Guest Service Solutions Jan 2010

...your guests are waiting.

3184 Canterbury Drive Allison Park, PA 15101 | T: 303-506-7876 | E: [email protected] | www.guestss.com

January, 2010

Menu of Solutions



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Why Guest Service Solutions?

Word of mouth advertising in this economy is 100 times more valuable than any

other types of advertising combined. Ensuring your team is performing at optimal

levels can be costly, time-consuming and overwhelming but you save money, on the top

line and the bottom line-by retaining your guests/clients through top-notch service.....

Do you get it? If you don’t, your competition will-guaranteed.

Guest Service Solutions is here to help; we specialize in Solutions for success. We are

guest experience engineers creating customized solutions through our vast experience in

the hospitality industry. Our Solutions are in tremendous demand among ski resorts, hotels, golf

resorts, clubs, food and beverage operations, spas and retail sales operations.

Our Guests: In today’s delicate economy there is no greater asset to a business than its client base. Repeat business and referrals only happen through consistent, memorable service that goes above and beyond that of your competition. As our guest, your complete fulfillment is how we measure our own success so you can be confident in our commitment to your needs.

Our Results: These results are always measured in increased revenue, rejuvenated sales, achievement of performance goals and, most importantly, improved guest satisfaction.

Our Solutions: We deliver creative, targeted solutions for solving your training and development needs. Every solution is customizable and catered to your precise objectives.

Our Team: Outsourcing for your training needs makes economic and practical sense. Our team at Guest Service Solutions can fulfill your need for any extension of the following:

Director of Training and Development

Training Manager

Manager of Quality Assurance

Motivational Speaker

Start-up Training Team



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Our Solutions

Guest Service Solutions is dedicated to the success of you and your operation. Think of us as a few extra players on your team. We are your partners as you progress through training and developing a roster of platinum players. Our innovative approach to training, performance support and consulting is a collaboration of your needs and our expertise.

We use time tested performance support methods that go beyond the “drop and dash” approach to training so typically experienced in our industry. You can expect every solution we design to be relevant, accessible and to fully utilize each team’s unique players and the work environment.

We understand that every business needs solutions that reflect their own unique objectives so we have developed the following Service Solutions that will deliver the results you need:

Training Planning

Performance Standards Development

Guest Service Skills Development

Sales Force Development

Guest Experience Analysis

Educational and Motivational Leadership Improvement



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About Erica Kaehly

Before her own venture, She served as Vice President of Hannah Marketing Group running their Guest Service Training and Consulting division. She served as Performance Plus Man-ager and Resorts Recruiter at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts before that, where she was instrumental in The Hotel Hershey’s attainment of its fourth star from Mobil.

Erica earned her Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Pennsylvania State University with a minor degree in Spanish. She received the 2000 Emerg-ing Professional of the Year award from Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society, of which she still an active member. She is also a proud member of the American Society of Training and Development, the Pennsylvania Travel and Lodging Association, CRADR (Central Reserva-tions Association for Destination Resorts), VisitPittsburgh and PUMP (the Pittsburgh Urban Management Project).

Erica’s commitment to guest experience engineering formed the foundation for Guest Service Solutions in 2004. Throughout her 19 years in the hospitality industry, Erica has gained tremendous breadth across multiple service-driven disciplines including lodging, spa, ski operations, food and beverage and central reservations. She and her team of ser-vice specialists have delivered measurable results, time and time again.



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Training Planning Solutions

What you Need: A cost-effective training system that produces immediate results, and totally motivates your managers and trainers to keep service quality at the

forefront in this economy!

The Outcome: A targeted training system designed specifically for your objectives is imple-mented by with our team, each of which has been in your shoes. We are all former Direc-tors of Training and Development or Training Managers so we completely understand the challenges associated with getting a good plan off the ground and know how to do it in a fast, effective manner. Partner with our trainers to develop milestones, deliver lessons ef-fectively and establish a long-term coaching relationship. Our Training Planning Solution

includes the following services:

Development of Performance Goals

Establishment of Department Objectives

Training Team Selection

2-Day Train the Trainer workshop

Development of Training Calendar by department

Post-Training Support: 30-60 and 90-day Web Ex coaching calls

Utilization of customer feedback to deliver quantitative results

Recommended for: Businesses lacking comprehensive resources for effective in-house train-

ing.

