The goal of any successful hotel, casino or theme park shouldn’t just be to provide their guests with a good time but to truly wow them, helping to improve guest loyalty and anticipate services before the guests know what they even need. The insights attained from Big Data and the visions behind the Internet of Things have the potential to provide visitors with an entirely personalized experience that unifies all components of their stay. So how do you go beyond mobile apps and build a travel, recreational experience that integrates all parts of the value chain and keeps guests coming back for more?
Contributors

• • Michael Israel, Senior Vice President and CIO, Six Flags
  • Morgan Geddie, Associate Dean, Department Chair and Professor, Recreation, Hospitality and Parks Management Department, California State University Chico

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Transcript

Speaker 0 [00:00:01]:

CIO Talk Radio is brought to you by HP and Siemens Smart Grid. Welcome to CIO Talk Radio with your host, Sanjog Aul. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on this show are strictly those of the host, guests, and callers. Now here’s Sanjog Aul.

Sanjog Aul [00:00:28]:

Hello, and welcome to CIO Talk Radio. To learn more about the show, please visit www.ciotalkradio.com. As always, we invite you to join the discussion on Twitter, hashtag CTR Live, and look for this show as hashtag Hospitality. Today’s topic is where’s the wow in hospitality? And our guests for today’s show are Michael Israel, who’s the Senior Vice President and CIO with Six Flags. Good morning, Michael. How are you?

Michael Israel [00:00:55]:

Good morning. I’m very good. Thank you.

Sanjog Aul [00:00:57]:

Very good. Great to have you on our show. And we also have Morgan Geddie, who is the Associate Dean and Department Chair and Professor at California State University, Chico in the Recreation, Hospitality and Parks Management department. Morning, Morgan. How are you doing?

Morgan Geddie [00:01:11]:

Thank you. I’m doing great.

Sanjog Aul [00:01:13]:

Great. Great to have you as well. Now winter, as we know, is hopefully about to wrap up and we are all getting ready for warm weather, and that means it’s time for a vacation. People really want to have a phenomenal time whenever they travel and they want that experience to be magical. So they want to be wowed. And we think with new technology and other techniques that we could use and other processes we can put in place, we could help those in the hospitality industry get those people the experience they so desire. That said, starting with you, Michael, what do you think is hospitality attempting to do? I’m sure this has always been an overarching goal that we have to create the wow experience, and we want to be competitive, and we always want to innovate and work in a strategic manner. Nothing new from that standpoint. But what is, like, what are we trying to attempt to do here beyond what we’ve already done so far and whatever we’ve created so far?

Michael Israel [00:02:18]:

Well, yes. This is our time of year at Six Flags where we are rolling out new capital and opening up our parks for the season. We are about halfway there with our Southern parks and our California parks open for business. But from a wow factor, outside of the primary reason why folks come to a theme park, which is to be entertained via our new capital, new rides, new attractions, from the IT perspective, one of the challenges we have is how do we take advantage of our network and our operations to the point of helping to achieve enhanced guest satisfaction. So, how do we take our systems and assist in entertaining the guests? One of our key differentiators at Six Flags is our digital media services group. And within that group, we have an extensive TV network that runs through our parks with over 800 screens. We provide unique content. It is Nielsen rated. We provide proof of play to our advertisers. But the most important thing is while our guests are waiting in line, they’re able to see a TV show, see a cartoon, see some commercials, play interactive games. So we look to say, how do we entertain the folks while they’re even dormant in our environment? And that even goes beyond those TV channels to menu board systems in our restaurants and jumbotrons, over 10,000 audio speakers through our parks. We are just constantly making sure that our guests are just entertained and just not bored for lack of a better description.

Sanjog Aul [00:03:52]:

Now, Morgan, now in your world, when you look at hospitality in terms of a person who is coming for a vacation for some downtime, they are getting the relaxation, but also recreation and pleasantly surprised so that they have some memories that they can create. With so many years spending, you’ve spent the time in it and understanding how the world has been in the past and what the market is doing or how the mindset of the consumer or the traveler is changing, what is it that you’re seeing they’re looking for? Because Michael had some points where he mentioned that they are able to even watch something or do something while they are standing in line. That is one aspect. What other aspects are there which essentially impact the psyche of a traveler?

