Imagine having your clients rave about the experience at your law firm one month after their visit. I know it is possible because I am still telling everyone I know (and all of my friends on the internet reading this blog) about the Academy’s Fall Summit hotel. Hopefully by sharing my experience, you will be able to think of ways you can wow your clients when they visit your office.
I had the pleasure of planning the Academy’s 2019 Fall Summit at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa. The team at the hotel is unlike any other I have witnessed in my 10+ years planning conferences across the country. They genuinely care about the customer experience and it shows in everything they do. I am not referencing just the Sales Team, I mean every single person that I spoke with who worked for the hotel. Not only did the hotel employees ask questions and listen, they genuinely seemed to care about my answers.
I was shocked that a handful of employees, from Banquet Servers to the Audio Visual Set-Up Crew, remembered me from the last time we had our conference there six years prior. Yes, you read that correctly, six full years ago. They asked me questions about how I had been, how the conference had grown and how thrilled they were to have our group back on property. I heard from the General Manager, the Sales Team, the Audio Visual Team and the Banquets Team how thrilled they were to have us back. If this had happened once, I would have thought they were just being polite, but when it happened again and again, I took note. Not only was every interaction a positive experience, it left me feeling valued and heard.
I have many examples of the unparalleled customer service we received, from a Banquet Manager giving the tie he was wearing to an underdressed attendee at our Cocktail Party to an off-duty hotel employee helping an attendee who was in need of assistance. The off-duty employee then circled back to let the Event Team know we needed to follow up with the attendee to confirm he was ok. I sensed this heightened level of customer service was engrained in the culture at the Coronado Island Marriott simply by the way the hotel staff interacted with everyone. My suspicions were confirmed when I was in one of the back hallways for hotel employees and I saw a quote plastered on the wall by Maya Angelou. It read, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It is obvious that the Coronado Island Marriott fully embraces this idea in all they do and that it’s a core value to everyone on the team.
I hope my experience inspires you to sit down with your team and talk about the experience for clients at your law firm. Creating a culture where clients know they are valued and cared for by every member of your team will go a long way!
Erin Mathew
Associate Director, Projects and Event Planning
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
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