Customer Service Opportunities Approaching

Being the best takes work. Vail & Beaver Creek have put themselves on the map and distinguished themselves in the destination resort marketplace by providing consistently high levels of customer service – in good times and not so good times.

The Vail Valley Partnership is fully invested in customer service as a point of differentiation in the marketplace and offers two programs specifically dedicated to helping our local business community achieve high levels of guest satisfaction.

First is our signature program, Destination Experience, the Platinum Service Program (PSP). The Platinum Service Program encourages an ethos of outstanding customer service in the Vail Valley by providing an opportunity to train, evaluate & recognize great customer service at your business. The PSP helps businesses establish customer service expectations, set goals and reward extraordinary service by providing mystery shopper evaluations to participating businesses. These evaluations offer detailed feedback on the guest’s perception of your business in order to help you identify areas for improvement and opportunities to celebrate exceptional guest experiences.

The Platinum Service Program has a variety of participation levels to help businesses of any size offer a comprehensive training program to their staff. Programs start at $450 for the ski season and participants in the PSP are eligible to participate in the Vail Resorts Merchant Ski Pass program. Contact Katie Barnes to sign up: (970) 390-4370 or via email at Katie@thebuy-spy.com.

Secondly, the Vail Valley Partnership, in conjunction with the Vail Chamber & Business Association and Vail Resorts, is proud to again host the “Service to the Power of You” customer service seminar on November 3, 2011 at the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort. This education program is the ONLY qualifying educational program for the Vail Resorts Merchant Ski Pass. Businesses must be members of the VVP, VCBA or Beaver Creek Merchant Association to participate.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Shep Hyken, the New York Times best selling author of “The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience.” Shep will explain that customer service isn’t a department—it’s a philosophy that includes every person and all aspects of the best and brightest companies— and will outline how, in a tough, competitive, and price-sensitive economy, customer service is one of the most essential tools to separate your business from the competition. The keynote speech will deliver seven powerful strategies that any organization can implement to create greater customer and employee loyalty:

Membership: What if you treated the people you serve like members instead of customers?

Serious FUN: What if your employees felt a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment that made them loyal to you and your customers?

Partnership: What if your customers thought of you as a partner rather than just another vendor?

Hiring: What if you could implement innovative hiring processes to support your customer-service mission?

The After-Experience: What if you could create a memorable, positive experience after someone did business with you?

Community: What if you could create a community of evangelists—loyal customers who brag about you to their friends and associates?

Walking the Walk: What if every person in your company didn’t just deliver, but lived and breathed your vision for amazing customer service?

RSVP to the Service to the Power of You seminar by contacting Jennifer Weintraub at (970) 477-4001 or via email .

As always, I encourage all member businesses to get engaged with the Partnership and to contact us with any suggestions you may have to help us better serve you. Call us at (970) 476-1000 or stop by our offices in Avon at Traer Creek Plaza to share your feedback.