As a small business owner I had no idea what I knew or should I say I didn’t know until I had the opportunity to compare my self learned knowledge with others in the digital marketing arena.    For me, small business meant creating my own website, logo and taking care of the marketing tasks.  It also meant I was always shopping for the right CRM that would allow the perfect mix.

In comes 2010 and with it, the reality that not only was social media here to stay but that it was going to become your number one marketing tool.  Word of mouth, nothing compares and nothing ever will.

The irony is, most companies including small business have not changed where dollars are going and are still hung up (yes, hung up) on traditional print/flyer and for those that are larger T.V and Radio.  Running to catch up, that is exactly what those who aren’t taking social media seriously will now be faced with.

Just as difficult are those that are utilizing the channels in a ineffective way.  Social Media is not a online banner where you post repeatively about your services or products.  Online Social Media is to share, often that means sharing your expertise or product knowledge without expectation.  Remember building relationships?  For those that are with my training and development company, I had two fundemental principals.  Service your client, engage them and sales will come,  take time to build the relationship.  That has never been more important.

Incorporate social media, and you will spend less on advertising, especially traditional media.  Word of Mouth.  If you don’t know where to start, start small, here are some pointers.

Do a S.W.O.T.  Ah, yes now that is old school but the fundemental principles still apply.

1. Run down a basic 101 list to first gauge where you are in comparison to other similar companies (you want to be ahead, not running to catch up!).

Start with basic questions.

Are you blogging and if so are you consistant?

Have you continued to update and enhance your website?  Quality over content!

Do you have social media sharing tools and if so, are they pointing to active profiles?

Are you actively posting and talking to your customer?

Many make the mistake of creating fanbook pages or twitter accounts and simply ‘talking to themselves’.  They post a promotion or worse an automated marketing sentence and then abondon ship.  IF anyone does answer, no one responds, no one engages.  A sure fire way to defeat your efforts, quickly and effectively I may add!

Once you have an idea of what you are doing, and perhaps needs to improve on you can then lay out a plan that details how you can correct/improve and also how to move forward.

2. Ensure you have an updated website.  This means taking a look at your content, and more often than not streamlining.  Give it a facelift if need be.  It is your client or customers first perception of you, it is worth the investment.

3. Create your social profiles.  While some suggest creating them all over the place – I suggest you create those that you will use.  While its great to have 40+ social sites, don’t bite off more than you can chew.  Get the basics as they themselves take time and nurturing to grow.

4. Don’t hide behind fake alias or try to trick people into following you.  I know many suggest to keep your personal life behind an alias but I prefer to see the real person and suggest my clients stay real.  I am not perfect, far from it and occassionally tweet about personal life… the thing is, that is life.  Try to keep it real, professional but human.

5. Don’t go overboard by following hundreds or thousands. Start small with current clients or business associates/interests and build slowly.  I usually suggest you follow no more than 25 and as people follow you, you increase that.

6. Create a solid brand image and follow it through your site, your blog and your facebook/twitter profiles.

7. It’s not all about you.  Social media is for social interaction and not a billboard for your services.  That doesn’t mean you don’t post promotions or news but less is more.  Ensure you are talking with others, and providing valuable information via other networks or your own expertise in the form of a blog or link.

8.  Engage.  39% of business see sales from social media engagement BUT that does not happen over night.  Focus less on sales (sorry but it’s true) and more on the service you provide and the relationships you are building.  The dollars will come.

9. Monitor your online presence.  Ensure you know what those are saying about your business and your services.  In the next blog, I’ll review how to easily monitor your online reputation without spending hours a day.

I was watching the hockey game the other night and a Telus commercial came on. I am the first to admit, their animal campaign was brilliant and gets my attention every time. However the first thought in my mind was ‘Great ad, to bad they don’t care more about their client, they wouldn’t have to spend so much to sell their product’. This isn’t a blog to bash Telus, but that was a true thought and it started the ball rolling to really find out if advertising is as valuable as the dollar’s spent each and every year.

