anonymous - October 29th, 2005
WOW, what a great question. That is a HUGE loss. I would love to know how many locals who have left over the years would not return to Whistler. Not all visitor experiences will be favorable but Whistler must be focused on this topic. As we continue to grow as a destination, we have to try to retain our top position.

Why this is happening is could be any number of things and I am sure Tourism Whistler has the statistical evidence to draw conclusive reasoning behind where we are dropping the ball. Some factors that would contribute to the negative survey results are:

- Value (hotel/restaurant/store pricing)
- Negative experience (rude, noise, etc)
- Environmental (weather)
- Development (overbuilding)

I truly hope we fight to improve on our weaknesses as a destination resort and realize the short/long term impacts of the decisions we make.

McCaul Balmer

anonymous - October 29th, 2005
I've written a couple of features on the subject, heres a few we Excerpts form two of them "We must understand that no longer will Whistler be able to see itself as the centre of the tourism universe. Our proper role and primary focus is delighting our guests. Central to this value proposition is service, service delivered consistently through resort-wide teamwork.
Whistler’s business community has to confront a business climate fraught with challenges. To overcome these challenges will require leadership at all levels, the wisdom to invest in training for a better future, vision to understand the changing needs of consumers and the courage to inspire staff to meet those needs. Focusing on providing excellent service for our customers, maintaining appropriate pricing and working as a team are the keys to the long term sustainable success of our resort. No matter how large or complex the issues may seem, the simple truth is that for business to turn around, it comes down to one employee serving one customer, one day at a time. It’s up to each and every one of us to assume a leadership role, to stoke the fire in our staff, in our colleagues and in our organizations, to ignite the passion and energy that made us great.
If you would like to read the articles you can find them here: ralphforsyth.org
Ralph Forsyth
Ralph Forsyth

anonymous - November 01st, 2005
Thank you for your replys. I have read most of your articles Ralph. Where do the 500 people renting privatly on Allura Direct and others fit into your training inititives? How do we insure guests are receiving good value from theses private business people

Troy

anonymous - November 02nd, 2005
Troy, That is a difficult question! Just like people who teach skiing and snowboarding "under the table" on the mountain. Waht we need to d ois work together to make it a less desireable alternative for guests and remove the incentive for the people who do it. As for exactly how we cahive this I honestly don't know, but talking to all parties concerned in a non-threatening format would seem likle a logical start,Waht do you think we should do?
Ralph Forsyth

anonymous - November 02nd, 2005
In my experience, it is not the initial problem that makes a guest/client mad. Rather it is that problem going unresolved, or not being resolved quickly and satisfactorly. Guests must be frustrated to go to the front desk in their hotel and be told that it is not their front desk (if there is a front desk). I think an association based on a taxi company model should be created, Independant owners paying a fee to a central front desk service. In this way regadless of who the guest rented from there is someone there to fix their problems. Rental units without a desk could use the nearest desk. These front desks can be operated by the property managment companys in town. The trick will be to get the owners on board. Some sort of an advertisable room rating, chamber of commerce, better business bureau designation and a tax break ,initially , close to the cost of the service should be enough to incentivise them to join. The tax break can be phased out as the owners realize the value of the service and the adjustments are made to pass the costs on to the consumer. This obviously is a very rough draft of a plan, and getting all the 100s (or 1000s?) of concered parties to agree to anything is going to be like herding cats. But I do think some sort of discussion addressing these problems has to begin.
Troy

anonymous - November 03rd, 2005
Greetings,

I have just been made aware of this forum and that our company and my name has been brought up.

I have not been monitoring it-so I apologize for a lack of response on my part.

I will preface all of my comments by saying that our differences with the RMOW are in the past. Our door, web site, ideas, brains, creativity, insights and anything else that we can contribute or give to help the community and resort, have remained open and available since that fateful day. We are available to any Whistler individual, business or official who wants to interact with us, involve us, pick our brains or consider some creative solutions.

Yes-we have insights and therefore ideas and solutions. We think about these and other problems all the time. I come up to Whistler regularly and am willing to share thoughts and ideas with anyone who cares enough to listen.

My first comment pertains to the services that AlluraDirect.com offers with respect to customer support.

Even though we are an owner-direct company we are sensitive to our responsibilities in the resort with respect to guest experience, as well as our obligation towards positively contributing towards Whistler's global image, perception and reality.

To that end, we underwent a big internal transformation and restructuring this summer so that we could offer customer support by phone until 11 pm daily, 7 days per week, including statutory holidays.

This is now advertised clearly on the front page of our web site, which changed a few months ago to reflect this more clearly.

The intention is to help guests, but also to be quickly available to any front desk staff who encounter guests who have booked with an owner on our web site.

If guests are experiencing difficulties, we are here to respond, no matter what time of the year.

We intend to operate the customer support line year round, no matter what.

BUT: the help we can give is only as good as the information that owners provide us with through the back end of their web site. Most guests can be assisted in less than 5 minutes if the owner has provided the information we need.

My second comment relates to the development of more infrastructure, pseudo taxes and fees in general.

They are not effective and will never fly with owners.

Owners will also resist check-in services, etc. On this point, there is a common misconception that owners who do not offer and face to face check-in service offer "substandard" service.

That is not true, and is a slap in the face to the hundreds of owners out there who have amazing top-notch businesses and tons of loyal guests-but who do not use a check-in service.

Many guests are simply delighted to not have to check-in anywhere.Why take that away from them?

This is not the solution either.

The only thing that WILL work is if those businesses that do not properly serve guests, get less and less business--and eventually NO business.

The way that we address it, is through a complaints process that can result in account deactivation from our directory. We actually kick owners off.

They can advertise elsewhere, however, Troy, if you ran a similar type of complaints process, their exposure would become limited.

Yes-it is totally time-consuming and expensive, however, is there somewhat that we can work together on it, as the 2 biggest advertising options?

Please note that there is a big difference between a mistake that does not corrected, and negligence. Our complaints process separates genuine human error from repetitive negligence. In our process, owners are measured by their efforts to correct their mistakes, not by the fact that a mistake happened in the first place.

I am going to conclude by saying that Whistler's climb back to the top can be greatly helped by some simple and free community-inspired things, which are these:

1-When you talk to or see a guest, welcome them to Whistler, thank them for choosing Whistler and BC and ask what you can do to help them. Do everything short of giving them a big welcome hug that is clearly filled with gratitude for their visit and business.

2- Help them with a smile on your face and warmth in your heart, irrespective of your mood, their mood, the weather, or anything else.

3-When you part ways, thank them again and wish them a great vacation...and then ask again if there is anything further you can do to assist them.....

Win one customer heart at a time. This is actually the best way to make the comeback. Make sure that your interaction with them, will inspire them to tell 10 more people about Whistler.

I promise you-it works.

Thanks for the space and time.

Sue

PS: Terms of Service Subscription Agreement for AlluraDirect.com can be found at: http://www.alluradirect.com/downloads/subscriptionagreement.cfm

PPS: my door is always open. If you want to talk to me, please call our toll-free number and ask to be transferred to me. My email address is sue@alluradirect.com.

whistler - November 03rd, 2005
Some great points. Sue thank you for your input!
Ralph Forsyth and McCaul Balmer have also given some great ideas. Lets hear from some other candidates also. Duane

anonymous - November 19th, 2005
Thanks for all your responses, and sorry for the late reply. I,ve been on vacation Sue,No slight on your business was intended. I was simply holding it up as an example of a large industry that was slipping through the cracks of the current service training programs. You are all responding with the right message, win every vistor one at a time, now we just have to get everbody doing it.
Troy