AccorHotels Gets ‘So Emotional’ Over Customer Engagement

AccorHotels is bringing more emotion into the guest experience and has partnered with analysts and behavioural experts from the respected Gallup organisation to uncover the secrets to best-in-class customer engagement. With Gallup surveys showing as much as 70% of customer behaviour is based on emotional rather than rational factors, the secret to exceptional customer service must lie in creating emotional connections. But how can AccorHotels empower its staff to anticipate and exceed guest expectations?

AccorHotels worked with Gallup to design a training program specifically for its Luxury & Upscale brands to help them deliver a world-class brand experience across all hotels. The ‘Leading the Brand Experience’ program has been rolled out across the global network and teams are now ready to implement some of their learnings to deliver exceptional experiences and connections with their guests.

“Accor has partnered with Gallup for the very first time and they have great statistics on how humans behave and make decisions which is key for us to impart that knowledge in ‘Leading The Brand Experience,’” said Michael Vaz, Director of Global HR Development, Service & Attitude, AccorHotels Luxury & Upscale Brands.

“AccorHotels’ luxury and upscale brands are currently undergoing a transformation and this training is just one small part of developing richer, more authentic guest experiences and increasing the equity of our brands.”

In the past, hotels tried to attract customers with aggressive advertising campaigns and special deals. Though those tactics may work initially to get people through the door, they don't create the type of meaningful connections that engage customers. Customer engagement - as Gallup describes it - is a customer's emotional or psychological attachment to a brand, and is the definitive predictor of business growth.

Gallup’s research shows that only one in two guests actually feel like they are valued, a figure AccorHotels wishes to change immediately. Furthermore, their research says fully engaged customers spend on average 46% more per year than disengaged guests, so there is a real business argument for delivering better engagement.

More than just providing training on leading the brand experience, AccorHotels is now empowering its staff to create a personalised bond with guests and has made this a real focus for the future.

“The program was interactive and reinforced a lot of good practices detailing the day to day human approach to the business. It helps us to fine tune the required touch points to deliver a memorable guest experience at our hotels,” Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager of Sofitel Mumbai BKC.

“It was an eye-opening learning experience on how to uphold brand quality without compromising on the guest experience and delivering service excellence in our hotels,” added Gilles Cretallaz, Vice President Operations, AccorHotels Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar & The Philippines

AccorHotels has over 180 luxury and upscale hotels across Asia Pacific and over 350 locations around the world under its Sofitel Legend, SO Sofitel, Sofitel, MGallery, Pullman, Grand Mercure and The Sebel brands.

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