The Guest Experience Show: Recent Episodes
ROLLER
On this podcast, Josh Liebman speaks with thought leaders from the attractions industry about the importance of 'Guest Experience', including advice and strategies on how to grow your business by putting the guest first.
Bryn Netz is Sales Manager for Sureshot Redemption, a firm providing prizes and merchandise to family entertainment centers. In this interview, Bryn talks about what goes into a successful redemption counter and shares several examples from his years of experience. When it comes to the role of the redemption counter in an FEC, Bryn stresses that the counter is often the final impression that a guest has when visiting, and the way in which it is organized and managed is reflective of the center as a whole. We also discussed how the prizes themselves can drive repeat visitation, especially when they are in ticket ranges that are often out of reach for guests to achieve in one visit. And lastly, Bryn shares the importance of the team members to the success of the redemption, as well as the venue as a whole, and shares how each individual team member can generate a huge financial impact to the business.
Will Guidara is the founder of Thank You, a hospitality company that develops world-class destinations and helps leaders across industries transform their approach to customer service. He is also the former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, which in 2017 was ranked the #1 restaurant in the world. In this interview, Will shares insights from his new book, Unreasonable Hospitality, where he shares the importance of taking ordinary transactions and turning them into memorable experiences. Will believes everyone can be in the hospitality business, regardless of industry, because we all focus on creating human connections. In order to operationalize these types of experiences, Will talks about the role of the Dreamweaver at Eleven Madison Park, whose sole responsibility was to seek opportunities to exceed expectations. When asked how to justify the costs with creating incredible experiences, Will says that you should manage 95% of your finances “like a maniac,” and spend the remaining 5% foolishly.
Alyse Sklover is the Senior Events Manager for ROLLER, having joined the team in early 2023. In this interview, Alyse shares lessons learned over the course of her career, as she has seen the industry from the lens of an operator, supplier, and association. When asked about changes seen throughout the industry, Alyse states that some of the biggest shifts are due to behavior changes among guests and employees alike, prompting operators to put a stronger emphasis on the employee experience. Naturally, this led to a discussion on employee culture and ensuring that employees are treated as humans, not as simply filling a need for the business. And lastly, when asked about friction in the guest experience, Alyse talked about inconsistencies in expectations that lead to the need for guest recovery and resolution.
Jenna Boyo is the CEO of Planet Lazer in Kelowna, British Columbia. In this interview, Jenna shares how Planet Lazer has evolved in the nearly 20 years since she purchased the venue, and how she delivers a superior guest experience. Over time, laser tag has evolved from arenas with black walls and fluorescent paint to meeting the ongoing consumer trends and preferences, along with technological enhancements such as VR that have entered the space. Additionally, Jenna talks about how satisfaction leads to guests becoming walking billboards for the venue that help drive return visits and word of mouth. And lastly, Jenna tells us how Planet Lazer has made a positive impact on her community that has led to multiple generations of loyal fans.
Bryan Sklover is the Director of Community Relations and Game Presentation for the Savannah Ghost Pirates, a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL, whose inaugural season ended in April 2023. In this interview, Bryan talks about how the city of Savannah has embraced the team, despite skeptics who say that hockey isn’t popular in the southern United States. When discussing the Ghost Pirates’ fan experience strategy, Bryan says that he largely focused on engaging the Savannah community, which resulted in games selling out before the season even began, and by the time season ended after 36 games, 33 of them sold out. Additionally, Bryan shares detail on the immersive experience offered in the arena, which goes far beyond the game of hockey, but rather a fully themed entertainment attraction. And lastly, Bryan shares stories about fan experiences that truly evoke emotion, and said that emotions are not just about tears, but goosebumps.
Phil Bernardo is the CEO of Roseus Hospitality, a short-term rental management company based in Orlando, FL. In this interview, Phil talks about the challenges facing the short-term rental industry that Roseus aims to solve. Phil shares how Roseus offers an elevated experience compared to other management companies, such as ensuring that certain items and groceries are available in the home prior to arrival, and not having to do a series of tasks in order to check out. Additionally, Phil shares how competition in the marketplace has and will continue to lead to more opportunities to enhance the experience as guests’ expectations continue to rise. Lastly, Phil’s guest experience philosophy is to set and exceed guests’ expectations every single time.
Nick DiMatteo is the Chief Games Officer for Fortyfive Games, a firm that focuses on consulting, design, and operations for family entertainment centers, and Nick has patents pending with the plan to launch one of them by the end of 2023. In this interview, Nick shares how family entertainment centers have evolved over time. When you think about bowling centers and movie theaters, most modern venues offer much more than their core offerings of bowling and movies, in the interest of keeping you engaged longer and spending more money. Nick also talks about using data to anticipate guests’ behavior that influences their spending and overall experience, such as positioning kiosks in a game room within close proximity to when guests usually run out of money on their game card. And lastly, Nick discusses the importance of embracing failure, and how it ultimately leads to success.
Meredith Tatum is the Director of Experience at The Ozarker Lodge, opening in July 2023 in Branson, MO. In this interview, Meredith shares the details of the hotel’s unique experience and lessons learned from previous roles throughout her career in events, weddings, and food and beverage. When running successful events, know that there will always be hiccups along the way, and in most cases, the guests will never notice them. In describing the experience at The Ozarker Lodge, Meredith mentions that it will be the only boutique hotel in Branson, and the experience is significantly different than what a guest would receive from a major chain, thus giving the hotel a competitive advantage. And lastly, Meredith states that the most important part of hospitality is anticipating guests’ needs, where we identify what the guest might want or need as part of their experience and offer it to them before they even ask.
Max Pfeifer is the Experience Director at Museum of Play and Art (MoPA), a group of children’s museums that focus on learning through play. In this interview, Max shares how MoPA focuses on delivering a superior experience by hiring exceptional talent and running the business with state-of-the-art technology.
Key takeaways:
- Guests should so satisfied that they advocate for the business and deliver the flywheel effect, bringing in new guests that marketing doesn’t need to pay to attract
- Max stresses the importance of training and development for the frontline staff, both during initial onboarding as well as ongoing learning throughout their employment.
- Max sheds light on MoPA’s strategy for managing guest flow and timed ticketing, which he refers to as “comfy capacity.”
James Jensen is Founder and CEO of JUMP, an immersive VR experience that puts guests into a hyper-real wingsuit simulator. In this interview, James walks us through the JUMP experience, where guests cannot tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not. James also talks about how the purpose of virtual reality is to discover our full potential and find our true self. Additionally, James shares that virtual reality allows for cognitive reframing, meaning it can reshape the perception we have of certain emotions - in the case of JUMP, it can help guests conquer their fears long after their experience. Lastly, James states that JUMP’s tagline is to create life-changing moments, which is embedded into how team members deliver the guest experience.