Morgan Geddie [00:04:41]:

Well, I think you’ve got to always keep in mind that what wows a person is different. Not everyone has the same tech savvy or things, so you need to get options. That’s all you’re seeing in this industry is that, let’s say like just the check-in process. It could be something as high-tech as you get a notification on your phone and you can check in, and then it’ll tell you what your room number is, and your key is your phone and everything. But some people, that’s not what they want. They want to actually have that hands on, face to face conversation with the person checking in. I personally don’t really care about that, but some people do. So you have to give options. Maybe you have a kiosk or have iPads that a person can be handed, and they can just check themselves in if they want to. It’s just really all about options and using social media for some people. Anything you can to make their stay better. But if they don’t want to use it, they’re not penalized for not using it.

Sanjog Aul [00:05:51]:

Now what both you and Michael mentioned is you basically took technology as the foundation for creating a wow experience. Just for the sake of argument, let’s take technology out of the picture. What truly wows a person? And it could be different for different people, but what is it that is creating that mental state of wow? Morgan.

Morgan Geddie [00:06:15]:

Gosh. Like I said, that also depends on the person. It can be just about anything, really. I mean, sometimes it’s the customer service they receive or it could be the room itself, the meal they receive, the destination. So it could be anything at all. And so that’s why you have to try to have many different points of wow, I guess I would say. One person might not really think that much of something, and the other person will say, wow, the bed is fantastic here. The person might not really notice the bed. So you just have to try to have everything you possibly can in your favor.

Michael Israel [00:07:12]:

Right. I agree. It really depends on the demographic. And if you think about one of our sites, you may have at Halloween during Fright Fest a teenager who is going to want to be scared and that’s the wow factor for them. At the same time, a family with a toddler is going to get a wow out of a juggler handing a child a balloon or something from that perspective. So, it’s that guest service, as Morgan was saying, that extra step that we’re going above and beyond to make sure someone’s getting their meal fast, to make sure that they’re being entertained, to make sure that for what they’re spending at one of our sites, they feel that they got their money’s worth.

Sanjog Aul [00:07:52]:

So, Michael, there could be a closed door conversation in the Ivory Tower where you might be involved as well and say, okay, we have had this particular individual has come with their family maybe two or 3 times already. What can I do to bring them back, number one? And once they do come, what will make that particular second or third visit memorable because that’s the only way because there are only so many people that you can try to bring for the first time, you want some repeat business as well if I’m if my understanding is correct.

Michael Israel [00:08:26]:

Right. You’re tying into being able to use your data analytics to better understand who your guests are, when they’re coming, what they’re doing when they’re in your park. So what is enticing them at any point in time to stay longer? And that’s really your goal is not only to get them to come back 2 or 3 times the season, if not longer, but it’s getting them to extend their stay. So understanding what they’re doing while they’re in the park and being able to extend offers to them, whether it’s coupons or loyalty programs, that’s getting them to stay longer because then in fact you’re more likely to spend more money while they’re with you, but at the same time enjoy their stay. So, you know, everything from monitoring where a guest is spending their money, monitoring where they’re spending time in line or what they’re visiting, this is all critical to us.

Sanjog Aul [00:09:19]:

So, Morgan, if you look at any kind of research that might have been conducted in this space, what are some of the data points that you feel are useful for, of course, our listeners as well as others which basically tell this is a trend that we find where people go to a specific type of property for vacation or for recreation multiple times because they rate a certain aspect of experience higher than others? Are there any data points that you’d like to share?

Morgan Geddie [00:09:52]:

Well, I mean, that’s one thing that’s another thing that’s going to really depend on who the customer is that they’ve figured out who they actually are serving. So it’ll depend on that. There’s just so many different aspects you could look at for this.

Sanjog Aul [00:10:15]:

So suppose there’s a family, right? There’s a family of four and then the parents and the kids, they’re coming to a resort and they have come to the same resort once and they’re coming there yet again, and you want to make that memorable. So if you take that case in point, what is the tendency of a family to go back and tell 20 other people because they found something that happened to them while they were at the property which was remarkable and people usually share things which are remarkable.

Morgan Geddie [00:10:46]:

Okay. In that case, I would say the children. I mean, everything if the children are happy, the family is happy, the parents are happy, they’re gonna go back there again. So anything that hotel can do to make a memorable experience for that child is gonna impact. So, like, maybe having a check-in desk for the child, even though they’re not really checking, but they give them, like, a backpack and a cup they can use to get sodas and things at the restaurant and having programs for the children and having a special area for them to go to. Things like this would probably be the things that you would look for that would make the child happy. At the same time, then you also have to have options available for the parents so that they will enjoy it also. So, like, while the children are off in activities there is a great beach or pool or skiing, something for them to do as well as restaurants and having evening programs so that the parents can go to a nice restaurant and enjoy themselves. So it becomes, first, make sure that kid is happy, then make sure the parents are happy. Having rooms that maybe separate the children from the parents. You know? So anything you can do to make it better. Maybe if it’s a large family, 2 bathrooms. Different things like this you can look at. Anything you can do to try to make the stay as comfortable as possible and enjoyable for all.

