Thomas Kochs - Captivating Moments

our next speaker runs what I think is the greatest hotel in the world and we've been lucky Daniel and I travel a lot we've stayed in a lot of wonderful places but there is no other place in my view that when you walk through the doors everything changes and it's the Claridge's Hotel in London the Claridge's has been open since the late 1800s and I don't know anyone who has any relationship to the hotel industry you know this hotel you've heard this name countless times and what you have in your head when you think about it or at the very least what I have always had in my head is the absolute epitome the standard bearer of luxury and it is the things they do are just insane they're crazy but the thing that made me fall for this hotel wasn't how perfect and luxurious and wonderful every detail all the trappings of it are and and are so consistently it's the fact that this place that has been at the top of its game for centuries when you go in it feels warm and you feel connected and the people that take care of you are prim and proper and they do everything right but they make you feel like you belong and when we have a lot of different speakers and we did last year and they range and in what they do informality but I think it gets harder and harder and harder to make people feel welcome and casual and a part of something the more refined it gets and what Thomas and his team at the Claridge's do every single day is nothing short of extraordinary and I'm so excited he's here so please welcome him to the stage thank you well and good afternoon everybody what else is there to say it feels a bit like he said it all well first of all thank you for having me when we'll ask me if I would make the journey across the pond it was a no-brainer we've known each other for a few years and we have endless conversations about service and they're always inspiring and I loved service but let me be a little bit more precise there may be I love service when it's effortless it can be it can be very difficult as well so five years ago I was given the opportunity to look after Claridge's it's it's a hotel that many people speak similarly to will about they find a lot of great words it's unique its iconic and and when you think about those words then you know they're wonderful but they can also be a little bit scary it's almost so one journalist here from the New York Times he quoted a state of mind and then there is Alex James the famous British musician and by the way he's also now a cheese maker he he said waking up at Claridge's is waking up invincible so those are of course really really nice quotes it's it's a very very special place and I'm really or not that I can look after it and looking after it I think it's the right word I think myself and the team we realize every day that we are only custodians of this place that would help would still be there when we're all gone so but I don't want to assume that you all know it in a nutshell it has 200 bedrooms it's been there since 1892 we have two restaurants with two bars we have large event facilities and annually we are receiving approximately 90,000 guests in our rooms that excludes the restaurants and the bars and one of our main market sectors really is the u.s. here forty percent of those guests come from from the United States it's a hotel and it's a brand that is steeped in history and inherited and of course immediately I'm asking the question how do we stay relevant what do people want today and I'm not only talking about the guests I'm also talking about the team and the staff because we're all investing our time whilst we're there so how can we do with the right thing and when what would that be really so a lot of answers to that question one word that surely comes to mind immediately is the word respect for the people the guests the staff the building respect for the entire thing we have deep respect for our history we appreciate our heritage but we don't live in it it's it's a very heritage and history driven brand but why is it still there it's still there because that hotel has always been at the forefront of its time that's why it's still around it never stood still it always was destined to be what it is today and I think that's something that's really important when you deal with a brand like Claridge's that we are very very conscious that we are building on the past we're not living in it but what we want to create is modern hotel or of the future I have a tiny little video I am for those who have never been it's a minute or so but maybe we can have we can have a quick look well I hope you like it but let's say but let's move on from all of this so so how can we be different how can we differentiate ourselves and surely the first thing is that our approach and our thinking may be a little bit different to comparable hotels of this nature what we the one of the overarching principles is that we want to make people feel better and that may sound simple and people may feel good it doesn't mean that they don't feel good but there's always room to make them feel a little bit better and I think that's an incredibly important approach the next one would be that people like to be surrounded by like-minded people and I think you can all refer to this we all do it you walk into a bar you walk into a restaurant you walk into her hair you very quickly check out who's there do I like it do I not like it how do I feel so this whole guest mix and who likes what we propose is really really important creating spaces that people want to be in so here we're talking more design and ambience comfort I really think that's very important that chairs are comfortable we're talking about things like table height etc etc what we also believe in is the spirit of generosity people can be very afraid and a little bit intimidated by those hotels when you walk through those doors whoa now it's going to get expensive everything will be charged and and I think that's such a shame so the teams need to be generous generous with everything so there needs to be certain inclusions the last thing we want to do is nickel and diming and charge for every little thing and then the overall mission of the hotel is is that we want to become part of the story of people's life