I am going to show my age here and say 20 years ago, an ad was all we had. If it caught our attention or was cool, we were sold. It was a time when loyal guests and clients remained loyal simply from lack of knowledge. You had a service, the client found you and as long as all went well – they would stay. Today, it is an entirely different game. Don’t live up to that ad, or the hype and you may see short-term success and if you are really lucky you’ll have little competition who places the same priorities on service that you do and you may even live a little longer. Mobility companies do again come to mind. More than one friend has commented on how they are ‘all the same, and it is a matter of which devil you want to sleep with.

I remember (again showing my age!) when the merge of Air Canada and Canadian Pacific occurred, many sighed and were not overly excited as AC had already made a lackluster service name for themselves. Meet Westjet. I still remember people talking about how they would go to the waistside as well, service wasn’t designed for airlines, airlines were a means to an end, nothing more and most had the opinion they would never manage or succeed based on a service platform in an arena that had never been able to do it before. Look at them today. They thought out of the box and they put service and their team first. It was a first in their industry, but they created a company together and employee’s knew it and so did their client. Their clients respected that and embraced it. In turn they reaped the benefits of loyalty and success in an arena that many said could not be achieved.

Here are some interesting facts regarding top social media conversations regarding companies.

46% of all product/service reviewers write about the employee(s)/team member(s).

32% write about the service given by said employee/team member.

Dig a little deeper :

Research from text analytics service and customer experience solutions provider Attensity showed that, while social media conversations about banks, airlines and hotels were often topically oriented around something specific to the industry, the most common type of conversation for each industry was about customer service.

For the banking industry, customer service-related messages accounted for 41% of the total studied, followed by discussions of fees and rates, at 31%. Wait times at the bank—perhaps also a customer service issue—made up another 9% of conversation topics.

Among social conversations about airline brands, customer service was overwhelmingly the main topic, at 65%.

For other travel-industry brands, like hotels, social media discussions about customer service were less prominent (30%), but Attensity’s analysis of communications included more categories overall.

Given all these numbers, knowing all we do it is very clear (at least to me). Your employee is your biggest advertising investment. Hands down. Which brings me to my biggest challenge and one that I will continue to discuss in the next post. In the meantime, let me leave you with this question;

Why is it that average marketing and advertising spending accounts for 5-8% of gross budgetary spending while average training and development spending accounts for less than 1% annually?

Join us on January 17th for a special executive webinar – leveraging social media and training in 2011. An email with the meeting invitation will be sent to you.

AG Custom hospitality is a training and development company offering service training, consulting and quality assurance in both traditional and social media avenues. Experience the difference our passion and commitment to your team makes both with the team and with your bottom line.

www.agcustomhospitality.com

I had a daunting decision to make and many questions had to be answer.  Did I continue to deliver the training programs I had in the past, and if so did I still have the passion for it?  What if anything had changed in the year I had been personally out of the loop, would that in fact change how we delivered our programs?  Where did/do we go in 2012? How do I continue to grow and use the experiences to better my vision of AG and Service Connection?

The biggest question for me was the passion.  As a woman who has self taught and created something from the ground up, the biggest and most personal question was ‘did I have the same drive, passion and desire that I had the day I decided to create AG?

Often we want answers immediately, we are a generation of ‘now’ and it was frustrating for me to have no real answer in the fall of 2011.  My belief in development and nuturing had never changed but I need to be able to confidentally move forward.   As is life, the personal experience had rocked me in the spring, while the professional experience in the fall complete the cycle.  Thankfully, the result of that ensured me (my biggest critic) that I could and will continue to deliver the best training and development programs out there.

There was relief and peace and with that I knew I had made the right decision.

So, what is ahead for Service Connection in 2012?  We have been blessed by clients who love our work, who know the difference we make and I am thankful for each and every one of them.  We have a fresh new look, and are rolling out various programs including expanding on our previous executive training and offering a complete quality assurance program that will include the monitoring of all social challenges for our clients.

