Choice Survey Yields Clarion, Comfort Biz Initiatives
<B> Choice Survey Yields Clarion, Comfort Biz Initiatives</B>
By Maria P. Vallejo
<I>Silver Spring, Md.</I> - Choice brands Clarion Inns and Comfort Inns soon will launch a series of initiatives aimed at business travelers based on results of a $1.5 million research project.
Clarion Inns, Hotels Suites & Resorts used the advice of 87 focus groups and 200 telephone surveys to create the set of initiatives it is launching this month, which will require more business rooms per hotel, a 100-percent meeting guarantee and a designated human "greeter" to talk to guests.
The research project, commissioned by Clarion's parent company Choice Hotels International, showed that travelers above all want more business class rooms and amenities. To that end, Clarion will require all properties to set aside 50 percent of their inventory--double the current requirement of 25 percent--for Clarion Class Business Rooms. These rooms provide travelers with oversized desks, ergonomic chairs, special lighting and coffee makers, as well as office supplies like staplers and tape. Every Clarion property also will be equipped with a FedEx drop-off area.
"We want our business travelers to know we're serious about doing business with them," said Clarion brand manager and vice president John Onorio, "and to clearly position Clarion as a Mecca for business travelers. These are pluses that are not necessarily big capital investments, but if we do enough of these things, we'll put ourselves in a niche that will be hard to crack."
The survey also reaffirmed the importance of the chain's new meeting guarantee program, modeled after Choice's 100 Percent Customer Guarantee program, which will roll out to all 85 hotels with meeting facilities by Labor Day. To date, 35 hotels have implemented the program.
The guarantee program includes ongoing training courses for hotel staff that last one or two days, costing Choice about $90,000, and follow-up materials for new employee training that cost about $20,000.
Besides tangible amenities, the survey also has resulted in a new Guest Service Specialist program. Hotel employees in managerial positions will take turns, in two-hour rotating shifts in the morning and afternoon, to randomly approach guests in the hotel lobby and other public areas and offer assistance. The mandatory program will be installed chainwide by Sept. 1.
The program will not replace the concierge or front desk attendant, but rather complement them. Program designers maintain that guest interaction with a managerial employee elevates customer perception of their importance. "People want that personal attention. They don't want to be intimidated by the front desk," said Choice marketing vice president Betsy O'Rourke.
Response to Clarion's meeting intitiative from corporate hotel buyers was overwhelmingly positive. "It matters a lot if you are going to back your business by a 100 percent guarantee. It means you obviously have a lot of faith in your hotel for good service," said corporate travel manager Patricia Meyers of Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Michael Baker Corp., a $5 million air volume account that uses the Clarion Royce Hotel for most of its corporate meetings and considers Clarion a preferred hotel supplier.
Comfort Inns also will focus on increasing its percentage of business travelers by developing and launching a new business class room, "Comfort Plus Rooms." These new rooms, expected to roll out in early July, are still in the development phases. Three room types are being tested in 25 to 30 hotels nationwide.
Based on feedback from business travelers, the rooms may include modem access, free local calls, desk-height electrical plugs, larger desks, improved lighting, ergonomic chairs, in-room coffee makers and room newspaper delivery.
Choice initially will require existing Comfort Inn hotels to convert 10 percent of their inventory, about 16,000 total rooms, to Comfort Plus Rooms. After the complete rollout, all newly constructed hotels' inventory will follow the new room style.