Situation
Dreaming Big
Although Langham's dedication to guest service and satisfaction remains unchanged after nearly 150 years, the world moves much faster today. Guest expectations are very high, and the choices available to them have never been greater. Keeping up with today's guests requires a continuous vigilance and a real-time connection.
But when your name is synonymous with exceptional experiences, keeping up isn't good enough. Langham wanted to be a step ahead, anticipating guest desires and delivering personalized attention. To accomplish this, feedback had to be part of the experience, not just a survey after check out. Langham's guest feedback solution would have to align with the brand, reflect the voice of Langham, and also engage people.
Langham's ambition wasn't just to create an extraordinary guest feedback program. It was to develop a visionary guest experience solution that would interconnect guests and hotel colleagues, and push forward the frontier to establish a leading example for the hospitality industry.
Ray Leung, Director of Quality and Learning for Langham, described it this way: "For Langham, this is not just an online guest survey program. Knowing our guests is a continuous journey toward engaging and understanding them better."
Solution
Long-Term Vision, Real-Time Performance
The answer for Langham would require three things: 1) practical application of real-time data to run Langham properties according to their guiding vision and principles, 2) tailored key performance measures and competitive benchmark data to monitor overall results relative to meaningful standards, and 3) adaptable technology capable of supporting breakthrough ideas.
The highest priority was not just to measure guest feedback, but to use guest feedback at the point of experience to make meaningful improvements, solve practical problems and progress toward the vision of "Know our Guests. Build Great Memories." Results would be tangible to guests in things like reduced wait times, better service and more smiles. To accomplish this, Langham used Market Metrix' case management capabilities to direct guest feedback into immediate operational response.
Beyond day-to-day operations, Langham has created a unique set of key performance measures to plot strategy and monitor progress. These include scores on key product and service elements, but also on experiential features that set Langham apart. Performance is measured against historical marks for continuous improvement, and against competitors. Data is delivered across the organization, at each property as well as corporate offices, through role-based reporting dashboards. Unique views for each role and function, such as finance, guest services, operations, and executive leadership, ensure that essential information is instantly accessible.
Because Langham's business is moving constantly forward, the guest satisfaction program is dynamic and evolving. Core functionality and processes remain stable, but experimentation and learning are ongoing. By sharing a vision and working collaboratively, Langham and Market Metrix have created non-traditional approaches that better capture guest feedback and emotional responses. For example, Market Metrix and Langham have created specific measurement indices such as a Know-Our-Guests Index by combining key emotional measures to track sentiment along with product and service results.
Results
The Journey Begins
Although Langham's journey with Market Metrix has only recently begun, tremendous results have already emerged. Significant improvements have been achieved on every key performance measure. Overall guest satisfaction has risen nearly two points, and scores for ‘Know Our Guest' and ‘Build Great Memories' have increased significantly as well.
Staff members at Langham are excited about the early results, and also very engaged with guest feedback. More than 500 active team members across the Langham properties are using the Market Metrix system.
Source: Market Metrix