I will continue to write and develope all programs and select team members will deliver additional services.

The bottom line.  We (I) had a pivotal year and while I questioned where that would take me, the truth was it occurred to reinforce my direction.

We will continue to deliver the best training and development programs out there and we will remain committed to service companies that truly want to stand out from their competitors.

Looking forward to 2012.

Angelique

Exceeding your guests expectations is not easy, and you have to continuously communicate with your team and customers to be successful.  As hotels and attractions realize the importance of building personal relationships and retaining guests, the service bar is continuously being raised.
At the end of the day it is those that learn to look around and adjust their strategies that succeed!

The competition

Look around at your competitors and determine what areas cannot be compromised within the current competitive market. What areas are viewed by guests as implied expectations because of your hotel rating? Which areas can you capitalize to differentiate yourself from your competitors and raise the bar?

Be the one creating change NOT reacting to it!

Openly Accept Feedback

Take the responsibility to welcome feedback of any sort, and respond to it quickly. If someone takes the time to compliment your hotel, thank them immediately. That’s all you have to do. If a hotel guest complains, allow them to express themselves openly, but don’t send them back a generic response. Take the appropriate time to acknowledge the complaint, and outline  definitive actions you intend to take to alleviate the problem. If someone is motivated enough to complain to you, you can bet they are motivated enough to express their displeasure to others and with social media, the world is only a tweet away.

Act Quickly

If you receive constructive criticism in any form, act quickly to resolve any issues stemming from that criticism. If someone takes the time to walk through an unpleasant circumstance inflicted upon them by your hotel, take that opportunity to right the wrong as much as possible. Mistakes are bound to happen, but preventing those mistakes from happening again and immediately addressing problems that impact others will minimize the damage and may also present an opportunity for an upset guest to become satisfied.

Be Proud

Enjoy your success and don’t shy away from showing your passion, building these guest relationships requires you to put your best foot forward, don’t be afraid to present your success to your guest.

Being genuine and sincere is the key to exceeding expectations.  With continued awareness and commitment to raise that bar to new heights, you can deliver on your promise to provide the very best service and earn the respect of not only your guests but your competitors.

For more information about AG Custom Hospitality and our service training solutions, visit us at AG Custom Hospitality

As a trainer, this was the ideal situation.  We were able to get on site to do a true on site evaluation, conduct several quality assurance calls and get an intimate view of what we needed to achieve in order to take the teams to the next level.

There are so many training programs out there, and in essence they do the same thing but the key is engaging the team.   To do that is far more than mini sessions or telling them they have to participate.   It is connecting with them in the same way we want them to connect with our guests.   Make it personal.

This particular client has a great foundation to start with and I always credit management when walking into those situations – it always starts at the top.   So in this particular case, we are focusing on refining, taking them to the next level and really having them be the best  they can be.  When I say the best – I mean right up there with a leading hotel or five diamond resort.  They have the team, they have the personalities and the best part, they have the desire.

So where do there challenges lie?  It’s not in the ‘service’,  not in the aesthetics or amenities; but it is in an area that all hotels can work on.

Acknowledgment.

When I first developed the service connection program, acknowledgment was part of the service module – As of today , acknowledgment is a module on its own.  As I was working on the customization, I recognized that its importance is equal to service and has earned an independent place in training.

Acknowledgment isn’t about doing your job; it is about welcoming your guest into your home, making it personal and it is critical that it is seen as exactly that.  Acknowledgment is where people feel special, it is where the emotional component comes in and where loyalty is breed.   The bonus, it also breeds the feeling of luxury.