Sanjog Aul [00:12:30]:

So Michael, if you look at and then, Morgan, thank you so much for your insight about if the kids are happy, that means family is happy. Now bringing that back to you, Michael, how easy for is it for you or how difficult is it for you to collect analytics on children? Because one is that adults will give you feedback verbal or nonverbal very clearly, and kids could be made happy very easily or they could be very unpredictable because they are kids. So what is your ability to collect analytics on children because those could become then the focus of making them happy and thus the family will be happy?

Michael Israel [00:13:07]:

Well, the real question comes down is what is, from the children perspective. I mean, we have toddlers and then the teens and teens are very vocal. We monitor social media. We monitor what they’re saying. But at the same time, when it comes to families, we have a tremendous amount of ways in terms of guest surveys, guest comments, again social media, in which families are very vocal as to what they like to see in the parks. And we try to mix it up every year. And you’ll have a park. Chicago this year is getting a large coaster, which is geared towards the teen demographic. Next year they may get a water ride. The following year they may get some flat kiddie rides. So, we try to mix it up so that we’re doing something every couple of years at each park for the different demographics. But at the same time, when we talk about season pass holders, we provide metrics and we’ll know that a family of four may contain 2 children under these ages and 2 adults, and we’ll monitor where they’re going, what restaurants they’re going to, what attractions they’re going to. But at the same time, once you’re talking about kids 12, you are limited as to what you’re going to monitor from them. You’re not essentially going to give them a survey. You’re not going to be tracking where they’re buying because they’re not controlling the credit card per se. But we are monitoring based on those families and those season pass holders what they are doing, and going back to monitoring what’s going on in social media, what are people saying, what are they asking for, and those guest surveys are critical to us as well.

Sanjog Aul [00:14:48]:

Let’s take a quick break, listeners. We’ll be right back. And when we come back, Morgan, how about looking at some of the pervasive issues that the hospitality industry might be facing traditionally, with respect to customer loyalty or satisfaction and, more importantly than ever, the ability to increase revenue and profitability. Please stay tuned, listeners. We’ll be right back.

Speaker 0 [00:15:20]:

The US and Canada represent just 5% of the global population, but collectively, we consume about 35% of the world’s resources. Supply is not keeping up with demand, so change is not an option. It’s imperative. Siemens brings knowledge to power through modernization, responsible energy consumption, and greening the grid projects. Siemens Smart Grid has the answers. Just Google lead the charge portal.

Speaker 0 [00:15:52]:

HP is proud to sponsor this program. Tap into our expertise, innovation, and services to bring your most important workloads to the cloud. You are listening to CIO Talk Radio with Sanjog Aul. To learn more about the show, please visit www.ciotalkradio.com. If you have a question or comment, call toll free at +1 (866) 472-5790. That number again is +1 (866) 472-5790. Now back to the show. Here’s Sanjog Aul.

Sanjog Aul [00:16:37]:

Welcome back. So, Morgan, what do you think could be some of the pervasive and also chronic problems that we have always faced in the hospitality industry, especially when you’re trying to build customer loyalty and or satisfaction. And given that we are not just hunkering down and keeping the lights on, we want to grow, how do you increase the revenue?

Morgan Geddie [00:17:01]:

Well, I think the way you increase revenue is first to get people to come to your properties and then to keep them on property. And so you have to reach out to them, make sure that they know about your properties. Having frequent stay programs helps a lot because people become brand loyal and earn points and keep coming back again and again. But then you also have to think about, okay, we’ve got them here, but they’re leaving us and going other places. So then you have to work on ways to try to keep them on property. So having restaurants, spas, things like this is what you want to do to try to maximize your revenue once you get a person there.

Sanjog Aul [00:17:54]:

Do you have any idea on or any input on the type of challenging problems that people face as they go about doing it? Is it because we do not have enough data or the accuracy of the data which we can use to base our decisions on what to offer versus what not to offer or are we rolling the dice at all times?

Morgan Geddie [00:18:17]:

Well, I think the data is changing, the people are changing and it always is a crapshoot. I mean, because you think, like, restaurants have always been kind of a hard thing for hotels to do. They tend not to bring people from outside of the hotel. That’s not always true. Some of them are very successful restaurants. But people expect the restaurants, like, when you’re staying a full service hotel, you want to have a nice restaurant to go to, but then they won’t even go to the restaurant. But it’s expected. There’s a lot of things in hotels that people demand, like the workout facility, but they don’t use the workout facility or the pool. You need to have an indoor pool so I can go swimming each day, but they don’t go to the pool. If you don’t have it, you’re not going to be chosen by the people. So you have to have it available to people, but they may not use it. Then you have to figure out ways to try to get people to use these facilities. That’s the problem.

