Retreat Insider

Take a moment to refocus on WHY you do groups at your hospitality venue! If you want to  to do more, learn how you can earn each group’s business again! Be competitive with yourself and master attentive guest service and “the competition” will fade into the background …

We KNOW you’re in the thick of your group retreat and meeting hospitality season. As one group departs, another arrives, maybe within the same 24 hours! If quick turns are part of your MO, are you staffed to manage them well?

The most successful meeting centers are the onces that have a dedicated event coordinator who will:

• Meet and and Greet each group
• Connect with (and remain available to) the meeting planner or facilitator
• Coordinate logistics with set up and housekeeping staff
• Attend at least a few mealtimes to observe group response to culinary and snack services (and to partake with the group for “quality assurance”!)
• Is present in the center office and available to manage any guest concerns or questions or to attend to special needs (within reasonable limits, of course!)
• Prepare, distribute and collect guest comments and suggestions at the end of each group in residence
• Conduct an exit interview with the meeting planner and solicit a commitment for another opportunity to serve the group in the future
  

Customer Speak: Your center’s very best source of constructive criticism, which doesn’t always arrive in a form you can hear, comes from your meeting planners and guests as they experience what you and your staff do.

When customer speak: LISTEN! A precious gift is here: first hand, FREE, and too often overlooked and missed in the heat of your busy season!

Don’t distress: Start from where you ARE right now! If you don’t have an event coordinator, appoint one. Someone who truly cares about the guests’ comfort and well-being and meets each guest with presence and an even temper. Many times, that will be the owner or manager. After all, it is he or she whose job security or business future relies on doing the job well. If not a big kahuna, then choose a teachable and enthusiastic young staffer and provide a check-list of things to do to ensure great hospitality! Then, let him or her run with it!

Leave no stone unturned! There are always other options besides your venue. The business may as well be yours and it will be if you do your best work with care and sincerity, and that includes asking for the feedback that will keep you and your staff doing your jobs well!

Happy Solstice!