Taking cues from customer-service
experts like Disney World, Ritz-Carlton and Hilton, the
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
established the SUNsational Service program. Initially,
the program - which cost the bureau $30,000 over three years
- trained convention center employees to forget their old
job descriptions and focus instead on helping visitors solve
problems whenever they found someone who needed assistance.
"We were looking for something
to take our visitors beyond a great experience," says visitors
bureau President Nicki Grossman. "We were looking for a
'wow' experience."
Each employee participated
in a mandatory daylong program of class work and practical
lessons in courtesy and service conducted by south Florida
consulting firm Hospitality Excellence.
"It's amazing how uplifted
the employees are," Grossman says. "They feel they are truly
a part of the success of this $5-billion industry."
Now 90,000 workers in all
segments of the hospitality industry are booking the same
training in SUNsational Service, including airports, airlines,
hotels, cab services and even some retail businesses.
Catching on
Broward County Administrator Roger Desjarlais liked the
idea so much, Grossman says, that he adopted it for his
7,000 employees.
Susan DellCioppia, Broward's
human resources manager of employee development, says county
leaders noticed the effects immediately after spending $178,000
on the training. Suddenly employees stopped visitors in
the hallways of the county building and helped them find
their destinations. Telephones were picked up before the
third ring. Voicemails offered callers an option of talking
to someone immediately and reminded callers to "have a SUNsational
day."
A countywide "prize patrol"
rewards over-the-top acts of hospitality with watches, cruises,
even a 24-hour loan of a Porsche. Kathy Shurte, Broward's
assistant manager of employee development, says one county
employee won prize patrol recognition after helping a new
resident track down not only the hurricane preparedness
information she had requested but also a list of shelters
that would board her pets during a disaster.
Now DellCioppia and Shurte
are working on a second level of SUNsational Service that
helps employees and agencies identify ways to improve their
skills or service and then implement those changes.
"It's a culture change," DellCioppia
says.