Sanjog Aul [00:19:28]:

So, Michael, in your world, when you are trying to collect data, and we did discuss before the break where getting data from the children is relatively difficult, but even when you got other people from different age groups, what type of data, number one, is difficult to collect and even if you do collect, to what degree can you trust that data for you to be able to make somewhat confident decisions?

Michael Israel [00:19:54]:

Well, we have a rather robust data warehouse that is collecting information from our variety of touch points, be it our inventory systems or our point of sale, attendance or ride systems. But specifically, one of the things that we’ve rolled out this year was taking our couponing program, which for season pass holders, each year over the history of Six Flags, we would distribute a coupon book to every one of our season pass guests. What we’ve done this year is we’ve made that an ecoupon system. So we’ve alleviated the issues of folks forgetting their coupon books at home, not knowing the ability that if we print a book in October, we lose the ability to add offers through the year. Well, now with this system, we can add offers. But more importantly, as those offers are used, they are activated as each guest enters the park. And our guests enter the park with a biometric based system, which we’ve rolled out over the past 12 months. So as they enter the park, we know that you’re here and your offers for that day are activated on your season pass card. As you use your offers, as opposed to a paper based coupon that can’t be linked to an individual, I know specifically what you’re doing and what offers are of interest to you. So I can tie them now back to that individual guest. At the same time, we are reeducating the guests to use their season pass card similar to a Starbucks type of gold card program: use your season pass card to save because every time they scan it, we are collecting that data as to where they are spending money, what they are spending money on, what they are doing throughout the park. And as they do other activities, whether it is a Flash Pass purchase or a concert purchase where they’re attending certain attractions, again, we can track it by use of their card. So we’re tying that into saying, hey, we’ll give you specific offers to get you to participate more, but at the same time, we’re now able to collect down to that family of four knowing what they’re doing, whether you’re a teenager or a toddler, what’s going on. So that’s one specific example of what we rolled out actually this year to assist in that process.

Morgan Geddie [00:22:19]:

You know what you could do? I mean, if you take it at a higher level and if you have used smart card technology, you could track them while they’re in line. I mean, you can even do a check-in. When the people get their tickets, people could give their phone number. They could track the age. And because, frankly, every kid has a cell phone nowadays, if you wanted to get that younger person responding to you, you could see, okay, this person now is in line for Superman. And you could have text going out to them about Superman or something about the ride they’re about to get on and then asking them questions and then responding back to you.

Michael Israel [00:23:08]:

That is exactly what’s on our radar at this point. We are very closely monitoring the next phase of direct interaction with our guests, which is proximity marketing. When you look at whether it’s low level Bluetooth devices or park applications, as folks are moving through certain areas of the parks, if they’re going towards Superman, would you like to know facts about Superman? Would you like to know how long the ride wait time is? As you’re entering certain areas, that’s exactly what we’re planning to do with proximity marketing: start to interact as they travel through the day.

Morgan Geddie [00:23:52]:

Right. And the other thing I’m sure that you have to deal with, such a huge problem, is the wait and trying to figure out ways to minimize the wait and letting people check in early and come back later for the ride or whatever. I’m sure it’s something you all are constantly trying to work on.

Michael Israel [00:24:16]:

We have a variety of programs. One is our Flash Pass program, which allows you based on a silver, gold or platinum level to change your wait times or have virtual wait times from that perspective. But at the same time, with traffic flow monitoring being able to direct guests to areas, which is not really something that you would handle on a normal operating day because if you’re in the middle of the summer, your high profile rides are busy. But what really happens with an environment like ours different than a hotel is that the weather will affect us on any given day. So if you have a day where in Chicago you expect it to be 80 degrees, but a cold front comes in and it’s 65 degrees, you’re going to have a lot less people in your water park. But they’re still at your facility. So being able to monitor those traffic patterns to say, hey, do I have too much staff at the water park? We need to shift them because the folks are moving elsewhere, that’s critical to us as well. So it’s not just about making sure the lines and how do we communicate that, but as the elements are affecting us, think about it like an orchestra, how are we conducting what’s going on in the park at any given time?

