Picture this: YOU, in a hotel that takes “Pride in the knowledge that our guests can count on Marriott’s unique blend of quality, consistency, personalized service, and recognition almost anywhere they travel in the world or whichever Marriott brand they choose”.

Picture this: That, not happening.

Got the picture? During a business trip, while staying at The Southfield Marriott, consistency, quality and personalized service were compromised by a few employees, a poor system and expectations gone awry.  The only part of the Core Values that we experienced was that it was all pretty unique…only not all in a good way.

Since they provided a new snapshot (keep reading so you can see for yourself), I don’t want to spend too much time detailing the events that initially inspired this blog.  So here is the short, family-friendly version:

• Intermittent internet connection that rivaled dial-up speed
• Zero empathy from the manager on duty the 1st time we (by we, I mean, Kelly) told him about the issue
• Zero work accomplished in a 3 hour period due to getting booted off the internet every other minute
• Wondering if I could cover bail for Kelly after we continued to get no assistance or human-like response from the manager
• Hearing Kelly say, “He’s lucky I’m fat and tired or I’d jump that front desk like Jackie Joyner-Kersee.”
• And just an FYI to hotel managers: telling frustrated travelers, “There is a cap in our bandwidth” only plants the seed of “capping somebody” if it’s not fixed. Just sayin’…

After sharing our concerns, blowing up our Twitter stream and putting a spotlight on @MarriottIntl, we finally felt as if they cared about our experience enough to respond in a professional manner that didn’t involve excuses, condescension or bail money.

New picture.

YOU, in the same hotel, suddenly receiving outstanding service from 3 top notch employees who had no knowledge of the previous experience.

Three employees breathing life into the brand; thus repairing your relationship and retaining your business.

Got the picture?  It only takes a few employees, systems and unmet expectations to alienate consumers.  A lucky business will also have employees who “get it”: understand that your mission statement is more than words on a website; a page in the employee handbook; or a marketing ploy to gain business.

So let’s recognize the employees who “got it”!

First up: Leonard Boyd, Restaurant Supervisor who demonstrated all the behaviors that support the Marriott brand.  He went out of his way to ensure we were enjoying our stay, and we weren’t even in the restaurant.  After connecting with us, and watching us eat our “pre-meal” in the concierge lounge, he graciously extended an invitation to The Fire Iron Grill (the hotel restaurant).  He did not question the fact that technically, we would be eating two meals.  Bless his heart.

Leonard made a special trip to get us a menu and gave honest suggestions based on our palate (aka voracious appetites). It was obvious he knew the menu and actually ate the food: clearly, a good sign. When we told him we might still eat our post-meal elsewhere, he enthusiastically invited us to waddle down and say hello.  He created a personalized, professional and positive experience. Leonard resuscitated the Marriott brand like an ER doctor bringin’ back the dead.

Second up: Linda Jackson, waitress at The Fire Iron Grill. (Yep, our post-meal location had been confirmed).  Linda made us feel like we were the only guests in the restaurant.  She provided personalized service by laughing at our jokes (not an easy task) and joking along with us. She also gave us honest suggestions, her undivided attention and prompt service that created the perfect post-meal dining experience.

Linda knows her customers and treats them well.  She has a gift for creating the “home away from home” experience that business travelers treasure. Her down to earth personality and ability to keep it real was a refreshing bonus to a delicious post-meal.  By the time we left, we were hugging her goodbye and looking forward to our next visit.  And if she’s not working that night, we want her to join us for dinner, kick back and have a cocktail.  Linda performed the Heimlich Maneuver of Service: keeping the Marriott brand from choking on it’s own words.

And then there is Kortney Myers.  We entered the concierge room on a daily basis to pillage for food and check out our pre-meal options.  She intuitively recognized our need for hourly feedings. Kortney went above and beyond to meet our unique needs. She saved us cookies every evening before they were devoured by other guests while we were away enjoying our post-meal.  Her smiling face, outgoing personality and genuine care for the experience of all guests were shining examples of someone who understands and delivers service excellence.

Kortney demonstrates the Marriott brand naturally and effortlessly.  Her enthusiasm, skill and dedication make a difference.  She created an experience that made us feel like honored guests rather than customers.  After long days of training and being on stage, we returned to the hotel every night to be greeted by Kortney: the goddess of extraordinary service!  Kortney restored our faith in the Marriott brand like a preacher converting an atheist! Can I get an, “Amen”!