and that one personally I really like because a lot of people have stories to tell about this hotel and becoming part of that story really means that we want to be important enough to those individual experiences that if those people had to write an autobiography that we would hopefully feature a little bit so becoming part of the story of people's life so of course you need to be a little bit more than just a hotel and a few boxes are ticked I mean we have wonderful partnerships we have great design cooperations great culinary connections stories to tell real stories stories are of course so important we have strong connections to the fashion word the art word the entertainment world so that's interesting and that creates an allure for the hotel but honestly the best thing the best thing we have are of course our people and becoming part of the story of people's life of course we can only achieve through extraordinary service and here in my opinion with the see a theme here here we really have to get it right and that's also what I really want to talk to you about of course today because it's simple but it's also highly complicated at the same time it's a delicate subject on its own because what are we dealing with we're dealing with people's happiness service has changed service is a big word I think we all remember if we think back a little bit TQM quality was everything then it seemed it became more a bit of a timed performance everything was minute it breakfast in ten minutes second in three minutes luggage delivery in 12 minutes it was awful but somehow it's maybe still relevant and around but what is it now what is getting it right when it comes to service means today so I think we heard the word a lot of times today experience guests guests want an experience so how do we tell this how do we how do we create this what do I tell the team come on team easy be intuitive be authentic be yourself relax okay I'm not so sure so so this experience can really mean a thousand different things to a thousand different people this search for this perfect moment this ultimate feel-good factor you know when you feel a million dollars when you think Oh perfect that's it but that's when we get it right that's when I think we have it right that's really simply wonderful when that happens and I think it happens actually quite often so it is complex and it is a very individual thing and we have the ability and the confidence and the charisma and savoir faire and all of this to create these individual perfect moments so when that happens in my opinion then we get it right I can give you a few examples I mean perfect moments my god I mean the other day you've seen the video have you seen the grand staircase I'm very I'm a lucky boy my office is right at the top of it so I was walking down that staircase and there is our four year restaurant the piano is play in cocktail hour pour champagne but it's opening Kerching so and there in the room are just wonderful people here new york-based designer Zac Posen with Dita Von Teese and Dita Von Teese is doing her burlesque thing on the piano I mean honestly you should have seen the faces in in the guests eyes it was wonderful it was a perfect moment that was just exceptional only at Claridge's that's what I think when I see that so then there is another guest it's a corporate client of ours who told me that he signed his most important business deal at Claridge's and at the time he felt so exposed and he felt so insecure and now he's a very very rich man I mean the other day he told me he designed his own private jet and the jet inside looks like leverages lovely so but what made him loyal and what made him come back is how we made him feel because in the times when he felt exposed that Hotel gave him safety and security and I think that's the beauty of the stories there are many stories that are very emotional people propose people meet their future partners somebody told me the other day he had all his affairs at Claridge's I can't go into further detail so when we recognized this we launched an umbrella program and we call that program captivating moments obviously in search for those perfect moments we had to rethink and be ready to deliver these these moments and and that of course makes me think about moments and the importance of moments and is actually fascinating when you think about it fascinating because that is actually what people remember it's not the entire experience somehow we have to stop them we have to stop them in their tracks we have to create a beginning an end a peak moment a turn something something needs to happen because what people experience and what people remember are not necessarily the same thing so no one in my opinion were scientifically analyzed a restaurant or a hotel visit check-in perfect first four hours really lovely you know drinks cold in the bar had got a bit boring you know spa appointment wasn't available bet amazing comfortable nobody does that yeah you will agree nobody will analyze a hotel or a restaurant visit like this so it's about peak moments it's about outstanding situations interactions with a staff member fantastic culinary moments anything etc etc I mean that of course works good and bad I mean we obviously want the good ones the good moments but example just imagine you're in a concert just imagine you're listening to an opera or Celine Dion or whatever I mean whatever you admire somebody as somebody like a concert and you're sitting there for two hours and it's amazing it's wonderful your heart you're about to cry and then screech the last minute Pavarotti doesn't hit a note or the violin screech terrible no but that's what people will talk about so theoretically they had the experience they had two two and a half hours of a great concert but the memory will remember the screech and I think we can really draw a very very nice parallel to to hospitality and to hotel and restaurant visits when we when we understand that there is some you can google this online there is some there is a TED talk on on moments and on these significance of moments and they've also they have researched patients happiness during surgery or operations and how would a patient leave happier like in ten minutes but quite painful or in 20 minutes but