When we plan vacations or weekend getaways, we are searching for that unique experience. We aren’t planning our trip around a single hotel or restaurant, but certainly look for those amenities once we’ve decided on the actual destination. Even more than that, we are looking for a positive experience, a memorable one. When families visit Walt Disney World, they don’t comment on the hotel they stayed in or mention a logo or tagline, they mention the positive experience they had with the exceptional service that was provided by the staff. Yes, it’s the people that make or break a return trip.
Then High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau sells High Point year round as a meeting and sports destination as well as a furniture shopping destination. We can only sell High Point one time. If visitors come to our city and don’t have a positive experience, they won’t come back. In fact, they will be sure to share their bad experience, more so than if they had a great one. They will talk about that waitress that couldn’t answer a simple question regarding the menu or the employee that rushed to the door to lock it at five o’clock on-the-dot while watching customers on the other side look in with disappointment and frustration. The negative memories always outweigh the positive ones and spread like wildfire.
The High Point CVB prides itself on good customer service. Our number one priority is for visitors to have a positive experience while in High Point. We invite people to “make yourself at home,” letting them know we are welcoming hosts that can accommodate their needs and raise the bar on quality customer service. We’ve got to be able to back that up with actions and not just words. One of the ways we’ve succeeded in doing just that is launching our Partners of Excellence Program five years ago. Participants in the program include hotels, restaurants, attractions, furniture stores and various service-oriented businesses that cater to visitors. The program allows us to hold our Partners of Excellence Members accountable for ensuring visitors a level of experience they will appreciate and share when returning home.
We continue our efforts to make High Point a destination visitors can be proud of and return to again and again. The High Point CVB hosts Customer Service Seminars, twice annually, inviting our industry partners to participate. The next one is Saturday, May 21, 8 a.m. to noon, at the Regional Visitors Center, featuring Carol Andrews, an award-winning author and speaker. Please call 336.884.5255 or email Nancy Bowman to register. The seminar is free and just one of many services we provide at the High Point CVB. Remember, it takes all of us to create a memorable experience for our visitors. You may not realize it, but every person in High Point sells our city every day. Each of us is an ambassador. The question is, what type of ambassador are you?