Sanjog Aul [00:25:35]:

So, Morgan, when we spoke about the challenges, in fact, you itemized here, most of them looked like operational challenges, which, of course, are existing, like Michael mentioned about the elements, the different environmental factors we have to deal with. But that’s not what’s going to create a wow effect. So I wanted to bring it back to say, yes, we have those operational challenges and that’s why people like Michael and others get paid big bucks to make all this happen. However, now taking it up a notch in terms of creating wow experience, does getting someone through the line faster make a difference? To what degree such tactical measures are expected to deliver the wow if you were to stand outside and objectively analyze it? Do you think that’s enough?

Morgan Geddie [00:26:32]:

Well, yeah. I mean, I think by interacting with the person while they’re in line, it’s going to speed up the process of making sure you’re entertaining them. Anything you can do to get them through the line faster is going to be more positive for them, especially, I think about when my children were younger and I was at Disney World and in a line and my three year old son says something like, I want to be on the ride now. I don’t want to wait in this line anymore. I want to be on the ride now. I can’t do anything about that. But you look around and there were all these other parents in the same situation. Their kids were unhappy in the line, but they were excited at the same time. Once they got there, they had forgotten about the line. They’d moved on. That’s why you have to deal with it, and that’s why the person does come back. You have to make sure that no matter what lines they had to wait in or how much they had to pay for that hot dog or that soda or the parking, do they want to come back again? If it is a memorable experience for them, they are coming back. A lot of times it’s the time with the family or for a teen it’s the time with their friends and the camaraderie, and the great rides. So it is a social thing when people go to a park: to interact with their family or friends and have fun.

Sanjog Aul [00:28:41]:

Let’s take a quick break. Listeners will be right back. And, Michael, when we come back, let’s look at the new, mega trend, if you will, which is the Internet of Things where you’ve got probes and sensors and other things and including big data, which is essentially allowing you to do real time analytics where like in retail or other places where a person is at the counter, you identify what they have bought, you can offer them other offers and of course, I’m assuming to some degree you’re trying to do the same thing with that Superman example you gave. What can be done beyond the staged approach to taking care of a person who’s in line leveraging these new concepts? Is there anything being contemplated in these areas? How to use the probes and sensors which could be part of the ride or wherever the people are and also using that big data intelligence and not basically going beyond the data warehouse level that you might be operating at and perhaps you might have something going on in big data as well. So please stay tuned listeners. We’ll be right back and explore.

Speaker 0 [00:29:49]:

HP is proud to sponsor this program. Tap into our expertise, innovation, and services to bring your most important workloads to the cloud.

Speaker 0 [00:30:00]:

The US and Canada represent just 5% of the global population, but collectively, we consume about 35% of the world’s resources. Supply is not keeping up with demand, so change is not an option. It’s imperative. Siemens brings knowledge to power through modernization, responsible energy consumption, and greening the grid projects. Siemens Smart Grid has the answers. Just Google lead the charge portal.

Speaker 0 [00:30:38]:

You are listening to CIO Talk Radio with Sanjog Aul. To learn more about the show, please visit www.ciotalkradio.com. If you have a question or comment, call toll free at +1 (866) 472-5790. That number again is +1 (866) 472-5790. Now back to the show. Here’s Sanjog Aul.

Sanjog Aul [00:31:04]:

Welcome back. So, Michael, if you were to look at these new trends, big data and Internet of Things and putting probes and sensors around the property and then collecting that data and using that to create the real time wow experience, do you think that is a Star Trek version of what we wanted to do or is it still there are some practical applications you can foresee, because there are some properties from different resort owners, etc., who are attempting to do something in this line?

Michael Israel [00:31:34]:

There are some real applications for us and when you look at how we wow our guests and we really entertain them, what can we do that’s unique and something that they’re going to remember. An example that we have last year, working with the folks at Wheat Thins, our corporate alliance group worked with the IS department and put a program in place in which, sponsored by Wheat Thins, you would wear an RFID band as you went on a ride. And when you peaked at the top of the crest of the hill of that ride, you checked in on your social media that, hey, I am at the top of Kingda Ka in our New Jersey park, look where I am. The sensors picked up that, hey, I just went, let’s say, 1,000 feet in the air, and I just checked in from the top of this roller coaster. So that was one example of what we’ve done with RFID technology to enhance that guest experience or entertain them per se. When you look at the other pieces of how we’re using those data analytics to wow, it’s not necessarily wowing a guest per se, but subtly, we’re using this now to track where our labor should be at any given point in time, making sure that we have the right amount of labor at the right place at the right time to better serve our guests. So with pulling feeds from our point of sale environment, knowing that we have budgeted X amount of dollars for a specific pizza stand, as an example, if we are seeing trends that that’s going higher, we can jump in and say, add another cashier, add someone here, pull people from other sides of the park and make sure that our guests are not waiting in line and try to reduce the amount of lines that they have to partake in through the course of the day. And we’re using that data all funneling in to be able to help us make real time decisions from that perspective. So one example of the entertainment side, another example from the operations end.