medium pain so theoretically the experience is of course much better if it's shorter who wants to lie there for 20 minutes or for half an hour the time is really irrelevant you know what I'm trying to say and but the point really is is that people remember these Peaks the minute it's going more into the middle they forget so even when sometimes happens what we would never want to happen if there is a glitch we really need to think about if we want to end experience at this point or if we not want to somehow prolong their stay or their experience a little bit more so how do we get that culturally into a team I really think we have to rethink how we do things and and and how we train our people how we work how we share content what we talk to the teams about and really understand who are we doing this for are we doing this for us or are we doing this for the guests what's the purpose really I mean it's a very simple saying but it's quite true I would rather make the money than the point so and what that teaches me really is that we need to be adaptable flexible yet confident and knowledgeable at the same time of course so but the teams need to be equipped they need to be equipped with real and knowledge that they can hold conversations they need to be equipped with what's relevant in in the world of our guests that includes technical knowledge of course about our products but also lifestyle knowledge and I think hotels like like ours for example they haven't really thought much about that until until now so so at Claridge's service we break service down a little bit service is a big big word so we recorded operational excellence and I'm now going to talk to you about three elements of this operational excellence so there's the technical excellence then there is an aesthetic excellence and then there is an emotional excellence and this really has been created to make service a little bit more tangible because it can really be a very very big word which can be interpreted left right and center and and and don't you agree that there can be a certain aloofness about service so so we we break it down into these three segments and the technical excellence is it's really not very complicated it covers skills it's how to do it right how would the hotel school in Lausanne or Cornell how would they teach it to us be a benchmark take pride in what you do show importance to little details be in the moment fully focused you know really like skill for this also goes much much deeper into the back of the house I mean service does not only happen in the front line back of house is incredibly important without proper processes structures and support system a lot what happens in the front line wouldn't happen I think there needs to be really really great appreciation for what those departments contribute their maintenance pantry areas the state of the equipment etc etc so that in my opinion is all part of service and falls under technical excellence aesthetic excellence where the clue is in the title it's about the aesthetics how do we look how do we speak the tone of voice which words do we use how's the uniform does it fit is it clean sounds a little bit mundane but I mean I must say if we walk through our industry with open eyes it's not always necessarily the norm so the spaces also fall under aesthetic excellence room temperature lighting how does it feel volume of music we heard about music before so all part of service and then the emotional excellence and that's of course the most important I mean here we we build rapport here we build loyalty and we create a real real connection with our guests this is really where we have to give our hearts and put our heart and soul into the whole affair of service so those three areas they all have to work in my opinion otherwise one becomes the remedy for a lack of another but together it's really beautiful I really don't believe that's easy you know sometimes people think that's easy III think it's not that easy really the foundation has to be a set of robust standards consistency I'm sure is a topic that comes up in all of our businesses relentless relentless every day again again again you know it can't work on a Monday but not on a Wednesday make it measurable of some sort people need to relate to something but but all of this of course I'm not talking about robotic service here I mean don't make it robotic in the slightest I think that would be absolutely terrible but enable people to be themselves you know what what are we are we managers leaders enable us all of it all of it whatever five hundred people in this hotel and eighty five thousand dead reporters so it's it's a it's a lot of people that needs to understand that they are representing the brand so the knowledge tools to be free communicating with them empowering them so that really the beautiful characters that we all love so much and that we have employed that's after all why we have chosen those people to be on the team because we love them exactly the way they are not their CV so to break it up we could call it maybe the economy of emotion that might be nice to call it but every single guest needs at least one reason to return and this is also where this talk maybe ties in into something that we can present at the boardroom table or something that is a little bit more strategic because how do hotel businesses or how do restaurant businesses work I mean it's the famous triangle of demand conversion and retention create the demand convert it and then when the guests are walking through our doors we obviously want to retain them so at least one reason to come back we need to give that so that reason most likely is created through a team member and through extraordinary service someone who got it right someone who created an impactful captivating moment hence the title of this training program that the guests remember and that makes them the one reason to come back and to call it a good rich experience thank you

Channel: The Welcome Conference

Views: 22,357

Keywords: Claridge, Conference, hospitality, leadership, welcome, being right, Hotel, welcome conference, restaurants, Legacy, right vs. wrong, Captivating, London

Id: JYrJOpgim3E

Length: 23min 11sec (1391 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 20 2015