues the training and resources to do their best work allows them to delight customers.
But the real secret to their success is not in the selection, training, or empowerment of their people. Unknown to most outside the industry, the top hotel brands treat employees with a unique brand of recognition, empathy, and respect. In almost every luxury hotel brand those that deliver the service get to experience the same treatment the guests do. After they prove themselves over time, employees at all levels get to stay at any property owned by the brand, free of charge. In fact, they are often required to do so!
Service providers who experience the same service they give to others connect the dots in a different way. The vision, goals, and details of the enterprise come into sharp focus. This encourages their best work.
By rewarding employees with the same quality service at another property, these brands create a pride of service that is unmatched in almost every other segment of the service industry. When employees are also customers, they deliver unequaled service.
Allowing colleagues to experience and see the world as a customer or client is something many enterprises could do. Given the power of this perspective, perhaps more leaders should consider their own version of this strategy. The benefits might be luxurious.
