Insight article
Friday Stories: Service means everything
A couple of years ago, we had the pleasure of working with Steve Wynn at his brand-new Wynn hotel and resort in Las Vegas. It’s a spectacular place.
For the 9,000 or so employees, it might be easy to see the gleaming chandeliers, the giant pools, grand atriums and expansive casinos, the plush restaurants and nightclubs – and think that the waiters, the concierge, the cleaners, the salespeople all play secondary roles. Not the case.
Our programme with the Wynn was designed to highlight the unique and all-important contributions hotel employees make in “creating an experience our guests will never want to leave”. Part of the programme involved collecting stories of times when employees played a crucial role in giving guests a particularly memorable experience.
Here’s one of our favourites:
When a couple looking like tourists visit a jewellery store like Wynn & Co., most sales people would run for cover. But not our store manager Troy Adams. He struck up a conversation to try to make them feel welcome.
They were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, they’d never been to Las Vegas, and they were amazed that anyone could spend that kind of money on a piece of jewellery.
‘Feel what it’s like’ said Troy, as he walked the couple around he store, placing a $350,000 bracelet on the woman’s wrist. When he showed them an $85,000 Rolex watch, the woman remarked that she would never be able to afford one. Troy mentioned that there was a ‘starter Rolex’ for $3,000 and suggested she try it on.
‘Wrap it up, we'll take it!’ said her husband. To his wife’s surprise, he added, ‘I don’t care if you think we can’t afford it, I want you to remember this moment for the rest of your life.’
They would have never dreamed of buying until they experienced Troy’s hospitality. That’s powerful!
For his part, Steve Wynn was pleased with the results of the storytelling programme:
“This business of storytelling, and finding a way to give individual recognition to people by allowing them to tell their stories every day and publishing them, is the single greatest idea that I have heard in business of any kind, whatsoever.”