Sanjog Aul [00:33:35]:

Morgan, one is to, of course, leverage technology and stage the wow experience. Another is to look at the people side and build a culture where they actually are coming to work and say today I’m going to make every attempt possible to wow people. Because I’m assuming that could go much farther than just trying to use tools and techniques to stage a wow experience. What is happening in that regard and what are some of the challenges that people face in that regard?

Morgan Geddie [00:34:08]:

Well, I think it’s making sure that your employees are happy and leave their problems behind when they come to work. Maybe you’re outside of this, we can’t control that, but when you’re here, we’re going to do our best to make it a positive experience for you because you are the hotel or you are the restaurant. Giving them a happy, positive place to work and then teaching them how to serve the guests and to make the guests feel good so that the guests will give positive comments about them, which they’ll be rewarded for. It’s sort of a circle. As long as we want you to be happy, you’ll make the guest happy, so the guest will be happy about the hotel and you and keep coming back again and again. You want to almost personalize the experience to each guest and give them what they need and what they want to stay at your property. It even has things to do with tracking all their movements when they stay at your hotel so when a person comes back to your hotel because that’s your goal — it’s much cheaper for you to get a person to come back to your hotel than find a new guest — you want a personalized experience, welcome them back to the hotel. Last time you were here, you were on such a floor, we noticed that you liked it, we have your special pillows that you prefer. If you gave them a little special gift last time they were there, you keep track of it so that you don’t give that same thing to them again because they already have that. Maybe, like, have different levels as people move up and their stays with you become more frequent to the point where maybe you even have monogrammed towels for them. Whenever they check in, their room has their special monogrammed towels and stationery and whatever they like, the champagne or something that they like.

Sanjog Aul [00:36:28]:

So, Michael, if I were to come to you with the same Superman example and somebody’s been approached, you can take that individual who is your employee and go to that individual because that’s data driven and you are able to say go and talk to that person or that’s what you’re trained for. But the way a person engages that individual, if it is scripted, if it is staged, then god bless. We will not get that entertainment experience. But if it is done from the heart, then of course you can expect results. So how do you combine the data driven wow to the service driven and the mindset driven wow? What is being done in organizations such as yours to make sure that everyone as an individual who’s actually touching your customer is armed with the data, but is also enabled and empowered with that environment that they work in, which is going to create that service mentality and that’s coming from within and not being forced?

Michael Israel [00:37:32]:

It’s a good question and a very challenging one for us, similar to the rest of the hospitality environment. But Six Flags, within the next month, we’ll have approximately 39,000 employees. 3 months ago, we had 2,000 full time employees. So we go through a cyclical period in which we have to ramp up all of our sites across the U.S., and we have 18 sites across the U.S., including Mexico City and Montreal, Canada. But ramping these folks up and training them every year is critical to us. That training is done in a variety of ways. You’ll have basic guest experience training, which could be CBT oriented, could be direct engagement with our employees. And then there’s the entertainment factor that comes into it as well. Based on that employee’s role, it’s, you’re here also to have fun as one of our employees. I mean, you are in a theme park all day. If you’re behind the scenes working over a fryer in a restaurant, maybe not as fun as being on stills and out in the park, but you are coming to a place of fun. So a big part of that training, not just classroom CBT type of training, is how do you engage with guests? What is it that we’re here to do? We’re here to say, Hey, have a great day. Is there anything we can do to help you stay? Even down to our senior leadership team, as we’re walking through the parks, we’re engaging with the guests. We’re determined to make sure that there’s not a piece of paper on the floor, there’s not a crying child; how do we all engage? So it’s kind of viral in terms of once you get past that basic training, it’s, hey, we’re here to entertain. We’re here to make sure our guests are having a good time.

Morgan Geddie [00:39:26]:

Yeah. It’s ongoing. Anytime a guest comes in contact with an employee is what I guess you would call a moment of wow. Every time a guest, no matter who it is, the person picking up the trash probably interacts with guests at your park more than almost anybody, because they’re constantly being asked questions. And so the same thing in a hotel — your housekeepers interact with guests all the time. You want to make sure that every time they have an interaction, it’s a wow moment, because if you have one time that the employee doesn’t live up to the expectations, it ruins the experience. That’s what they’re going to remember quite often is that one person that spoiled the experience for them. So you have to make sure all your employees understand the importance of the guest. No matter how many times you’re asked a question, they should always answer as if it’s the first time they’ve been asked it.

