Starwood Upgrades Mtgs. Services

Starwood Hotels & Resorts next month will introduce a new meetings initiative at its largest convention properties that includes the standardization of pre-event forms and new meetings-specific staff positions, which the chain promised will lead to more face-to-face interaction between property managers, staff and meeting planners during events.

The initiative—currently being implemented in the 81 domestic Starwood properties that derive at least half of all business from meetings, offer 25,000 square feet or higher amounts of meeting space and at least 500 guest rooms—was developed after customer focus groups noted the chain had no consistent meeting service standards across its properties, said senior vice president of industry relations Dave Scypinski.

In October, planners staging meetings at one of those 81 properties will have access to standard and electronic banquet event orders and meeting résumés, post-event reporting forms based on Convention Industry Council accepted standards and access to Meeting Matrix set-up diagramming technology. The chain also is committed to pre- and post-event meetings with property management for every meeting, should the planner choose.

In addition, Scypinski said, a new meeting concierge position will be added and the presence of management expanded. "The general managers will be much more participatory and visible for larger meetings," he said. "Customers think that GMs are invisible." Sales and convention service managers also will be more frequently available for face-to-face contact, he said.

The chain quantitatively will document the initiative's effects with quarterly metrics designed to gauge customer satisfaction.

The initiative was developed following Starwood's 2001 implementation of the Six Sigma corporate philosophy, which, in part, stresses the inclusion of the voice of the customer in large-scale decision-making. As such, Scypinski said, the chain earlier this year conducted a survey of many association and corporate meeting accounts and its own advisory board to determine what planners considered its weaknesses.

"These things needed to be fixed," Scypinski said. "It's an expensive program, but it's important enough to get it out there as quickly as we can. We want to deliver that consistency across brands." He characterized Starwood's investment in the initiative as "potentially millions of dollars."

Scypinski said the chain hoped the initiative would spur meetings volume, or at least Starwood's share of it, but acknowledged that in the current buyer's market other factors are more likely to influence buyer decision-making, particularly price. "We think the initiative is part of the solution," he said. "Customers are somewhat commodity-driven now, but, if everything else is equal, it will be an advantage if we can deliver service effectively. There are many buyers who will pay more for that knowledge." The chain expects to expand the initiative early next year, targeting properties that include at least 250 to 300 guest rooms and at least 12,000 to 18,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.