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Customer service is one of the most personal experiences in all of hospitality and is, at times, difficult to measure. It can often be the deciding factor in a hotel or restaurant customer's satisfaction and intent to return.

The Four-Step Approach used in all assignments is detailed in the Overview of Hospitality Consulting and includes discussion of perceived problems with the client, a detailed SWOT analysis, identification of strengths and recommendations for addressing the challenges..

Hotel related business Case Study - This was an ongoing assignment for the management office of a major outlet mall located near a huge convention center hotel and area attractions. The retail stores included national and local outlets and the goal was to encourage all stores to focus on hospitality and service as a point of distinction in the competition between the outlet mall and other area shopping centers.

I was retained over a three year period to create and monitor this project, based on my success with the Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) hospitality training programs I managed for them.

Initial and subsequent discussions with the mall management executives revealed that many of the retail staff had little service training and knew little about the surrounding area attractions and hotels. I conducted a mystery shopping exercise of a sampling of the mall stores to gather first hand knowledge.
The SWOT analysis identified the need to integrate hospitality style training as a point of shopping difference in order for this mall to gain traffic and customers from the convention center hotel.
Strengths included: a willingness on the part of the retail store managers and staff to participate in a new style hospitality training program designed to help improve traffic and service levels, as well as increased awareness of area hotels and attractions.
Recommendations included: establishing regular mystery shopping for all stores, free monthly hospitality training for any employee of any store, quarterly mall-management sponsored meetings to share success stories and honor those who excelled.

Results: Over the three year period, we advised the store management of the goals for the program, trained mystery shoppers, gathered and shard quarterly reports with the store owners and evolved the program each year to include new components. Those stores who excelled were honored with recognition, incentives and even rent discounts on reaching certain levels. The mall management considered this a major success and expanded it to other locations in their system.

An article on this subject matter and related topics are found on this site under Articles, with even more at www.hospitalityeducators.com.

If you are interested in having me work with you in a similar for related situation, please contact me for a no-cost discussion at info@hoganhospitality.com. or call 602-799-5375

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