Michael Israel [00:40:38]:

And with a smile?

Morgan Geddie [00:40:39]:

Yeah. With a smile. Yeah.

Sanjog Aul [00:40:41]:

So, Morgan, do you think it is a management issue or a leadership issue? Because people cannot be forced to smile and people can see from a mile away that this person is smiling under duress or talking to you.

Morgan Geddie [00:40:55]:

I think it’s sort of management because it’s by example. I don’t work in hotels anymore. I’m an associate dean, professor, whatever. I still smile all the time. I can’t help it. I think anyone who works in this industry, it’s easier to smile than it is to frown, and I’m always kind of smiling. Even though my life is not perfect, I don’t let it show. It’s something you learn from experience and dealing with people because you’re always going to have people who are not happy, and your goal is to try to make them happy but sometimes they take it out on you, especially as a manager. You must not take it personally and let it impact you for the rest of the day. You have to move on and make sure that your employees are not down, and you have to be motivating them and keeping them excited. As a manager, my job when I was in the front office manager in a 600 room hotel with 600 checking out and 600 checking in was to be a team captain, to keep them going and excited and happy and keep a positive experience going for the employees even under the stress they’re under.

Sanjog Aul [00:42:50]:

So, Michael, when you look at this and we did talk about being a customer centric organization and we want to create the wow experience for the customers. There was a book which is a very good read, Employee First, Customer Second, which means essentially that if you take care of your people, they will take care of you as a business. So the analytics and other aspects of technology and other leadership and management that’s been applied to get what the customer wants, what is being done in the hospitality industry so that the people who are touching your real customers and the visitors are getting the required morale boost, the happy environment and enablement so that they can be themselves and the best of what they can be when they are touching your customers?

Michael Israel [00:43:42]:

Well, a couple of things. One is hats off to our HR department across the company because they have a very difficult job each year. If you think about the makeup of our employees with the amount of seasonal employees that we have, a fair amount of these employees are also our customers. They are in the same demographic as our sweet spot of 15 to 25 year olds. When you’re managing a workforce of 17 to 19 year olds in a park in the middle of the summer, they’d rather be at the beach than working. In terms of keeping them motivated, our HR department and those team leaders throughout, just as Morgan was saying, have a very difficult job. Outside of that, we have a couple of programs that we use to assist our HR endeavors. One is our team voice surveys. We provide surveys throughout the organization each year and each department head, so IS, marketing, alliances, down the line, we review all of these surveys and we track the employees’ feelings about everything from benefits to work environment to hours, everything. While these surveys are anonymous, we pay very close attention to what our employees are telling us to make it a better work environment and to balance the quality of life as best we can. That’s one of the tools we’ve used and deployed. Another is a succession planning system that we rolled out 2 years ago, which allows us to make sure that we are recognizing the up and coming stars in our system. So if a park in LA, for example, needs a new foods manager, before we go outside to hire someone, do we have an up and comer in one of our other parks across the country that would want to move up? We use this as an insightful tool to evaluate our entire employee base to make sure that we’re recognizing those from within and promoting where we can.

Sanjog Aul [00:45:59]:

Let’s take a quick break. We’ll be right back. And, Morgan, when we come back, let’s look at the processes side as well. So we did look at the people side. We, of course, spoke about the technology. What type of processes would you feel have to be closely monitored, measured, and optimized on a regular basis in order for a hospitality industry organization to be able to do the best they can at any given time. Please stay tuned, listeners. We’ll be right back.

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HP is proud to sponsor this program. Tap into our expertise, innovation, and services to bring your most important workloads to the cloud. You are listening to CIO Talk Radio with Sanjog Aul. To learn more about the show, please visit www.ciotalkradio.com. If you have a question or comment, call toll free at +1 (866) 472-5790. That number again is +1 (866) 472-5790. Now back to the show. Here’s Sanjog Aul.

Sanjog Aul [00:47:49]:

Welcome back. So, processes. We spoke about the people and the technology. How about the processes? Morgan?

Morgan Geddie [00:47:59]:

Well, I think the thing that you’re seeing now in the press is social media. It is so huge in what we’re doing and it’s so fast. So you need to be monitoring this at all times so that you can make changes if needed or catch something that’s going on in your property. Surveys don’t give you very fast results, and most people don’t fill them out except for the people who are really happy and those who are really angry. Social media, a lot of times you’re seeing things happen as they happen. That seems like it’s becoming more and more a part of the day to day operation of a property.

Sanjog Aul [00:48:55]:

So, Michael, when you look at the process optimization, do you think it is something which is we are building just a better mousetrap or are there any disruptive changes in the processes that you expect?

