In today’s electronic world, there are so many missed hospitality opportunities when I stay in your hotel.   I can completely avoid the front desk by checking in online.  When you send a text to welcome me, I can respond by text and even request extra towels if needed by text or app.  I can easily avoid the front desk and I might not even stop by during my stay.  Another easy day for both of us.  That’s just how things go now.

In the vast world of the hotel industry are loyalty programs as important today as they used to be?

I have been familiar with Signature Worldwide for the past 23 years – 4 as a Hospitality Client and 19 as a Training Account Manager for the company.

On-site training, virtual classrooms, instructor-led or self-paced training programs are all effective ways to achieve your training goals.  Combine these proven behavioral change and development options with three important metrics…accountability, measurability, and reinforce-ability and you have created a great plan for training success.

In years past you called a hotel and, unless you were a savvy traveler and knew to ask for specific rooms or amenities upfront, you got what you got. Today, technology has made it a lot easier to reserve rooms and see exactly what amenities are available before you even get to the hotel. Making reservations, checking in and requesting service is as easy as opening an app.

Sometimes I’m embarrassed to admit this; I’m a NCIS fan. I never used to be. I’m not even sure how it happened. I don’t even particularly like the lead actor, Mark Harmon.  Somehow, I still got hooked a few years back. I always try to catch the current season’s offerings, along with all the reruns, all the time, no matter how many times the episode’s been on. 

Which leads me to talking about Gibbs. Not about Mark Harmon.

It’s official: I’ve been named the Duke of (Hot)Dog.

I do not know about you, but I feel disrespected every time someone tries to manipulate me into buying what they are selling. I've always been intrigued by how professionals and companies that use this kind of approach do not realize they are destroying their reputation and reliability in exchange for results in the short term. Especially for me, who works with human development, these sales approaches have always disassociated from what I believe to be the building of healthy and productive relationships.

“Customer Service Representatives need to be knowledgeable, courteous and pleasant when dealing with the Customer. So, stop focusing on technology only; in 2018 your Front Line Customer Service People will make the difference!”

- Nancy Friedman, President of Telephone Doctor Services

“Customer loyalty is STILL about the humans. Despite all the new industry buzzwords and CRM technology, in the end, customer relations in 2018 will depend, as it always does, on the Customer Service Representative.”