One of my auditors was doing a significant round of audits throughout the Interior of BC and the Canadian Rockies.  Beautiful properties that kept her busy for almost two weeks.  I realize that many think on site inspections are glorified vacations, but a true auditor spends their time making notes and ensuring nothing gets by them.    They often  have pages and pages of notes and writing each day and while it may look relaxing, there is a great deal that goes into providing a true overview to our clients.   To thank my auditor; I sent her one of my favourite hotels, perhaps a biased opinion as it was my first love and the reason I am sitting here today.  Regardless, I set her up and was excited that she would get to experience my old stomping grounds.  I expected the best, and nothing short of that would have satisfied me.  I also had no concern that she would be treated to a fantastic experience.

They didn’t disappoint and when she returned I was debriefing her and I was really interested in how taken she was by the hotel.  We talked about the aesthetics and she admitted they were great but so the properties that she had audited.  The meals were good, but again so were meals at the audited hotels.  So, what was it?

It was acknowledgment.  Everywhere she went, in the halls, outside, the lobby, restaurant,  the lounge.  Everywhere she went she was greeted and it didn’t matter if it was a housekeeper, a front office member or management they were all welcoming and clear that they were proud of being able to greet her to their hotel.

So acknowledgment has moved up a notch for us here and we now have entire module.   For many hotels, including the client the client I was referring too – it is simply connecting with our teams and giving the tools and presenting them in a manner that they can understand and embrace.  For other properties, the challenge is the number of staff  – perhaps a difficult challenge but we believe by engaging the teams, having them understand and embrace the true sense of hospitality – they will perhaps appear a little ‘larger’ and welcome their guests with confidence and a genuine smile.

Provide the service your guest expects and for many that is good enough, but the truth as I see it – Acknowledge them like you would in your home, take pride and show it off… .that isn’t service – that is truly making the connection.

For more information regarding AG Custom Hospitality and our wide range of Service Training tools including Service Connection please visit our website at AG Custom Hospitality

Recently I moved into a new condo, during the shopping process the Realtor was providing details of the new condo and one of the amenities was a Jacuzzi. Now I am the first to admit I enjoy relaxing in a bath with a glass of wine, so having a Jacuzzi would be a welcome treat.

We went through a list of available units and when we went into view the condo I know live in, my mind immediately went to the Jacuzzi tub, thinking “I can’t wait to see this setup!” When viewing the bath, my first thought was “this is a jetted tub”. At this point I said to my Realtor “Did you say Jetted tub or Jacuzzi” he looked at me and confidently said “Jacuzzi”.

Why is my bathtub important? Well it’s not.

What is important is the example and reminder of how perception can be abstract and in any service sector, it’s your clients that matters. In fact, discrepancies in your perception versus their perception happen more often than you think. While there is no cure all, keeping the lines of communication open and sharpening your listening skills will go a long way in closing the gap.

Perception is your client’s reality and at the end of the day, it is the only thing that matters when striving to provide service excellence!

For more information about AG Custom Hospitality and our wide range of  Training and Mystery Shop Programs please visit our website at AG Custom Hospitality

First, let me say I am utterly amazed at the reach social media has had this past year.  Yes, I have been on facebook for a couple years, and I had my twitter which I was determined to never use and of course then linked in that I didn’t bother with.  Everything changed in 2010, for me it wasn’t until this last quarter that I really started paying attention ( call me slow!).   The more I got involved, the more I realized how critical it is, and also that it is a full time job, ugh to add to my other full time job.   I was a newbie at the beginning of this quarter and to be honest, it was painful.  Following the golden rules, not self promoting, keeping it light while not offending and most important remembering the world will see this!

Here I am, all set up.  RSS feeds give me what I need and I have everything on my google dashboard.  I can now post to several medias with a click and I must say socializing is becoming easier.  I am still not sold that people want to hear what I have to say, especially on my grumpy days…. but hey, I am told someone does.

Bringing me back to my cranky thoughts.  I always like to create my program from live experiments, and information that is updated rather than traditional.  Get our teams involved in training and really see as professional growth.  With that in mind, hard to sell the importance of social media without understanding it fully and more importantly how it is effecting the service sector.