Jeremy Wells is Partner with Longitude, a branding and design studio for hotels and hospitality organizations. In this interview, Jeremy shares the details of building a brand strategy and the importance of it to the success of any organization. In particular, Jeremy stresses the importance of bridging the brand strategy with the guest experience so that the expectation seamlessly flows through from pre-arrival into the onsite experience. Additionally, Jeremy shares that when marketing and operations are misaligned, it can result in a venue being either undersold or oversold, neither of which are good for business. And lastly, Jeremy explains what a brand touchpoint is, and how operators should prioritize them in their overall strategy.
Clay Talley is an immersive customer experience strategist, who has worked across theme parks, water parks, and other immersive experiences. In this interview, Clay shares insights about creating immersive experiences, and in particular, Clay shares how Ballast Technologies successfully integrates virtual reality into water parks and waterslides, creating new unique experiences. Additionally, Clay stresses that the purpose of VR is to properly tell a story and deliver an experience, and poor instances of the application are when they are offered for the sake of VR itself. And lastly, Clay stresses the importance of the role of the frontline team member, and that employees can make or break the guest experience.
Alex Zeitz is the Director of Customer and Employee Experience at Virgin Voyages. In this interview, Alex talks about Virgin’s culture and how the employee and guest experience are directly interconnected.
- Instead of customers and employees, Virgin Voyages has sailors and crew members to show that the relationship is far more than transactional
- The role of technology in the guest experience should be to reduce friction at every possible point
- Virgin Voyages scores highly in the category of “belonging” due to their diversity, equity, and inclusion program that positively impacts both the crew and sailor experience
Kari Manev is the Business Development Manager for ticketed attractions for Sensible, a climate technology company that allows consumers to have their ticket purchase fully refunded in the event of inclement weather. In this interview, Kari shares how weather impacts the guest experience, particularly in outdoor attractions and activities, and how guests now have the ability to have their purchase protected without impacting the revenue to the venue.
- 85% of guests would prefer to have their ticket purchase refunded if there is inclement weather, rather than be given a raincheck to come back in the future
- Positioning your product to the decision-makers to the family will set you up for the highest success rate
- Give your guests “Bonusland” opportunities whenever possible that are win-win for the guest and the business
Seb Gregory is a Senior UX Designer for ROLLER. In this interview, Seb talks about how user experience can make or break the guest experience at critical points in the guest journey.
- A poor UX can unravel an otherwise positive guest experience
- ROLLER’s online checkout regularly sees small enhancements along with occasional large improvements based on the latest trends in user experience
- ROLLER’s new progressive checkout is enabling venues to increase attendance, increase per capita spending, and reduce labor required for critical tasks
Welcome to the 100th episode of the Guest Experience Show! Over the last 99 episodes, I have had the privilege of speaking with so many amazing people from the world of theme parks, amusement parks, water parks, family entertainment centers, trampoline parks, zoos, museums, aquariums, and many other experiential industries, such as hotels, airlines, guided tours, sports and entertainment, and more, on how to create an incredible guest experience.
For episode 100, I’ve looked at what ties all of these conversations together, and I’ve pulled out six themes that you can find across multiple episodes. We’ll look at each theme, and I’m going to share clips from previous guests that really drive the points home. I hope this inspires you to go back and check out previous interviews if you haven’t already.
The six themes that can be found across the first 99 episodes are as follows:
- The role of technology should be to make it more convenient, otherwise it will create more friction
- Your procedures need to be communicated effectively to guests
- Guest experience is the best marketing
- A great guest experience starts with a great team member experience
- Turn your critics into fans
- Creating experiences is entirely about designing for the memory
Julie George is the author of Million Dollar Host, where she helps entrepreneurs scale up a short-term rental portfolio using Airbnb. In this interview, Julie talks about how she scaled her business to 130 properties and more than $8 million in revenue before selling the company.
Key takeaways:
- Automate, don’t complicate
- Don’t let technology become a friction point for guests who aren’t as savvy
- Treat guests the way you’d like to be treated
Will Henderson is a social media researcher at Clemson University, pursuing a PhD in social media behavior of theme park guests. In this interview, Will offers guidance into understanding how guests’ online behavior can impact the guest experience as a whole.
Key takeaways:
- The type of content that a transient visitor or vacationer posts is different from a guest who has influence
- Nobody wakes up in the morning and wonders what their favorite theme parks are posting online
- The best social media strategy is when you identify a core group of guests that you can personalize your message for
Marlon Rodgers is the Assistant General Manager at Adventure Air Sports in Kennesaw, GA. In this interview, Marlon gives us a look at what the guest experience is like at Adventure Air Sports.
Key takeaways:
- Harnessing the benefits of the “cul-de-sac kids,” who will share the experience with their neighbors
- Using memberships to help make an impact on guests’ lives in addition to economic value
- User-generated content should make the guest feel more connected to the venue
Don White is the President and CEO of Satisfi Labs, an AI-powered chatbot that helps consumers find information, get answers to questions, and even buy tickets to sporting events, theatrical performances, and attractions. In this interview, Don shares how consumer behavior is changing, particularly how people want to engage with a business.
Key takeaways:
- Conversational marketing opens up a dialogue instead of presenting information for consumers to find
- The way that information is delivered is one of the biggest friction points in the guest experience
- Rather than eliminate labor, AI-powered communication can help team members enhance the guest experience in the moment
Elliott Myatt is Managing Director for The Play Company, which designs, manufactures, and installs soft play and interactive installations for family entertainment and leisure facilities. In this interview, Elliott shares many key practices that operators should consider when implementing attractions into a family entertainment center.
Key takeaways:
- Competition drives repeat visitation, leading to loyalty to your business
- Make sure to factor line-of-sight visibility when designing your center
- You should constantly be investing in retrofitting your attractions to increase marketability
Robin Mills is a Sales Manager for Rugged Interactive, a supplier of interactive activity equipment for trampoline and soft play parks, healthy aging centres and fitness & wellness markets. In this interview, Robin shares how Rugged Interactive’s products can be implemented in a wide variety of settings.
Key takeaways:
- Active fun provides enjoyment and promotes health
- Challenges offer higher engagement and repeatability vs. one-time experiences
- Ensuring that you are delivering value to make the experience worthwhile
Bob Cooney is a leading expert in virtual reality in location-based entertainment, having worked in the space for more than 35 years. In this interview, Bob shares guidance on what venue operators should consider when implementing VR into their experience.
Key takeaways:
- The best (and worst) applications of virtual reality
- Blurring the line between fantasy and reality
- Get ready, the metaverse is coming!
