It is my opinion that in order to achieve customer loyalty, resort communities must stress consumer engagement with their entire employee population.  Every department within a resort community can have a direct impact on driving customer loyalty by just saying hello and asking if there is anything they can do to make their stay more enjoyable.  From the time a consumer steps into the Welcome center or front desk, they must feel welcomed and assured that if they need anything during their stay, the resort staff will ensure they get what they want in a timely manner.

Once the consumer leaves check-in and proceeds to their unit, they most likely will come into contact with either housekeeping, maintenance, or landscaping employees.  A simple “hello” or “good morning” will go a long way in making that vacationer feel important and reassures them that they picked the right resort community to spend their vacation stay.  I even like the phone calls some properties make to my unit a couple of days after check-in to see if there is anything they can do to make my stay a more pleasurable one.  It all goes back to enhancing a vacationers lodging experience by exerting exceptional customer service from the entire employee population.  It only takes one awkward occurrence between a consumer and employee for their feedback to be less than stellar regarding the property.

From my experience in working with various resort properties on their customer survey program, we can generally point to one bad instance the consumer had with an employee while on location that sours the whole vacation experience.  This means as a whole, the employee population always has to bring their “A” game.  Go overboard with kindness, and you will turn that consumer into a loyal vacationer at your resort property.