So, off I go.  I set off on a discovery mission.  Reviewed statistics and set up some small but very interesting experiments of my own.

What did I find out?

Trip Advisor

Often often accused of a playground for false reviews and defamatory comments by competitors, Tripadvisor isn’t going anyway.  In November Tripadvisor became the worlds largest travel website with over 400 million hits a month and over 25 reviews PER MINUTE.   Regardless of several lawsuits and settled claims, Tripadvisor is the go to source for many future guests.

Twitter

This was interesting as it was my own little mini experiment. My goal was to see if people were tweeting specifically about hotels and customer service.  I set up an RSS feed to search this and also went one step farther with setting up an RSS feed for blog searchs discussing hotels and guest experiences.

The results did one thing.  They showed me that not only is Twitter here to stay but it is being used as a tool to communicate and send a message.  ” Offer a service and provide it, otherwise you will be held accountable in nano seconds!”.

I started the RSS feeds on December 15th but to be honest with my project and holiday commitments I didn’t get to actually analyze the results until this weekend.

Here is what happened.

The slowest day of comments on service was December 17th where I only had 58 feeds.  The busiest day, 181 tweets about service and a total for the 9 days of just under 1,000.00 tweets.

Now, of those 1,000.00 tweets, there were 738 tweets that had negative comments with over 500 having specifically mentioned the hotel they were staying at.

I can’t possibly post all the tweets; however here our a couple that either had me laugh out loud or cringe!

HI Edmonton Hotel: I booked a team here and THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS HORRIBLE!!!…

(US location) Country Inn and Suites is one bitchy hotel. Thank you for the excellent customer service.

In the last hr, I was referred to as “sir” twice & was charged $25 for a generic hotel umbrella that I never used. Great customer service!

Hahaha. Its a nice hotel, but their customer service is horrible ( this was a reply to someone asking about a hotel)

I think or hope I have made my point.  I was surprised at the number of people tweeting their experiences, good and bad this doesn’t take into consideration facebook, linkedin and a host of other sites.

My blog results did not garner as much, however they were two very interesting blogs specifically talking about terrible service at a hotel they stayed at.

For those who have thought …hmm, not going to hurt us – it’s ok.  It’s time to get involved.  It can all seem daunting as I well know but there are a couple easy things you can do to ensure you are on top of your brand and your guest’s experience.

Train

I know that is a given coming from me but it really is critical.  Things go viral in record speed and the bottom line is you must commit to your teams.

Evaluate

Yes I know on site inspections by professionals are expensive but if you are really wanting a true look at what your guest experiences, it is worth every penny.  You can’t possibly fix what you are not aware is broken.  Every good business works on their SWOT analysis all the time, we are no different in the service sector.

Get Connected

I know some are pulling against it and stomping their feet but honestly with some great tools it is not as hard as it seems.

• RSS Feeds. You can set them up and have the work down for you.  Set a search for your particular hotel, restaurant or brand.  This way you will always be on the button and it will give you an opportunity to address a problem and perhaps get a ‘retraction’ via that same social medium.

• Google Reader. You can set your RSS Feeds and also have google reader search for blogs on interest, or news of interest.  Again, A great way to stay on the button.  You don’t have to read everything, you simply scroll through and do a check.

• Google Alerts.  Easy to set up and anything referencing your brand, hotel or service will pop into your in box ( doesn’t get easier than that).

My results weren’t done over a long period of time, but they certainly were an eye opener as to the power and growth social media has taken in the past year ( I want to say quarter so I don’t seem so behind 

I have some great material for our teams and I think they will really understand and relate to the power they control on the front line.  I am looking forward to completing it and in the meantime will continue to tweet or re tweet with the other 25 million users!

Commit to getting involved and understanding the reach social media has.  It is a new world for service and this is when the best of the best will pull away leaving those unaware in the dust.

For information about AG Custom Hospitality or our Service Connection with our new social media program, visit us today at AG Custom Hospitality