Local Academy gives lesson in "Six Star" service

Unique curriculum teaches local hospitality workers

by Ceri Larson Danes

As seen in the Eastern Shore News–06-29-2005

Cape Charles — "We'd like to order drinks for our children," said the woman seated at a table with her family. "Well we don't have any children's cups," the server said.That server could learn a few things at Bay Creek Academy. With work books in hand, employee-students at the Cape Charles resort gathered over coffee and doughnuts to start the first session of their "frontline" training.

Held at the county's Sustainable Technology Industrial Park–Bay Creek head Dickie Foster has a contract to purchase the complex–14 staffers from different areas of the resort listened, discussed, brainstormed, asked, and learned all about what distinguishes standard customer service from "customer-first" service.

Customer service is where the rubber hits the road in many industries, especially in hospitality and retail, and it was here earlier this month as part of an employee-training partnership between the resort developer and the Virginia Beach campus of Bryant and Stratton College. Students included employees from Bay Creek's golf pro shop, marina, the shops and restaurants of Marina Village and also staff at the soon-to-open Coach House Tavern. The classes are also open to other businesses.

"There are no tests and no big home-work," said Jay Hollowell, one of the key facilitators of the customer - contact training sessions. Hollowell runs a Norfolk-based firm specializing in employee performance training and staff development. He said the goal of the session was to have "some good content, some good interaction, and a chance to grow a little bit together as a team."

The first level of training was a four-hour module designed specifically for Bay Creek employees and focused on the basics of new employee orientation. The second-level module was an entry-level, 20-hour course that covers rudimentary job skills and customer service applicable to a broad range of job settings. The 20-hour frontline training was just completed, and the fourth-level, designed for candidates of or those already in management positions, will take place later this year. The modules are repeated at different times. The focus of the level-three frontline module is on customer service delivery where it occurs, or direct customer contact.

Whatever the needs of the resort guest and whether their stay is for an hour or for a life-time, each should receive the same high level of care, resort Director Oral Lambert told students on the first day of class. "To me, this is the most important level of training because you are the people who have the experiences with the guests at Bay Creek Resort and Club," said Lambert. "You are our goodwill ambassadors," he continued, adding Foster knows he can't accomplish his goal of creating a six-star resort "with out the cooperation of you and me, and that is why he agreed to fund the academy."

A lot of people have tried to tell Foster that the revered Mobile star-rating system for lodging, restaurants, and spas only goes to five, but by now most have heard his rationale: He wants Bay Creek to exceed the highest ratings. "We want six stars," Lambert told the assembled followers. Those ratings are carefully tabulated using established methodology and specific criteria for all categories, from quality of service to physical facilities, restaurant products, and sense of luxury.

Lambert said part of the strategy for attaining the six-star goal is to create a "fully integrated resort," likening the concept to the Disney World model. Anywhere in the resort, a guest will be able to obtain any amenity or service simply by presenting a room key. "It's a new culture," he said. "Not what already exists in Cape Charles , but not a replacement. Cape Charles remains a constant, and compliments and ads to the experience. "We are making a bigger pie, not taking away from it."

He referred to the Bay Creek slice as "an emerging resort," listing all the elements already on the ground, those that are planned and still more in the pipeline. And Lambert went beyond the town boundaries by keying in on Shore attractions, from the wildlife refuge to the Barrier Islands Center to Onancock and other towns and villages. "The success of the area and the communities translates to success for us because it is something of interest for our guests to do," he said." People want to get out of their hotel room and explore the community."

"You are the foundation on which we will build this resort and club," Lambert told the level-three trainees, saying that at times they may feel like they are acting on a stage. Guests, he said, are seeking an escape, and staffers can help them to live that fantasy. "They don't really want to know, when they ask, "How are you?' We are role-playing the best we can." And the stage shouldn't be considered in terms of a specific shop, restaurant, or area where an employee works.

To raise the role-playing and fantasy-making to a fully integrated level, staffers should always be thinking in terms of the entire resort, Lambert and other the other facilitators repeatedly stressed. "We are all part of the same resort and team. We want to represent the entire resort regardless of where we are in operations," Lambert said. Max Good, another trainer brought on by academy partner Bryant & Stratton, described a process of tearing down organizational silos. "Silos develop," he said," when I know what I do but I don't know or care what others do."

But those barriers can be broken down if everyone essentially is a resort expert, knowing what is going on and who to call in every area. "How do you promote the integrated things oral talked about? With lots of crossing over." From ice-breaker activities to discussions about how to better provide guest services students expressed interest in the process of learning, improving and reaching for the sixth star. And they had their own suggestions for making it such a seamless organization.

• Require classes in all resort areas for all staff.
• Produce an all-inclusive resource booklet on the resort with contacts, maps, and other information
• Increase knowledge base so no employee ever answers,"I don't know."
• Reflect a positive attitude by assisting guests wherever they are in the resort.
• Learn what is in the works so people will have more reasons to come back.

The process of "cross-pollination," as trainers referred to the integrated approach, has the net effect of breaking down relationship barriers and enhancing the teamwork. "Imagine the experience a guest can have if the place works like a well-oiled machine," Hollowell said. "We may be there, or we may have a ways to go, but the journey is important."