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Bill Marriott, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Marriott International, writes a blog called Marriott on The Move. In his September 6th post, he “curated†a top ten list of ways to attract and keep guests in the digital age.
- Service, service, service. Social media let’s us help guests faster than ever before. Sometimes guest expectations are too high, but our hotels are doing their best to meet them.
- Build customer confidence. We need to talk to our customers the way they talk to us.
- Personalized email “welcomes.† General Managers should made a connection and their email signature should link to the social media channels.
- Respond to all reviews we get. If someone complains on TripAdvisor, let’s try to explain the situation. People understand mistakes happen and they appreciate a Gerneral Manager being upfront about it and talk about it.
- Encourage sharing. Associates hand out TripAdvisor cards for guests to share their experiences during and after a stay.
- Read competitor reviews. You can gather intelligence and use the information to tailor services to customer needs.Â
- Be socially green. Encourage guests to fill out a survey on our green efforts that’s posted on TripAdvisor’s GreenLeaders site.
- Listen, not with your ears but with your mouse. Monitor social media channels to keep track of guest stays and to deliver more personalized service.
- Send an email “thank you.â€Â When General Managers send the “thank you,†link to GuestVoice. It’s our own social media-like survey that gives us great feedback.
- This is mine-  BE HUMAN. I still believe that our biggest competitive advantage is a smile — not a smilie face! We are all human whether in person or online. Technology will change, but thank goodness human nature doesn’t.
Bottom Line:
I’ve always thought Marriott has had excellent customer service, and with this list, I feel like Bill Marriott gets it. What do you think?
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or suggestions expressed on this site are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed.
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Yes he does get it. I always think of Marriott rewards as the ugly stepsister of the points world because travelers and bloggers seem to always be pointing towards SPG/Hilton/Hyatt and sometimes even IHG before even mentioning Marriott. But I get by far the best CONSISTENT service at Marriotts and never find that one hotel in their chain is amazing and the next terrible. They are all great, from a Residence Inn to a Marriott to a J.W. Consistency is something other hotels (and airlines) can learn a bit from Marriott.