Carly Straughan is the Founder of QLINE Consulting, which helps attraction operators select the best technology that fits their venue. In this interview, Carly shares how her background in ticketing allows for her to assist in making the best decisions for implementation.
Key takeaways:
- In many cases, venues express that they need a certain tech application, when instead they should be striving to solve a specific problem
- The best ticketing experiences are the ones that are so seamless that the guest doesn’t even remember paying
- Operators should meet guests where they are, suggesting that serving guests should be a multi-channel approach, rather than only offering tickets online or only selling them over the phone
Gina Elliot is the Director of Training for Altitude Trampoline Parks, with more than 85 locations in five countries. In this interview, Gina shares insight into Altitude’s training experience, which onboards new hires into Altitude’s standard for safety and service excellence.
Key takeaways:
- Training has shifted in recent years to have more of a digital focus, rather than the traditional classroom-style onboarding, which she says is becoming a thing of the past
- The word “customer” is replaced with “guest” to emulate having guests in your home, whereas customer indicates a number and a transaction
- The first impression upon entering the venue is critical to delivering an overall positive experience.
Cate Milton is the Customer Experience Officer at the Historic Royal Palaces in the United Kingdom, which oversees the operation of six uninhabited palaces. In this interview, Cate discusses what the experience is like for visitors coming to learn the immense amount of history that the palaces offer.
Key takeaways:
- When focusing on storytelling, Cate says that their goal is to serve every visitor type that comes through, whether they enjoy reading signs or prefer to have the content delivered to them, there needs to be a strong balance between historic storytelling and modern-day technology
- Employees are always empowered to create moments for their guests and do whatever it takes - provided it does not cause a risk to safety or security.
- HRP’s guest experience philosophy, which is to stir every spirit every time.
Scott Benjamin is the Founder of Two Cubed, a consulting firm specializing in operational efficiency, risk management, customer service, and profits for family entertainment centers and trampoline & adventure parks. In this interview, Scott shares how he helps drive business performance for his clients, which is largely focused on the people aspect of the business.
Key takeaways:
- When hiring, Scott stresses the importance of not just hiring the right people, but putting the right people in the right place.
- Once hired, the importance of training cannot be understated due to liability reasons, along with creating a guest experience that drives repeat visitation and profits.
- Many friction points lie in the entry of the venue, and if they can be alleviated, it can create a more seamless experience for guests and staff alike.
Matt Ulery is a Product Sales Specialist with Alvarado, which provides access control to entertainment and sports venues across the world. In this interview, Matt shares how access control plays a big role in the guest experience, specifically how it impacts guest satisfaction, efficiency, and security. Matt talks about the role of the staff member when it comes to entry into a venue, and that fewer staff members are needed to manage a front gate than previously required. He also discusses different types of entry systems and how venue operators decide what’s best for them and their needs. Lastly, Matt shares how ROLLER customers can benefit from the integration with Alvarado.
David Leach is the Marketing and Technology Director for Thrillz High Flying Adventure Park, located in Danbuy, CT and coming soon to Philadelphia, PA. In this interview, David shares the importance of making data-driven decisions that impact marketing, the guest experience, and future locations. Thrillz is designed with social media in mind, complete with studio lighting and an experience worth sharing, which has led to Thrillz going viral and expanding their marketing reach far beyond what they expected to be possible. By using the data collected from social media, combined with ticketing data and guest feedback, David shares that it influences their marketing, new attractions and experiences, and the location for their second park. Additionally, David shares the value of collecting guest feedback, including how Thrillz uses the feedback to make enhancements throughout the business.
Gordon Atkins is the General Manager of Action Water Sports in Southeast United Kingdom, offering activities such as water skiing, wakeboarding, an aqua park, and more. In this interview, Gordon shares how Action Water Sports drives the guest experience through the team, the personalization, and by managing guest feedback. The team members at Action Water Sports love what they do, largely because many of them began as guests and applied for the job to be part of it on a regular basis. This leads to incredible guest experiences, particularly when the staff can take guests from being happy to ecstatic, which turns into positive survey results and online reviews that reference the team members’ names individually. Gordon also stresses the importance of learning from guest feedback, especially when the feedback is negative, so that improvements can be driven by what will make the guest experience better.
Meg Parker is the Chief Marketing Officer at AREA15, an immersive art and entertainment complex in Las Vegas, NV, just off the Las Vegas Strip. In this interview, Meg provides an overview of the venue, which is quite unique compared to other attractions. Meg talks about how they build mystery and intrigue through marketing, while at the same time fostering interest for guests to come and experience it for themselves. Additionally, Meg shares the importance of continually offering something new that in turns leads to repeat visitation, and AREA15’s percentage of guests who return is substantially higher when benchmarking against other Las Vegas attractions. Lastly, Meg stresses that everyone is an influencer, and that even loose connections on social media can be more impactful than a celebrity with millions of followers.
Danielle Snyder and Dan Maret are with Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA, home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Sparks, and many other live events. In her role of SVP of Arena Services, Danielle oversees the guest experience, and Dan is the Director of Premium Services, overseeing the arena’s premium operations. In this interview, Danielle and Dan share insight into the guest experience at Crypto.com Arena, along with how they deliver a superior experience, whether the guest has an annual contract in a premium suite, or a family of four visiting for their first event. Danielle shares that they strive to “create experiences that the give the world a reason to cheer,” and she also shares their five pillars that make it happen. Additionally, when immersing new staff members into the culture, it is important to stress the “why” as much as the “what” so that service excellence comes across more naturally. Lastly, technology should make the experience easier for guests, not overwhelm them or inadvertently add more friction.
Kelly Molson is the Managing Director at Rubber Cheese, a digital agency and web design firm for the visitor attractions industry. In this interview, Kelly shares many best practices for engaging guests online and creating a seamless experience that leads to a purchase. Additionally, Kelly talks about the role of user-generated content, and how it can amplify your marketing efforts while simultaneously strengthening the relationship that you have with your guests. Lastly, we cover digital memberships and guest feedback collection, which are both excellent ways to collect high volumes of data and make continuous adjustments to your guest experience.
Pedro Olivarez III is the Director of Guest Experience at the San Antonio Zoo in San Antonio, TX. In this interview, Pedro talks about how educating guests on topics like conservation and securing the future for wildlife are more engaging when they feel like entertainment and the guest is able to have a hands-on experience with the animals. Additionally, the role of technology should be to make the experience easier for guests, but not keep guests occupied on their phones throughout the entire visit. Lastly, Pedro talks about the zoo’s innovative decision to offer a drive-through experience while the zoo was closed during the pandemic, and how successfully it engaged the community.