Michael Israel [00:49:09]:

Well, we’re always looking at how can we do things better. Just because we’ve had a specific business process for X amount of years, doesn’t mean that that still holds true today. Our guests are more interactive than they’ve been in the past and our employees are more interactive, and we need to be that much more agile. So we’re always relooking at our business processes to say, hey, how can we change things? How can we move forward? How can we just be one step ahead. Some of the time it is disruptive, some of the time it’s not. But at the same time when you’re trying to be as efficient as you can, you need to make sure that all of your operational policies and procedures are on task.

Sanjog Aul [00:49:57]:

There is a concept of MyMagic+ which I guess Disney incorporated where they said let’s go outside of our park when they reach maybe at the time when they start even contemplating the vacation, their dream vacation. And that could be when they’re trying to do their trip planning. And then by the time they take the airline and the hotel and outside dining outside of the park, and then when they come into the park and then they give souvenirs, etc. So starting much earlier and looking at that as a place which is almost like a blue ocean where there is a lot of potential to innovate. Do you think the hospitality industry could benefit from thinking of what they can do to influence, not maybe control, influence potential visitors’ planning starting from the planning and the whole consumption value chain?

Michael Israel [00:51:01]:

Well, from our side, it’s rather interesting what Disney is doing. I know we watch that. The amount of capital dollars they’ve spent on this program is incredible. That being the case, we’re at a smaller scale. We look to do similar types of engagements with getting folks to procure as much as they can before they’re coming to the park. If you look at our ecommerce applications these days, you can buy your ticket or buy your season pass in advance, register in advance, add Flash Passes, meal plans, parking, get as much of that process out of the way before you’re coming. We want you to come to the gate, scan in, get into the park and start having fun. If we can take some of that decision making out of the way in advance, that makes your stay more enjoyable. We’re not a destination facility like Disney or a cruise line where you’re going to be planning out your stay for the next 6 or 7 days. But if we can get you to think about, okay, I want that Flash Pass — I can spend X amount of dollars and have dining all year long at one fixed price and not worry about it again — that’s great. And then not wait on the line to buy a ticket when I get to the park, that’s awesome as well. We constantly look at things of that nature and have done that over the past 5 to 7 years and will continue to do that. What Disney is doing on that front is impressive.

Morgan Geddie [00:52:32]:

You know what’s smart about what you’re doing there? I went to your Saint Louis park about 2 years ago, and I did all that. I paid for my parking. I got refillable cups. I did it all online. What’s smart about this then is you forget about how much it was that you paid. Instead of having that point of, like, oh, man, I gotta pay that $10 for parking now after I’m paying so much for these tickets, it’s in the past at that point. So you’re having a positive experience. I had a blast with my family when I went to the Saint Louis property. I hadn’t been to a Six Flags probably since I was a teen. A lot of it was we had these cups and we always just go up to a place and get a refill on that cup and it was a very positive experience the whole time when I was at the Saint Louis property.

Sanjog Aul [00:53:33]:

So, Morgan, if you were to look at that Disney example and, of course, Michael shared that it is a lot of upfront heavy investment, do you think going beyond what we have been doing so far with respect to when somebody comes at your property is where we have to stop and start the value chain from the very time when somebody’s planning their vacation? Is that for the privileged few or could there be some creative middle ground so that it allows the rest of the organizations who are trying to give a good wow experience to leverage it?

Morgan Geddie [00:54:16]:

Well, yeah. There’s lots of simple things you can do. From the reservation process, you capture their email address and you can send them things before they come. It gets them prepared and excited about the whole destination they’re coming to. Sometimes it’s just the business traveler and they don’t really care about where they’re going, but a lot of times people do. You send them emails letting them know what’s coming, asking if there’s anything we can do for them, telling them their concierge is so and so, and please contact her if there’s anything you need and we can get it set up for you before you even arrive. Anything you can do to promote the hotel and the destination increases anticipation and gets the word out about your property.

Sanjog Aul [00:55:28]:

On behalf of the show and our listeners, I’d really like to thank you, Michael and Morgan. I know we could continue this conversation for another hour because there are so many aspects to it, but I definitely appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts about where we can find a wow in hospitality and what is the best way to implement them. Thank you so much again.

Michael Israel [00:55:47]:

You’re welcome.

Morgan Geddie [00:55:48]:

Thank you.

Sanjog Aul [00:55:50]:

Thank you. And, listeners, please like us on Facebook, search for CIO Talk Radio, and be sure to follow us on Twitter. Thank you again for listening to CIO Talk Radio. This is Sanjog Aul, your talk show host. Till next week, take care, and God bless.