Kennedy Webcast – Customer Hospitality Is Bigger than Guest Service

In the lodging industry, we tend to think of our customers as “guests,” reflecting a concept that many of us were mentored on long ago which is “Treat our guests as you would those visiting your own home.” However, customer hospitality is a philosophical concept that should be foundational to your entire company culture, reaching far beyond interactions with guests. In this webcast, Doug inspires a more holistic approach to nurturing and sharing the hospitality vibe with everyone we encounter.

• Understanding the differences between “hospitality” and “guest service.”
• You can mandate guest service scripting, but a culture of hospitality must be organically grown and delivered from the heart.
• Strong hospitality cultures are deeply rooted in the etiquette by which colleagues treat one another and are re-ignited at the employee entrance.
• In the lodging industry, many “customers” are not actually guests. They are travel agents, meeting and event planners, and literally anyone who enters the building and interacts with staff.
• On the vacation rental side, owners are arguably the most important customers.
• In all companies, vendor partners and colleagues from other departments are in a way also customers too.
• Customer hospitality experiences are your hotel’s best marketing tool, especially as AI powered searches rely on reviews and not key-word stuffing.
• Building on the foundation of customer hospitality is good for business, but also strongly impacts staff satisfaction and retention from being part of a team that truly values kindness and generosity.