Fergus Campbell is the Head of Commercial Development for ITV Studios Global Commercial. In this interview, Fergus joins us live on the set from Ninja Warrior UK, and talks all about ITV’s Ninja Warrior parks across the UK. When bringing brands that fans know and love into location-based entertainment, Fergus shares that this builds connective tissue across the intellectual property that allows fans to experience their favorite shows in real life. This amplifies brand advocacy and appreciation for the brands in ways that extend beyond the television screen. When guests visit a Ninja Warrior park, they get to test their physical strength and feel like they are on the show themselves. Fergus also talks about the importance of technology, and the importance of slicing and dicing data across multiple locations that help them better understand guest behaviors. He also stresses that when guests are booking times to visit, the process should be such a seamless experience that they don’t even think about the platform that they used to book.
Scott Brown is the Director of Marketing for Family Entertainment Group, which operates FECs of all scopes and sizes throughout the United States. In this interview, Scott talks about how the way in which guests are attracted to the center varies based on the location that they are visiting, as the messaging needs to be completely different in locations that serve local residents versus locations that capitalize on existing tourists and foot traffic. Scott also talks about striving toward excellence, which includes the way that employees are onboarded and recognized for their efforts, and that the employees are often the stars of the show, rather than the attractions that the guests are visiting for. Additionally, Scott says that technology plays a role in the guest experience strategy, particularly as you gain additional intelligence on your guests and how you use it to serve them better. Scott shares that one FEG’s guest experience philosophies is to bring family and friends together through the universal language of fun.
Neil Wilson is the author of Absolute Efficiency: A guide to operational efficiency in the theme park industry. Neil’s experience working at various parks in the United Kingdom, Europe, and in the United States led him to research the best ways to reduce and eliminate queues. In this interview, Neil talks about spreading crowds across a park and throughout the season, the role of technology in enhancing existing measures, and that improving efficiency should be a top-down approach that starts with leadership, rather than frontline staff.
David Stange is the Founder of Beachy, a software company for hotels and resorts to improve the guest and employee experience on the beach. Beachy’s technology allows guests to book lounge chairs, cabanas, and other rental services along with food and beverage, therefore amplifying the efficiency of these operations that have otherwise been very slow. In this interview, David shares how speed of service improves the guest experience, along with employee satisfaction, by removing friction from servers’ jobs that allows them to serve more guests and make substantially more money in tips. The idea for Beachy came out of David’s frustration while on vacation with his family and waiting to rent beach chairs, combined with his first job of working as a beach attendant when he was a teenager. David’s guest experience philosophy is to make fun easy.
Stephen Davis is the COO of Integrated Insight, a management consulting firm for the theme parks and attractions industry. In this interview, Stephen walks us through best practices related to pricing, and several factors to consider when setting the price for admission to your attraction. Stephen’s philosophy is that you should lead with the consumer, meaning that your pricing should reflect the value that you deliver, the demographic you seek to serve, and the expectation that you are setting. Regardless of the price that you charge, there will always be a certain segment of your audience that will find you too expensive, so your focus should be on creating value for the price that you charge. Stephen also shares his thoughts on dynamic pricing, and how it differs from variable pricing, which is often easier to understand and resonates better with the consumer.
Lloyd Notley is the Chief Marketing Officer for Escapology, an escape room operator with more than 80 locations worldwide. In this interview, Lloyd walks us through the Escapology experience, and shares how visiting an escape room is a unique activity compared to many other entertainment offerings, because guests are tasked with solving clues and playing games in order to complete the puzzle. Lloyd shares how Escapology has even worked with guests to customize their experience, and in one instance changed the clues so that they would lead to a marriage proposal. Additionally, since an escape room isn’t as repeatable as other types of attractions, Lloyd shares how Escapology influences repeat visitation as well as increases length of stay, and also stresses the importance of resolving service failures while the guest is still onsite, so that no matter what, they leave an advocate.
Greg Spittle is the Founder of Active8 Software, which is now part of the ROLLER family. Prior to Active8, Greg spent several years as an operator in the trampoline and adventure park space, and during that time, identified several ways to enhance the guest experience that led to higher satisfaction, increased online conversions, and revenue growth of the park. In this interview, Greg shares several suggestions that can reduce queues, making the arrival process more efficient, and even turn friction points into opportunities that make guests feel like VIPs. From a software standpoint, Active8 and ROLLER have shared an identical vision that technology should be used to remove friction from the guest experience, which can significantly reduce time that the guest spends completing compulsory tasks, as well as reduce labor for staff to complete tasks that historically took much longer. By joining forces, there is a lot to look forward to in the near future!
Mary Stella is the Director of Media & Marketing at Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, a non-profit attraction that offers immersive and educational dolphin encounters, programs, and a wide variety of experiences. In this interview, Mary shares the difference between marketing and public relations, which ties directly into the importance of the guest experience. At the beginning of the pandemic, Dolphin Research Center launched a series on Facebook live, which allowed Mary and her team to showcase the animals and bring educational entertainment to viewers sitting at home. By going live every day, their viewership skyrocketed, along with their followers, and ultimately led to being a highly successful fundraising campaign for donations. Many guests visiting DRC today were influenced to visit from the Facebook live series, which is still in place today on a reduced scheduled. Mary shares that her goal is for all guests to connect so strongly with their experience at Dolphin Research Center that they become members and lifelong advocates.
Shawn Nason is an Experience Evangelist, as well as the Founder and CEO of MOFI, a human-obsessed boutique design firm passionate about reimagining Experience Ecosystems. In this interview, Shawn talks about humanizing the business across key touchpoints such as the customer experience, employee experience, and the digital experience. With a background in finance, Shawn connects the dots and justifies how investments in the experience can significantly reduce costs in turnover and marketing, resulting in boosts to both the top and bottom line of the business. Shawn also walks us through the Experience Journey Promise, which is different from a mission and vision statement, as it is directed internally toward employees, yet sensed by customers and it leads to building consistency, confidence, and trust in the business. When asked for his guest experience philosophy, Shawn says that you should strive to make every guest feel like a VIP.
Louis Alfieri is the Principal and Chief Creative Officer for Raven Sun Creative, an experiential design firm working across several realms of the global attractions industry. In this interview, Louis shares the role of the guest when developing attractions, differences and similarities when working with for-profit and cultural attractions, and how the industry has an opportunity to play a role in solving some of the world’s largest issues. Louis stresses that attraction development incorporates the desired emotional outcome from the guest, knowing that guests have varying goals and desired emotional outcomes for themselves. We also discuss how the emergence of the metaverse and digital experiences presents both threats and opportunities for the attractions industry to consider as we move into the future.
