General Business Goals
The Canmore Hotel & Lodging Association and the Canmore Destination Marketing Fund commissioned the development and facilitation of a community focused Service Excellence program. This program will align with the Town’s strategic planning of tourism marketing to brand the town as a year-round destination.
Target Audience
The target audience will be associates/employees of the hospitality/service industry. The program will focus on front line associates and all stakeholders in the visitor experience.
Objectives
The primary objective will be to become known for “best in class” service. To teach front line staff how to offer and enhanced visitor experience, service skills offered will include: how to read/communicate with customers with an emphasis on enhancing the customer’s level of satisfaction and expectation.
A further objective is to be a community that is known, not only for its great community spirit and volunteerism, but also for its enthusiasm and genuine interest in delivering an enhanced customer service experience. To ensure all stakeholders understand how to match customer needs with genuine Canmore experiences and product offerings.
Canmore’s tourism success will be judged not only on the number of guests who visit the town, but also by the quality, frequency and desire to recommend Canmore as a destination. To build ambassadors for the Canmore experience.
While CHLA and DMF will lead the initiative, ad –hoc committees such as BOWDA, BRZ and TCK will support, promote and utilize the program within their various industries.
The desired outcome is to be able to use this program as a marketing tool by promoting the unique service difference in our visitor experience.
Program details
The desire is to have a program that is 4 hours in length, held over a 2-4 day span, twice a year (early May and late November.) Ideally we would like 3 hours incorporating and teaching service skills, with a final hour focusing on a Canmore experience and product offerings highlighting our area.
The main objective will be achieved by providing a more service-oriented skill set which addresses the visitor’s needs through enhanced interaction.
Components of the program may include: greeting visitors, determining needs, recommending product offerings, dealing with difficult guests, boundaries of responsibility, staff interaction to communally enhance the visitor experience.
Instruction may include role-playing, worksheets, group discussions and speaker presentation.
The secondary objective will be achieved by providing customer service with increased product knowledge, community event awareness and area knowledge amongst the service industry personnel.
The product knowledge component will focus on the unique products/opportunities offered in the Canmore area. These offerings can include: Adventure, family, points of interest, dining, shopping and entertainment.
The desire is to enhance the customer experience and to provide a service that is above the basic service model so that we may set ourselves apart from other areas and destinations.
Costs must be reasonable so that it can be fully supported and that each organization has the ability to partake in the Service Excellence training.
Participants who complete both spring and fall course should be awarded a certificate of completion for that year.
Schedule
The program is held twice a year, before the summer season and before the winter season. The next program dates will be advertised here.