So there you have it…our photo album from a recent business trip.  What pictures do consumers take of your business?  We hope you can answer that, because in this day of social media, we love to share pictures!  The painful days of the carousel slide projector are long gone.  Say, “cheese”!

As the thrill of the Superbowl winds down and the anticipation of the commercials wanes for another year it’s time to shift our focus to the Great American Race.  Yes folks, it’s time to start your engines and head for Daytona!  The very short off season for NASCARs teams, drivers and fans has come to an end.  And anything is possible yet again this season as the cars take the track for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

My husband and I always look forward to start of the new NASCAR season and the renewed hope for our favorite drivers that come with it.  As the season kicked off last week the SPEED network also kicked off several new shows and specials to get the fans catching the fever once again.  Of course, at my house we must watch every NASCAR related show, race, news; it’s all NASCAR all the time for 9 months and then its reruns!  One show that caught my eye this week was a four part series on Joe Gibbs Racing.

Joe Gibbs is known as a Superbowl winning head coach and the founder of Joe Gibbs racing.  He has a proven record in leadership not only winning 3 Superbowls but also bringing home 3 Championship titles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.  This is no small feat.  As I watched the documentary on Joe Gibbs Racing there was one thing that stood out the most; the true sense of teamwork at every level of the organization.

Typically the driver gets all the glory when the team is doing well and the bad rap when the team is struggling.  You will hear about the owner and maybe the Crew Chief but rarely do we hear about or even consider the hundreds of people working behind the scenes that help the NASCAR teams compete for and win NASCAR Championships.  In this particular segment of the series the Director of Aviation was being interviewed.  He was talking about and showing us the extensive fleet of planes the JGR has to get teams to and from the various tracks around the country each week.  The teams are on the move 36 weekends of the year.  As he was sharing he very clearly said, “Our job at Joe Gibbs Racing is to win races.”  He then went on to describe how his role and the role of the Aviation department impacts the ability of the race teams to win races and championships. He doesn’t drive the car, he doesn’t build the engines, he doesn’t deal with the sponsors, but what he does do is get the teams and everyone it takes to win a race to track each and every week safely and on schedule. That’s his contribution; he plays a huge role in the organizations ability to win races.  If the drivers, crew, crew chiefs, mechanics, executives and the PR people don’t get to the track safely and on schedule they don’t race.  You can’t win races if you don’t race.

And that’s when I went from watching a show about racing to watching a real life organization that gets it.  Joe Gibbs success boils down to ensuring that everyone understands the mission of the company.  In this case, to win races.  He takes it a step further though and makes sure everyone working at JGR understands how their particular role impacts the overall mission.  From the mechanics in the shop, to the accounting department, to the gift shop; everyone is clear on what they are there to do and to support.  To win races.

This is what is missing in many organizations whether you are a for-profit business, not for-profit organization, a hospital, a school or an entrepreneur.  Often times there’s a disconnect between an organization’s mission and the people working hard every day to fulfill that mission.  I work with thousands of employees and it still shocks me when I come across an employee who doesn’t understand why their role is important, how they contribute or heck they sometimes don’t even know what the mission of the organization is.  This is a leadership failure.  If your employees are wondering, “What am I doing here?” how do you expect them to make a difference?  So how does Joe Gibbs create winning teams?  Here are my thoughts:

You create a team by having a combined mission and vision.

You create a team by making sure everyone understands and can fulfill their role on the team.

You create a team by talking about what’s important.

You create a team by showing each team members value.

You create a team by holding people accountable for performance.

You create a team by celebrating successes.

You create a team by examining problems and failures and fixing them together without pointing the finger.

You create a team by choosing the players that want to be there and can do what you need them to do.

You create a team by modeling the behaviors you expect.

It takes a group of people to fulfill your organizations mission.  Not just the sales people, not just the teachers, not just the doctors but everyone.  From the mail room, to the board room, to IT, to billing, to the principal’s office. Until everyone understands the mission and what it takes to be part of the team you won’t have a winning season.

I would love for you to add your own thoughts to the list and challenge some of mine as well.

Cheers to teamwork and the start of the 2010 NASCAR season!

Find out when you can catch the SPEED series on Joe Gibbs Racing here: http://joegibbsracing.com/news-||-headlines/jgr-all-access-tv-schedule.html