Bill Zanetti is a consultant for the theme park industry, and teaches several theme park management courses at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. With a specialty in queuing theory, Bill seeks to improve the way that people move through theme parks and wait in line for attractions. In this interview, Bill discusses the difference between mandatory and voluntary queueing, and highlights instances where venues should focus on efficiency versus distractions. Bill believes that there is an optimal time for every attraction for how long the queue should be, meaning that having no wait is not always the most enjoyable experience. And when asked about the future of queueing, Bill believes that no matter what type of queue structure is in place - including standby lines, virtual queues, or expedited entry - every guest should have the opportunity to enjoy an attraction, regardless of when they arrived at the park or if they were able to obtain a virtual queuing position.
Kevin McNulty is the President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Netweave Social Networking, an agency based in Sarasota, FL focusing on social media marketing for the attractions industry. In this interview, we talk about the role of social media in guest experience, from setting expectations, guest communications, and turning guests into fans, advocates, and evangelists. Kevin shares several interesting facts and statistics, like 80% of your online following has already done business with you at some point, and 77% of people trust a review from a friend or family member more than they trust the message from the business itself. Additionally, we cover a topic that many attractions struggle with, and that is determining where in the organization social media falls: is this a marketing function or a guest experience function? Kevin’s suggestions on this topic are sure to be useful within your organization, regardless of how big your business is.
Brad Collins is the President and COO of Uptown Jungle Fun Parks. With nine locations in the US, Uptown Jungle serves toddlers through 12 year olds with play structures, trampolines, and other exciting ways to play and get energy out. In this interview, Brad talks about the importance of his team when it comes to delivering a great guest experience. To ensure guest satisfaction, frontline team members are encouraged to bend the rules - not break them - but use their empowerment to assist a guest when needed. Additionally, Brad refers to birthday party hosts as “guest experience all stars,” who are encouraged to add their personalities and talents into the parties they are hosting. Brad also talks about the importance of collecting guest feedback, and when negative feedback comes in, it creates an opportunity to turn a critic into a fan, and then a fan into a loyal advocate.
Carlton Gajadhar is a Visitor Experience professional based in the United Kingdom, with a focus on helping visitor attractions learn about their guests and employees and bringing these insights together to create a magical experience for guests. With 25 years in the industry, Carlton has worked for cultural non-profit attractions, as well as for-profit businesses, and most recently was heavily involved in the production of Expo 2020 in Dubai. In this interview, Carlton shares the importance of finding the right people and putting them into the right positions and gives tips on how to locate the best guest-facing individuals for your team. He also discusses the Visitor Experience Forum, which brings together leaders from several institutions, both for-profit and non-profit, so that they can collaborate and learn from each other to be most successful. When it comes to understanding how employees can best serve visitors, Carlton shares how starting on the front line is immensely helpful for leaders, and for those who come into the industry from the outside, don’t be afraid to put on an employee uniform and work a frontline shift, even if it’s once a year.
Tim Murphy is the CEO of Boomers Parks, a chain of Family Entertainment Centers and water parks in Florida, California, and New Jersey. In this interview, Tim shares with us how investments in the guest experience have resulted in a shift in guest demographics, which has led to a significant increase in spending, length of stay, and satisfaction. These updates include creating comfortable environments for guests, both indoors and outdoors, removing and revamping season pass programs, overhauling the food & beverage menu at each park, and taking the concept of cabanas from their water parks and offering a similar amenity in the FEC’s. Tim shares the importance of knowing who your guest is, and not being afraid to fire the wrong guest if they do not align with the market you are looking to serve.
Matt Loney is the President and CEO of Xplorie, a travel booking platform for vacation rentals, attractions, and activities. In this interview, Matt discusses Xplorie’s unique business model that enables travelers to book rental properties that include attractions admissions in their stay. As a result, the guest receives greater value compared to other platforms, the attractions grow their attendance, and the lodging operators see higher occupancy. Matt talks about how the role of technology should be to remove friction from the guest experience, and instead of focusing on reducing labor, the solution should maximize the value of personal interactions, which sometimes can even lead to hiring more employees to continually enhance the experience. When turning first-time Xplorie travelers into brand advocates, Matt says that businesses should focus on telling guests about the value they’ve received, and continually reinforcing their purchase decision.
Craig Buster is the General Manager of Wild Island and Coconut Bowl in Sparks, NV. In this interview, Craig shares the unique aspects of running a venue that includes a water park, bowling center, and a family entertainment center. Craig also discusses the ways that his team drives brand advocacy for guests, some of whom he sees visiting multiple times a week. This is partly due to initiatives that they run to encourage repeat visitation, and also in part through their service recovery strategy as well, which Craig says needs to be a “win-win” for the guest as well as the business. Craig also talks about the investment of time, resources, and money that is put into recruiting, onboarding, and developing team members, and that the return on that investment includes many employees who stay with Wild Island for many years. Craig’s philosophy is that happy employees equal happy guests, so you should always strive to build an excellent workplace.
Jonah Sandler is the Founder and CEO of Scene 75, a family owned and operated group of entertainment centers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and coming soon to Illinois. In this interview, Jonah shares how Scene 75 earned IAAPA’s Top FEC of World award as well as the Golden Ticket Publisher’s Pick: Turnstile Award for how they continued operations through incredibly tough times. When it comes to Scene 75’s guest experience, Jonah talks about how the standard is woven into the company culture; to immerse new employees into the culture from the start, Scene 75 holds hiring parties, not traditional recruitment events, to entice prospective employees to apply. Jonah also stresses the importance of listening to your guests and team members to continually improve the experience, both in real-time and to make longer term changes. When asked to share his guest experience philosophy, Jonah says that focusing on the guest experience markets the Scene 75 brand 10 times more than any form of paid advertising.
Amber Lambert oversees North America Sales for Intercard, the leader in cashless technology for family entertainment centers and amusement venues. In this interview, Amber covers many of the benefits of going cashless - from increased guest spending, to tighter loss prevention controls, enhanced guest satisfaction, and greater marketing power. When venues switch to cashless, they often see an increase in spending upwards of 30-50% due to the ease of use, as well as guests feeling that they aren’t spending money at all. Operators can leverage this benefit by incorporating dynamic pricing into their structure, where arcade games can be priced higher during peak periods and then discounted during days and times of reduced business. Guests enjoy going cashless too, because the cards can accumulate all of their tickets digitally, which takes a lot of burden off the parents, not to mention the sustainability factor of having less paper. Employee theft tends to go down, because there are fewer opportunities to steal, and because of the data operators can collect from their guests, it allows them to keep the conversation going after a guest’s visit to market to them in the future. When discussing her guest experience philosophy, Amber shares that the mindset should always be that the answer’s yes… what’s the question?
