Smart Business Magazine, Apr 2013
10 Smart Business Florida April 2013 When you stay in a hotel there are so many things that could go wrong The hotel could lose your reservation a TV remote control might not work a light could be burnt out the air conditioner may be noisy or in David Kongs case the room may not contain an iron and ironing board On a trip to Germany to attend a black tie event Kongs attire became wrinkled while traveling His hotel had no extra irons or ironing boards but the staff took his clothes and got them ironed The next day the staff bought a new iron and ironing board for his room and also sent a fruit basket to apologize for what had happened My impression of the hotel went sky high because they went out of the way to make it right says Kong president and CEO of Best Western International Inc When something goes wrong its an opportunity to build guest loyalty if you take care of the problem correctly The customer experience is exactly what Kong is focusing on to keep the Best Western brand relevant after nearly seven decades Headquartered in Phoenix Ariz Best Western International Inc is the worlds largest hotel family with more than 4000 hotels in more A better stay How David Kong is keeping 67 year old Best Western relevant through the customer experiencethan 100 countries and territories The company has 1200 corporate employees and annual revenue of more than 6 billion worldwide Over the past eight years Kong has been working diligently to build and capitalize on Best Westerns strengths surrounding the customer experience Here is what he and his team at Best Western have done to keep the companys brand relevant through the years Unlock potential When Kong joined Best Western most of his friends couldnt understand why he would make the move to Phoenix to work for the midscale hotel I saw tremendous potential at Best Western and I wanted to be a part of the team to unlock that potential Kong says When I started as CEO I wanted to define the key strengths of Best Western but also look at how we can make the brand more relevant and contemporary The Best Western brand is 67 years old making it the most senior hotel brand Kongs objective was to not appear as anything less than relevant and contemporary and to fit with todays customer tastes In that regard we had a concerted effort in separating from hotels that detract from the brand meaning they didnt provide the cleanliness upkeep or service that the brand should be known for he says Best Western split from more than 1000 hotels during the last eight years and implemented standards that ensured delivery on the brand promise The hotel family also created partnerships with Harley Davidson Disney AAA and others to not only penetrate those customer bases but better position the Best Western brand Weve done a lot in terms of how we keep the brand relevant and contemporary and deliver on the brand promise Kong says That was just step one You have to do the basics If the leader is always every day every moment living what he is preaching then people get invigorated and inspired by that DAVID KONG PRESIDENT AND CEO BEST WESTERN INTERNATIONAL INC CLICK OR SCAN to read more stories on branding or go to bit ly SBN_ Branding FEATURE BEST WESTERN INTERNATIONAL INC BY GREGORY JONES GJONES@ SBNONLINE COM
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