This past winter, I conducted quality and service audits at 15 ski areas throughout the United States and Japan. For each visit, I called for information, used central reservations, arranged for transportation, stayed at area-operated lodges, rented ski equipment, placed children into child-care facilities, took beginner lessons, purchased tickets, parked in lots, conversed with front-line employees, skied without lift tickets, ate in base-area cafeterias, waited in lines, followed trail maps, rode lifts, purchased retail items, lost my wallet (intentionally), rode shuttles, dined out, skated, toured on sleigh rides and contacted Guest Services employees.
What did I learn? The ski industry has yet to make guest satisfaction the driving force behind decision making. Few areas have adopted a total-quality style of doing business in which front-line employees are empowered within the confines of a well-developed corporate vision to do what is necessary to “wow” guests.
We create dreams of sunny days, beautiful snow, friendly employees, slopeside swimming pools, fine dining and tan faces. But guests are often greeted with massive parking lots, shuttle rides, unclear signs, confusing pricing, a rental shop cattle drive, mounds of garbage, worn-out facilities, ego-driven instructors, uninspired employees and dirty toilets.
Those ski areas that have made service a value and a part of their culture, have woven facility design and maintenance, staff training and empowerment, policy decisions and program designs into a product that creates a perception of quality and caring in the minds of participants. At these resorts, the reality of the experience is aligned with the vision of marketing, and guests return home more than satisfied and full of sugarplum dreams of their next visit.
The late Jim Branch, past president of Sno-engineering, often preached in this Attention-to-Details program, “It is the little things that make the difference.” And in my travels, it often was the little things, or lack thereof, in relation to facilities, staff, policies and programs that influenced my experience.
Frequently, I encountered instructors who were more interested in their image than the content of the class. My impression was that beginner skiers were more turned on to the sport by young enthusiastic weekend instructors than highly-skilled full-timers. Why? Because the weekender truly wanted all people in the class to learn how to ski rather than a select few.
At one ski resort, upon my arrival, an instructor grabbed my poles and threw them (overhand) into a pile with several others, exclaiming, “You don’t need these.” Why did I rent them I pondered? Often, instructors told me not to worry about how I got snow off my boots by kicking the skis because, after all, they were just rental skis. My perception: if the mountain owns it, then it’s okay to misuse it. I skied several lessons with my boots unbuckled and/or on the wrong feet. Even though I complained of sore feet, my dilemma went unnoticed by the instructors.
I saw parking lot and lift attendants smoking while on duty. Rental shops that are unattractive with blaring radios adding to the confusion. Frequently there were several vintages of ski-trail signs on the mountain and frequently fancy all-mountain trail signs lacked simple you-are-here stickers. Seldom did parking attendants greet me or make eye contact when I looked at them.
But it is not all bad news. There is evidence that some resorts are working hard to empower front-line employees to serve the needs of guests.
Upon arrival at one resort, I was greeted by a ski patroller who was on special assignment to open car doors for arriving guests and wish them a safe ski experience. A small midwest ski area has employees answer the phone with, “It a beautiful day at XXXX, how can I help you?” When I asked if it really was a beautiful day the receptionist replied, “Sir, every day is a beautiful day at XXXX.”
Every so often I saw how departments had developed a service policy that made guests feel special. At one resort, the cashier looked at my name on the rental form and said, “Mr. Tapply, by what name do you wish to be called?” “Dick,” I replied. She then wrote Dick on the top of the rental release. From that point on, every rental employee with whom I came in contact addressed me as Dick.
A few ski resorts have redefined the role of the ski patrol by creating welcome centers on the mountain. “Visitors welcome” signs hang outside the entrance of on-mountain patrol facilities and patrollers give tours to inquisitive guests. This is a sharp contrast to the usual dirty waiting rooms with walls that need paint and furniture in need of repair. Who wants to be treated in what is perceived to be an unsterile environment?
Resorts that are serious about service recognize that front-line employees are in the best position to help explore the details of how facilities, staff, policies and programs can be integrated to serve the needs of guests. At one resort, a child-care provider noticed that children coming to the nursery facility appeared stressed. One day she knelt down to get an idea of what little children were seeing and discovered chair legs and tables, blank fronts on counters, doors and gates. She heard adults transacting business and the sounds of infants crying. The facility installed child-level observation windows with views of children at play, happy background music, colorful posters and play structures for waiting children. Another resort provided instructional pamphlets with advice on how to handle the trauma of the first separation of a child from a parent.
In another incident last winter, I approached a parking lot attendant and declared that my wallet had been stolen. His response was, “So”? I asked if there was a place to report the loss. After some prodding I was directed to a Guest Services office tucked away in the corner of the gondola loading area. I asked the attendant for assistance and explained my plight. There was nothing that she could do, but she reluctantly wrote my name and address on a scrap piece of paper. Even though my son and I had allegedly driven two hours and were now without money, no effort was made to accommodate us with a day of skiing. There was a lack of clear vision of what good customer service looks like and a lack of empowerment giving the employee the opportunity to turn a dissatisfied guest into a loyal customer.
In contrast, I played the same scenario at another ski resort a few weeks later. The parking attendant was empathic and he found a fellow employee to cover his post while he took me to Lost and Found where he introduced me to Ms. Lost and Found and explained my plight. She immediately sent a young man to search the men’s room where I said my wallet was stolen. She helped me fill out a form and then, to my surprise, asked me if I wished to ski for the day and how many were in my party. She called the ticket office and shortly an employee brought tickets and offered his condolences. As I was leaving, the lost and found helper handed me a voucher good for $10 dollars worth of food in the cafeteria. Did the parking lot attendant, lost and found helper, ticket office and restaurant crew work as a team to “Wow” me as a guest? Absolutely. Will I return? You bet.
Based on the time-tested theory that it is less expensive to keep an old customer than to generate a new one, more and more ski area operators are asking, “How do we manage quality and service? How do we motivate employees to exceed our guests’ expectations?” As I reflect on the 15 audits conducted last winter, it became clear to me that the ski industry is mentally ready to embrace quality and service management. However, it is also evident that managers need the tools and training required to move from an attitude of “bottom line at all costs” to one of “bottom line through satisfied guests.”
To motivate front-line employees to “wow” guests, begins with a vivid understanding of corporate vision. When understood by all, it defines the playing field and the boundaries within which employees can freely roam as they use their own creative energies to exceed guest expectations as they play the game of hospitality. Using another metaphor, the vision provides the homing beacon toward which all work projects gravitate. Each task is given a direction to travel and employees are empowered to navigate their own courses.
Leadership Training Program
From the audits described in this article, managers learned how guests perceive the service they receive. This current level of service satisfaction can be compared with a vision of what exceptional service looks like, a vision created by managers during two-day management retreats. Once these service extremes are identified, managers can be trained to move their current level of service toward exceptional service by empowering front-line employees to provide superior service to guests. This process, called Service Based Leadership, has been developed specifically for the ski industry by Blanchard Training and Developement and Sno-engineering. — R.M.T.