Vince Kadlubek is the Founder and Director of Meow Wolf, an immersive art experience with locations in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Denver. In this interview, Vince shares how the best guest experience is when people feel familiar with their environment, and can ultimately take full agency over their own experience. To show how this is done, Meow Wolf does not prescribe a path or a route for guests when they enter one of their venues, but rather leaves them to explore and discover on their own. This leads to guests navigating into areas that make them question everything they know and exit with a sense of wonder and curiosity. When asked how other areas of the attractions industry can tap into Meow Wolf’s unique experience delivery, Vince advises that it’s okay for guests to get lost, or for them to stop and take control of the direction they’d like to go. We no longer need to be given the rules and framework for how we want to enjoy our visit because we can figure that out on our own.
Danny Cox is the Vice President of Guest Experience for Breeze Airways. Launched in May 2021, Breeze is a low-cost carrier that doesn’t compromise on the guest experience. In this interview, Danny shares his philosophy that it isn’t about “customer service,” but rather “guest empowerment” that drives the experience, when the guest has more agency of how they want to interact with the company. Therefore, the Guest Empowerment team has a contact center, not a call center, where they leverage communication channels that resonate with today’s traveler, which is quite a difference compared to what we’re all used to - calling the main customer service line just to sit on hold and hear that our call is very important to us. Danny also says that one of Breeze’s guest experience philosophies is to be “kindly unapologetic,” which means being upfront about what the airline is and is not. Additionally, Danny says that even in the short time of the airline’s existence, they have already begun building frequent flyers and evangelists, who say that Breeze has changed their life.
Rob DelliBovi is the Owner and CEO of RDB Hospitality, and has been working in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years. Rob has two businesses - one is a concierge travel agency for high net worth celebrities, athletes, and entertainers, and the other is a consulting firm, helping hotels increase revenue, reduce expenses, and improve the guest experience. In this interview, Rob shares the importance of double, triple, and quadruple checking every detail of your business, because if one small thing goes wrong, it can cascade into serious service failures. For example, if you have a 97% satisfaction rating, while that number might look good, the 3% of guests who had a negative experience can significantly damage your reputation through negative online reviews and word of mouth. Rob stresses the importance of communicating to your guests through social media and online review sites, and that these avenues provide an opportunity to get creative with your messaging.
Kara Adams is the Director of Guest Experience for the Portland Trailblazers. Kara has been working in guest experience in sports for several years, and shares how the energy of the city of Portland can be felt inside the arena, which makes for quite the unique experience. In this interview, Kara shares how her leadership strategy, including her passion for her team, transcends into the guest experience, because the way you treat your staff parallels how your staff treats your guests. She also discusses the importance of challenging the status quo, which sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable, but ultimately helps people get outside of their comfort zone. For a team that is rooted in tradition and with employees who have been a part of the team for decades, Kara talks about the importance of balancing the organization’s history with its need to progress into the future. Lastly, Kara’s guest experience and leadership philosophy is that if you are too big to serve, you’re too little to lead.
Morgan Fiorino is the Founder and Creative Director of Connecting Roads. Morgan’s background is providing premium guest experiences within festivals and events, and Connecting Roads is a curated experience collective that’s powered by… wait for it… NFTs. In this interview, Morgan shares how NFT technology is the perfect solution for Connecting Roads to build their member base, which is community-driven and enables travelers to seek unique experiences (and yes, Morgan breaks down what an NFT actually is). Morgan also talks about the value that can be driven from premium experiences, sharing stories from her time in festivals and events, including examples of making a true, meaningful impact on people’s lives.
Thibault Paquin is the CEO of Celebrating Life, a total destination consultancy specialized in tourism, leisure and cultural assets. In this interview Thibault stresses the importance of defining the purpose of your business and your brand, and how it will create meaningful experiences for the guests you serve. This includes hiring staff members who are also consumers of the experience you provide, which breaks the dichotomy between employee and guest, and ultimately leads to a more social experience. When discussing the future of the family entertainment industry, Thibault talks about how venues are moving toward creating more premium experiences for their guests, and enhanced through the technology that enables it to be successful. When you transform the lives of the guests you serve, it truly shows that you have created a meaningful experience.
Ruddy Harootian is so passionate about guest experience and hospitality, that the guests that he serves often end up becoming his friends. Based in New York City, Ruddy is the Director of Guest Experience at the Roxy Hotel, and also runs his own tour business called Ruddy Was Here. Guests who take one of Ruddy’s tours are immersed into the art culture in various areas of New York, curated specifically by Ruddy based on what he believes to be of high interest. Founded in 2012, Ruddy Was Here has grown organically through word of mouth, repeat guests, and by being featured in several large publications, all promoting the incredible experience he provides on his tours. In this interview, Ruddy shares the importance of making personal connections with guests, which will amplify the success of the business.
Jenny Emley and Kerri Little are with High 5 Entertainment, based in Austin, TX. With two locations in the greater Austin area, High 5 offers unique experiences at each of their locations, with a strong company culture built around the experience. In this interview, we talk about how High 5 focuses marketing efforts on the parents, who are the decision makers of the household, and how the parents are kept engaged while the children have a great time. From day one, High 5 immerses new staff members into the “High 5 Way,” which sets the standard for hospitality and guest service, along with a strong focus on ensuring staff can take the experience to the next mile, which makes it even more memorable. Jenny and Keri also talk proudly about their food & beverage options, which includes a menu with unique food options and creative craft cocktails, and how food & beverage is a key driver in building repeat visitation and loyalty.
Simon Nash is the Owner and GM of Ohana Towels, helping businesses add more warmth and feeling to their customer care experience. In this interview, we cover many of the core elements of hospitality: a warm welcome, an emotional connection, and treating your guests like family in your home. Simon shares how the warm moist towel is a gesture of appreciation and care, and while it may seem like it doesn’t have a large influence, it actually is a big differentiator between a standard experience and a premium one. Additionally, Simon shares his views on how customer service and hospitality are different, mainly in that companies who focus on customer service ensure that the transaction is fulfilled to the expectation that has been set. Companies that focus on hospitality take an extra level of care toward those they serve. Simon also discussed the importance of employee engagement, and going beyond the functional elements of one’s job duties.
Kevin Williams is the Co-Founder of Spider Entertainment, a consultancy that brings together decades of talent and experience within the family entertainment industry. Spider Entertainment offers research, feasibility, and operations to venues within the out-of-home entertainment space to help operators make data-backed decisions on what entertainment offerings should be implemented to serve the ideal guest demographic. In this interview, we talk about the evolution of the guest experience, particularly in family entertainment centers, and how gut instinct is not the most optimal way to run your business. Kevin talks about driving repeat visitation, minimizing cannibalization when adding new entertainment options, and how guests are becoming more and more sophisticated, which is changing the way operators need to look at their business.
