Walkin’ the Talk

One of my favorite hotels is the JW Marriott Starr Pass in Tucson, AZ.

I have planned and produced four very successful meetings in the past seven years at this location including a management meeting just last week, with over 400 attendees.

Starr Pass has everything I look for in a hotel meeting site: close proximity to the airport, elegantly understated, comfortable surroundings, great event space both inside and out, divisible ballrooms, exquisite food and most importantly, a tremendous staff.

In conversations with Eric Duff, our Convention Services Manager, he shared with me the JW Marriott Commitment and a Service Notes Calendar, which serve as consistent reminders of the quality of their service.

At last week’s meeting, as I was walking through the service corridor behind our ballroom, I was struck by a particular wall hanging. A one-page document called Luxury Notes that exemplified my conversation with Eric. Broken down to simple one-word ideas, it wasn’t a long-winded mission or vision statement but simple concepts that each employee can master and execute during each and every customer contact.

Great service comes from hiring enthusiastic people and providing them with simple, attainable goals.