tHE MaKiNg of aN all-star
( conTInUEd FRoM PAgE 46)
shaw coté
Spa Director Four Seasons Resort Lana’ i
LAnA’ I cITy, HAWAII
“ I recall one woman having a terrific experience in the spa from check-in to check-out. She was charming and personable when she arrived and beaming as she left, chuckling about how her therapist relaxed her to the point she couldn’ t do math to figure the proper gratuity,” remembers Shaw Coté, spa director at Four Seasons Resort Lana’ i.“ An hour later she returned in a panic saying she had definitely left her heirloom necklace in the pocket of her robe. All the beam had turned to a flush of panic. I thanked her for letting us know so quickly and led her to the spa lounge to wait with some calming herbal tea while we conducted a search. I instructed both of our spa attendants to do a full search of the spa and recently filled linen bin. We came up with nothing. I asked them to do it one more time, nothing. After that, one more time, still nothing. Every bag, every robe, every pocket, two sets of
eyes, three times, no necklace. I faced the guest calmly, but disappointed that we had not yet found it, and asked for more time. I then asked our fitness attendant to go through the robes for a fourth time— it was found in less than three minutes in one of the robes that had been searched three times already. What impressed the guest the most was that I didn’ t stop at two times.”
Coté’ s tale of diligence in customer service proves that he will stop at nothing to make a guest happy and comfortable. From the tea to soothe her nerves to the thoroughness with which he searched, you can tell Coté cares a lot about his customers.
That’ s probably why Kristine Huffman, partner at Hutchinson Consulting, recommended Coté as a customer service all-star, saying he“ has instituted a lot of wonderful customer surprises that delight the guest. His guest satisfaction scores have climbed a lot during the last year.”
Delight is an understatement when it comes to Coté’ s attention to his customers.“ I try to get the guest to take off their armor and share their true personality and something about themselves before they ever finish checking in or completing a booking,” notes Coté.“ By showing my own tiP: Keep your Eye on the Ball
“ Four words: get every detail right! Accuracy and efficiency of service are your guests’ minimum expectations. Each careless inattention to detail erodes the trust you are trying to build in your entire team. When it’ s all perfect and seamless, the relaxation is already starting. Think of them as a nervous backseat driver in desperate need to relax and you’ re a world-class chauffeur. If something doesn’ t go right, show that the recovery is your top priority. Show empathy to their disappointment, and that you care about their entire experience, not just the treatment. relaxed comfort level in the interaction, enough personality to show vulnerability without being overly familiar or casual, I invite them to shed a layer too.” To Cote, customer service is warm, open, and relaxed yet attentive. It’ s not nervous, minimal, scripted, or desperate to impress. It’ s all about natural but elevated interactions with customers that make guests feel comfortable and come back again and again.
attila Koronczay
General Manager Éminence organic Skin care vAncoUvER, BRITISH coLUMBIA, cAnAdA
For Attila Koronczay, general manager at Éminence Organic Skin Care, good customer service is the minimum standard for being in business today. He believes in providing extraordinary service, which is essential to form true partnerships in the spa industry.“ We seek ways to go above and beyond to ensure the spa’ s success,” he adds.“ Providing extraordinary service helps build trust, retain loyal clients and solidify long-term partnerships.”
In every interaction, Koronczay wants the customer to feel satisfied and heard – and if he can make them laugh, even better! Koronczay also tries to instill the idea of always going above and beyond into his staff members. Bringing lunch to a meeting that would otherwise take up a client’ s lunch hour, baking cookies to appeal to a client’ s sweet tooth or bringing coffee to an early meeting seems like a simple gesture, but can mean a lot to an unsuspecting client. Koronczay lets
( conTInUEd on PAgE 50)
48 PULSE ■ June 2018