Everything Matters
All organizations, knowingly or unknowingly, build messages to their customers (Guests) into the settings in which they operate. Consider these pairs: A luxury car dealership and a used car lot A theme...
View ArticleMickey’s Ten Command-ments for the Setting
In yesterday’s post the concept of the “setting” at Disney was introduced. Going a little deeper, from the excellent guest services book Be Our Guest, Disney vice chairman Marty Sklar gave the...
View ArticleWhat Do You Do When It Rains at Your Church?
Working on the Guest Services Parking Team in the rain yesterday at Elevation Church’s Uptown Campus brought these thoughts to mind: Rainy days, especially on Sundays and other days you have worship,...
View ArticleIt All Begins with Hospitality
Church leaders need to understand the fact that our competition is not other churches; it’s places that provide WOW! Experiences and to which guests compare our churches. While that may seem a...
View ArticleTranslating Customer Experience for ChurchWorld Leaders
Customer service is, quite simply, how customers perceive their every interaction with an organization. This may come as a shock to you, but churches should have customers, too. We just call them...
View ArticleWhen the DNC Comes to Town…
Adventures in Parking & Traffic Control at Elevation Uptown The most brilliant battle plan is only good till the first shot is fired Attributed to von Clausewitz, Prussian military theorist When...
View ArticleCustomer Service is Never Out of Date
Now I know where I get it from. My father. Regular readers of this blog know of my borderline fanaticism in the area of Guest Services related to ChurchWorld. Some leaders cringe at those words, but...
View ArticlePutting Processes to Work for Your Guest Services Team
Here’s the bottom line principle when it comes to designing processes for guest services: An organization needs to think like a customer (or in this case, a Guest) Put yourselves in the shoes of the...
View ArticleUntil a Problem Occurs, the Guest Doesn’t Get to See You Fully Strut Your...
Does your approach to Guest Experiences include an effective problem resolution process? Service breakdowns and other problems experienced by Guests are crucial moments in an organization’s attempt to...
View ArticleService Magic: The Art of Amazing Your Customers
Like stage magic, service magic is made up of more than tricks, hocus-pocus, and bravado. Service magic is an art and depends on developing customer rapport, excellent timing, and many hours of...
View ArticleWhen It’s Everybody’s Job, It’s Usually Nobody’s Job
Recently my family went to one of our favorite “special occasion” restaurants because the food, atmosphere, and service are always enjoyable. It was around 7 PM on a Friday night, and with no...
View ArticleA Smashing Process: Utilizing All 5 Senses When it Comes to Branding
Brand expert and consumer consultant Martin Lindstrom poses an interesting question: Eliminate a logo, and what’s left of your brand? In his book Brand Sense, Lindstrom develops this question into a...
View ArticleGuest Experience Survey Results Provide 4 Key Findings
In the fall of 2011, I collaborated with Worship Facilities Expo on a brief survey about guest services practices to its online audience. The survey was not intended to be a scientific survey, but...
View ArticleNo Excuses Allowed
In Mrs. Soeesby’s Senior English class it was simply called “The List.” In letters large enough to see from anywhere in the classroom, it started above the door to the class and went all the way round...
View ArticleThe Dining Experience…
…at a four-star restaurant provides excellent lessons for hospitality in the church. With one son who is a chef and kitchen manager for a national restaurant chain and another who just finished four...
View ArticleThe Elements of Service
The center of attention in a four-star restaurant may be the food, but it’s the service before, during, and after that creates the experience. Chef Eric Ripert At Le Bernardin in New York City, the...
View ArticleInvisible Perfection
What the Diner (Hopefully) Doesn’t Notice At Le Bernardin, one of New York’s premier four-star restaurants, excellence happens best when it’s not seen at all. A meal there is usually so relaxed and...
View ArticleDelivering an I CARE Guest Service Experience at Your Church
Ask almost anyone about a recent customer service experience and the odds are it will be “meh” at best and a total failure at worst. Research by Bruce Loeffler and Brian Church backs that up. Customers...
View ArticleUntil a Problem Occurs, the Guest Doesn’t Get to See You Fully Strut Your...
Does your approach to Guest Experiences include an effective problem resolution process? Service breakdowns and other problems experienced by Guests are crucial moments in an organization’s attempt to...
View ArticlePutting Processes to Work for Your Guest Services Team
Here’s the bottom line principle when it comes to designing processes for guest services: An organization needs to think like a customer (or in this case, a Guest) Put yourselves in the shoes of the...
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