“When The Boar’s Head was shopping for a firm to assist us with maintaining the highest possible quality assurance for our guest we were pleased to learn Guest Service Solutions boasts 19 years experience in the hospitality industry exclu-sively. Erica’s dedication to hospitality ensures that our mystery shopping pro-grams objectively measure crucial aspects of the guest experience. Equally im-portantly, Guest Service Solutions provides training programs for our staff that truly affect guest satisfaction and loyalty.”

Matthew Harris, General Manager, Boar’s Head Inn Resort and Spa



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Sales Force Solutions

What you Need: To drive revenue fast!

The Outcome: Through an extensive audit of your staff and full analysis of your team’s performance we establish a benchmark performance level. Based on these, we customize your on-site learning events and the post training performance support system. Once on

site, the training includes:

Custom Designed job aids and reference material

Effective and rigorous competitive strategies

Selling styles analysis and playing to each person’s strengths

Case study analysis

Sales skill building

One-on-one coaching through our “Sidekick” program

Incentive plan revamp

To ensure that you see fast, sustainable results from our learning systems, we always in-clude our post event performance support which includes periodic webinars, .wav file ex-periences that your staff can observe for simulated experience exposure, on demand coach-

ing support and our post-training performance evaluation program.

Recommended for: All traditional and non-traditional revenue centers, to include: Reser-vation sales and group sales staff; food and beverage servers; bell staff; spa reservation and

reception staff; retail and concierge.

“It is with pleasure I say I have one of the finest Reservations Departments in the in-dustry. My agents have scored consistently an average 95% for over the past 18

months, with one agent scoring a 100% eleven months in a row.”

-Director of Reservations, Four-Diamond Resort



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Guest Service Excellence Solutions

What you Need: To raise the bar on guest service and get the whole team trained

quickly and thoroughly.

The Outcome: Through an extensive audit of your staff and full analysis of your team’s performance we identify the performance gaps and then create a measurable action plan. We customize your learning events or workshop based on these. Designed to work for all team members, we then provide a completely customized learning system that includes on-

site in skill training, culture building and post event performance support.

Our approach ensures the learning is retained and the performance results are based on what guests actually want, not what we think guests need. Your team is taken through rig-orous scenario-based and situational training that incorporates your specific service culture. 20% lecture and 80% hands-on, this Solution is designed to impart real-world skills and for-

tify your operation.

“Genuine Connections”*

“Can I Get Your Name?”

“The Top Ten of Hospitality”*

“When Good Times Go Bad”-Guest Service Recovery*

“Listen Up!”*

“Guest Service Excellence” Learning Series*

“Building Our Service Culture”

“Adventures in Attitudes©”

*Selected workshops are also available in Spanish.

"Erica captured an audience of all age groups and positions; used humor very effec-tively; and motivated without it coming off forced or contrived. Most importantly, she was able to seamlessly blend our company Culture and Standards into the pres-entations to the effect that it seemed that she worked at our resort!"

Derrick Swing, Staff Development and Training Manager, Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa



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Guest Experience Evaluations

What you Need: A clear roadmap to increasing guest loyalty. Your guest’s point of view

provided objectively, quantitatively and in detail.

The Outcome: Choose from our carefully selected team of specialized evaluators: luxury-hotel managers; restaurant managers; human resources professionals; sales and marketing specialists; or an average customer. Our evaluator carefully observes your operation’s true strengths and highlights areas for improved performance and untapped potential. Choose from any of the fol-

lowing experience evaluations provided in whatever frequency and level of detail you require.

Full Resort Experience

Mountain Operations

Food and Beverage (operations of all quality levels and types)

Retail Sales

Reservation and Vacation Planning Sales (includes website sales)

Group Sales (on line RFP process, call evaluations, competitive set analysis)

Spa

Every Guest Experience Evaluation includes:

Completed performance standards checklist with quantitative results by area

Detailed executive summary highlighting strengths and areas for opportunity

Full recordings of any calls conducted

Photographs and video for performance support

Collateral with suggestions for enhancement

Verbal debriefing either in person or via conference call

Results hosted on a secured client website for you to access any time you like

“Guest Service Solutions helped me to evaluate my new reservation staff by helping me develop a standard checklist. They worked with the schedule to get each of the agents done quickly at very reasonable rates. The critics were very fair and having the actual calls to listen to was an invaluable follow up training tool. I definitely plan to continue this service in the future to keep my staff consistent and enhance their selling abilities.”