Amanda Verhoff is the President of ALSD, the Association of Luxury Suite Directors. ALSD helps to share information, ideas, and values to those who are providing the epitome of guest experience and hospitality at stadiums and arenas throughout North America, and with a growing global reach. In this interview, Amanda shares the guest journey of the premium guest or client, and talks about the importance of removing friction from the most granular elements of the experience. This includes booking suites at venues, how the tickets are delivered, ingress and egress, and everything in between. Amanda stresses the vital impact of incredible customer service, the highest quality food & beverage, and full attention to detail at every stage of the experience.
Jeroen Sijl is the Founder and Director for Smart Segments, a technology platform that helps operators better collect and understand the data they receive from their guests. Everyone knows that information is critical to the success of any business, but many owners or operators are either “gut-feeling guessers” or “manual miners,” meaning that they either make decisions based on instinct, or they spend too much time searching for the answers they need. Smart Segments helps present the data in intuitive ways that helps businesses understand what actions they need to take, whether it is in the form of marketing, guest experience, or operations, so that they can see improvement to their overall metrics. Jeroen also shares how Smart Segment’s ROLLER API Connector can help attractions cross-reference data across multiple sources to make even more informed decisions, and he also shares the details of becoming an official Google Cloud Build partner.
Adele Gutman is a hospitality expert with decades of experience in the hotel industry, and today she focuses specifically on helping businesses use online reviews to further drive the success of their property. In this interview, we talk about what it was like during the early days of TripAdvisor, when guest feedback first went public, and how Adele and her team embraced the idea of people sharing their experiences online, rather than being intimidated. Adele’s “Service is Marketing” philosophy suggests that in order to gain five star reviews, you must provide a five star experience, and the cost of not doing so is an expensive mistake that you want to avoid. Additionally, Adele talks about how she works with companies to help craft their “dream reviews” and then work backward to bring them to life.
Dennis Moseley-Williams is an Experience Economy expert. In this interview, Dennis walks us through the progression of economic value, and focuses specifically on the difference between service and experience. While service is defined by saving guests time, experiences are about making the time well spent. Specifically, what exactly is the product that your guests are buying? In the attractions industry, you don’t quantify the value of the experience based on how much the guest has done, but rather how they feel at the end of it. Dennis presents a compelling case that your experience focus should be based on how you want your guests to feel after their experience, rather than if they adequately got their transactional exchange.
Sean Fernandez is the CIO for ROLLER Software, and in this interview, we talk about all things data security. Recently, ROLLER was awarded an Independent Software Vendor (IVS) certification from Amazon Web Services (AWS), and also successfully completed a penetration test that included an attempted breach of ROLLER’s server. While venue operators may not always want to be thinking about their data security, it should always be top of mind, especially when employees are given access to devices that contain sensitive data, otherwise you risk that data being compromised. Sean says that it is not a matter of if, but when, someone will attempt to hack your data, and shares recommendations for how you can keep your information safe.
Jesse Cole is the owner of the Savannah Bananas, a baseball team in Savannah, GA. Seeing a Bananas game is not a typical fan experience, nor is it intended to be. Many have described the experience as “a circus where a baseball game breaks out.” This is entirely due to the Fans First philosophy, which focuses significantly on the fans more than the game itself. While it might offend some traditionalists who are fans of the sport, the zanier model tends to work. When asked about the guest journey, Jesse begins with the process of what happens after a guest buys a ticket, from the phone call that they get to the video they are sent, all before they even walk into the ballpark. Jesse also empowers his team to listen carefully, then respond creatively, when resolving issues or creating incredible experiences for fans. After this interview, you will look at your guest experience with a new light, and be challenged to ask yourself if it is Fans First.
Russ Van Natta is the VP of Business Development for Creative Works. Founded in 1997, Creative Works began as a laser tag manufacturer, and has evolved into a wide variety of attractions for family entertainment venues, including virtual reality, mini golf, escape rooms, and many more. In this interview, we look at the guest experience from the lens of the manufacturer. How has Creative Works stayed up to date with trends and consumer preferences to stay relevant? Laser tag is not the same as it was in the 90’s, but the mission remains to provide immersive and social experiences, and Russ says that Creative Works is in the business of making memories.
Mark Rosenzweig works for 3dx, which provides scenic design and fabrication for theme parks, attractions, and events. Mark’s career in the industry spans more than two decades where he has worked both on the operator and supplier side of the business. In this interview, we dive deep into the investments that parks and attractions should make to their guest experience, even if they do not provide an immediate return on investment. From parade floats, themed sculptures and statues, and even smaller elements like free WiFi can substantially increase guest satisfaction, which in turn increases length of stay and spending, along with photo opportunities that allow your guests to become brand ambassadors of your product when they post on social media. Mark also talks about the importance of consistency in service delivery; when service standards or policies are not executed consistently, it leads to friction in the guest experience and declining satisfaction.
Max Irvine is the Systems Coordinator at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gold Coast of Queensland. Max oversees projects that help multiple teams get more done on a day-to-day basis, and many of these projects directly impact the guest experience. When the pandemic completely shifted the typical guest demographic from international tourists to local residents, an opportunity was realized to strengthen relationships with local visitors. Using email marketing as the vehicle to do so, Max and his team were able to both customize and automate the way that guests received communication prior to their arrival, or even prior to planning their visit, which led to increased visitation and memberships. Once onsite, guests experienced a more seamless arrival because the transactional elements were already taken care of, which also enabled the staff to focus more on the guest experience and less on selling. Timed ticketing and suggested arrival times has also led to better guest flow at Currumbin, and more accurate planning on the backend. In the post-visit component of the guest journey, this same email marketing initiative focused heavily on ascertaining guest feedback, which has led to changes and improvements at Currumbin that align specifically with what the audience desires.
Dan Gingiss is a customer experience expert, speaker, author, consultant, and podcaster. His latest book, The Experience Maker, shares how companies can create remarkable experiences that are worth sharing by their customers. In this interview, Dan makes a compelling case that customer experience should be woven directly into the core components of your business, not seen as an afterthought if you have time and the resources to do it. Dan walks us through the WISER method, which stands for witty, immersive, shareable, extraordinary, and responsive. We cover examples from a wide variety of industries, and there are so many takeaways from this conversation that you can implement into your business, with little to no cost.
Shaun McKeogh is the Founder and President of Attractions Academy. With a focus on organizational development and service excellence, Shaun works with attractions to help them realize their vision that they initially set out to achieve. Shaun shares that oftentimes and even with the best intentions, organizations do not actually have a plan in place for their employees to deliver excellent service to their guests, or for managers to sustain a culture of positive guest experience. By helping to create and deliver the roadmap for success, Shaun’s impact on the business goes far beyond an initial training workshop that gives employees a boost of energy. It must continue to be executed regularly and woven into the culture that guests experience every single day. We also cover service recovery, and the importance of employee empowerment when it comes to resolving issues. Shaun shares his “blank check” philosophy that when frontline employees are equipped with the tools to do their jobs and recover from service failures, the benefits of guest satisfaction outweigh the likelihood of employees abusing the system.