Wendy Coulson Murray, Director of Sales and Marketing, The Sandelring Resort



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Educational and Motivational Leadership Improvement Solutions

What you Need: To foster accountability, responsibility and motivation during a

transitional phase, or when the paradigm shifts for any reason.

Our Solution: Educational and Motivational Leadership Improvement

The Outcome: Improving leadership through learning allows you to decrease turnover and im-prove productivity, ultimately establishing a foundation and culture for excellent guest service. Coaching and motivating staff creates an empowered and evolving organization. Our leadership

system includes the following:

Train the Trainer Programs

Leadership Development

Teambuilding Workshops

Guided programs for achieving personal and professional success

Executive Coaching

SWOT Analysis Facilitation

Recommended for: Operations seeking cohesion and accountability among team members as well as a long-term approach to maintaining service-oriented staff.

“A large portion of our subject matter is on Guest Service and employee/ management skill development. She is a strategic thinker as she moves through each event with awareness and a focus on solutions. She is able to have tough conversations with clients with a focus on the end goal that allows the management or executive team to hear the

information and be motivated to act and correct issues.”

-Owner, Dynamic Learning, Inc.



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Why should you be investing in your staff NOW?

You can’t afford not to in this economy.

The Facts:

According to the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), investment in employee training enhances a company's future

financial performance.

An increase of $680 in a company's training expenditures per employee generates, on average, a 6 percent improvement in total

shareholder return. (source: ASTD)

Based on the training investments of 575 companies during a three-year period, researchers found that firms investing the most in training and development (measured by total investment per employee and percentage of total gross payroll) yielded a 36.9 percent total shareholder return as compared with the 25.5 percent weighted return for the S&P 500 index for the same

period. (source: ASTD)

The average cost of a help desk call of any kind is $28 PER CALL, and the average time consumed by each call is approximately 20 minutes. (source: LearningGuide Solutions, USA)

Firms investing in training and development enjoy higher profit margins, higher income per employee, and higher price-to-book

ratios. (source: ASTD)

Our unique Solutions deliver superior results by providing proven, targeted learning

systems. A team trained by us enables your business to achieve its greatest potential.



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Business Evaluator

Think your business could use some help but not sure where to begin? Browse our selected scenarios to find the situation that best describes your position. We under-stand that every business encounters unique challenges so if you can’t find what

you’re looking for here, contact us and we’ll develop a custom solution for you!

Scenario #1: “The hospitality industry is so much more competitive than it was three years ago! It seems like every day I turn around, there’s a new hotel offering the same service as

me. How do I get ahead and stay ahead of the competition?”

Our Solution:

Service Culture Development and Implementation

Scenario #2: “I own a successful ski resort and every November, we hire on a large number of new staff. Our hotel has built a strong reputation based on our staff of seasoned service professionals. The problem is, when we hire on new, often younger staff they don’t have the same concept of customer service as our core. How do we ensure everyone is quickly performing at the same high level without pulling my department heads away to train

them?”

Our Solutions:

Performance Standards Development

Guest Service Skill Development



Scenario #3: “I run a luxury golf resort and, lately, I have been getting poor customer

feedback. How do I determine the problem and ensure it stops?”

Our Solutions:



Guest Service Skill Development

Scenario #4: “We just had to lay off 100 people this week. How do I continue to keep my existing staff motivated to perform when there are fewer of them, and we have fewer re-

sources to work with?”

Our Solutions:

Educational and Motivational Leadership Improvement




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Who else should you talk to?

Mr. Ken Stone

Chief Executive Officer

Crested Butte Mountain Resort

970-349-4768

Ms. Rachel Monroe

Director of Human Resources

Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

828-252-2711

Ms. Caroline MacDonald

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Auberge Resorts

310-453-2383

Mr. Jeff Bay

General Manager

Molly Gibson Lodge and Hotel Aspen

970-925-3434

Ms. Patricia McNamara

Director of Sales and Marketing

Sonnenalp Resort at Vail

970-479-3000

Mr. Bill Cromwell

Director of Asset Management

University of Virginia Foundation-for Boar’s Head Inn

434-982-4646

Mr. Maarten van Wijk

General Manager

Hershey Country Club

717-533-2360

Documents

Guest Service Solutions Jan 2010