Scot Carson is the Founder and CEO of Amusement Advantage, which is the only mystery shop provider that is exclusive to the attractions industry. Founded in 1996, Amusement Advantage conducts an average of 6,000 mystery shops per year in theme parks, zoos, museums, aquariums, movie theaters, tourist districts, family entertainment centers, bowling centers, trampoline parks, and just about everything else that fits under the umbrella of attractions. In this interview, we talk about the best ways to collect, measure, and understand guest feedback in order to continually improve your business. Balancing quantitative and qualitative data, operators can use tools like mystery shops to recognize and coach employees, as well as make long-term changes that benefit the business. Scot stresses the importance of recognizing that your guests’ perceptions are their reality, and even if you might not agree with the feedback that a guest may give, you should pull back and look at why they felt a certain way, rather than defending what they complained about.
Vanessa Ward is the Director of Guest & Associate Experience for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. In her role, she oversees all of the stadium’s guest-facing ambassadors at one of America’s most historic ballparks. Known as “The Friendly Confines,” guests have come to expect a high standard of service for more than 100 years. In 2013, the most recent standard was developed with inspiration from The Disney Institute, while also ensuring that it is distinctly unique to the Chicago Cubs. In recent years, Wrigley Field has enhanced its premium offerings, which offer more ways that guests can experience a ballgame. This not only brings in additional revenue opportunities, but further enhances the relationship that fans have with the team, and particularly the rapport that they build with the associates. This results in guests coming back year after year and on occasion even sending gifts to staff members because of the level of service they received. In 2021, mobile food & beverage ordering was implemented at the stadium, which had been a topic of discussion for some time, then accelerated by the pandemic. Vanessa talks about the implementation of the new technology from the standpoint of educating guests on the new process, along with growing pains experienced along the way. Additionally, Vanessa shares how the organization’s service principles that guide their recruitment and training process have led to notable “wow” moments that positively impact the guest experience.
Rich Steers is the Chief Product Officer for ROLLER Software, and in this conversation, we focus on the importance of a seamless online experience that leads to higher revenue, higher per capita spending, and reduced friction within your operation. Rich shares several guidelines for what venue operators should be thinking about when wanting to create the seamless online experience for their guests, which starts when you stop thinking like an operator, and start thinking like a guest. Go through your own purchase process and seek guidance from those around you to identify any possible pain points that might slow it down or turn away a guest from purchasing altogether. We also cover how the best online experience leads to an even better arrival experience, and how operators should be thinking about the best ways to captivate audiences on their mobile devices, as mobile continues to gain a higher percentage of your guests’ overall transactions.
Frank Price is a consultant and speaker in the family entertainment industry. With 25 years of experience, Frank has observed how the business has evolved, including the guest and employee experience along with it. In this interview, Frank shares specific examples on how a company’s culture can make or break the organization. You must make sure that the right people are hired for the right roles, and recognize that guest experience is not for everyone. We get into the intricate details of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and ongoing reinforcement of the organization’s values. When reinforcing positive behavior, Frank shares how the “old school” way of doing things is by recognizing and rewarding the results, when in actuality it should be the actions along the way that should be identified, even if the employee still has additional progress to make. Frank’s philosophy is that your guest experience must be something that everyone in your organization can live and breathe on a daily basis.
Michael Ramsay is the General Manager Commercial of Skyline Enterprises. What started with a gondola in Queenstown, New Zealand, Skyline now operates multiple attractions and hospitality businesses in several countries. Michael focuses on bridging the digital experience with the onsite analog experience, ensuring that guests are having just as positive of an experience on Skyline’s digital platforms as they are when they visit the sites in person. In this interview, Michael stresses the importance of a seamless and frictionless user experience, but cautions that sometimes less friction up front may cause bottlenecks down the road. As a result, the digital experience must be thoughtfully created with the guest in mind, which will create more confidence, higher satisfaction, and ultimately increase their lifetime value. Michael shares that inspiration for improving the experience can come from listening to what guests have to say, along with gathering feedback from employees, who are living and breathing the guest experience every day.
Michael focuses on bridging the digital experience with the onsite analog experience, ensuring that guests are having just as positive of an experience on Skyline’s digital platforms as they are when they visit the sites in person. In this interview, Michael stresses the importance of a seamless and frictionless user experience, but cautions that sometimes less friction up front may cause bottlenecks down the road. As a result, the digital experience must be thoughtfully created with the guest in mind, which will create more confidence, higher satisfaction, and ultimately increase their lifetime value. Michael shares that inspiration for improving the experience can come from listening to what guests have to say, along with gathering feedback from employees, who are living and breathing the guest experience every day.
Erin Swales is the Senior Director of Guest Experience for the San Diego Padres and Petco Park, in San Diego, CA. In this interview, Erin talks about the Petco Park Promise, which drives their guest experience standard, and consists of three main elements: Care, Connect, and Exceed. Erin walks us through how this promise begins with their hiring process, their onboarding and training, and continual recognition and motivation for frontline staff to make sure that every guest that visits Petco Park has a memorable experience, whether they are attending a San Diego Padres baseball game, a concert, graduation, or any other live event at the stadium. When talking about guest feedback, Erin doesn’t just tell us about how she and her team can deliver great service recovery, but that her standard is to dive deep into pressing issues by inviting guests into focus groups that truly enable the organization to gain that “aha” moment, that leads to implementing improvements for future success.
Sarah Cole is the President & CEO of Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa, FL. The way that Sarah describes what the experience is like at Glazer might not sound like she’s describing a traditional museum. In fact, Sarah emphasizes the importance and the power of play, and how critical it is children’s learning. And with a core demographic of children between the ages of 3-8, Glazer helps to facilitate the experience of learning through play, so that when guests leave, they don’t just talk about the information that they learned, but take the skills developed with them far beyond their experience at the museum and weave it into their growth and development. Sarah also shares how she was able to provide support for the Glazer team throughout the pandemic, by demonstrating empathy for both staff and guests. And when asked to share her guest experience philosophy, Sarah emphasizes that you should treat your guests as if it is the only time that you are going to see them, which is why it is so important to have a guest mentality.
Candi Kelley is the COO of TrainerTainment, which helps family entertainment businesses through training related to service, sales, and leadership. In this wide-ranging conversation, Candi discusses how the common thread that links each of these three initiatives together is the people aspect of the business, and that creating a guest-centric culture can ensure that the service that you provide leads to higher revenue and business success. Candi also shares her SOAR acronym for guest experience, which stands for surprise & delight, over-deliver, accommodate, and refine. We discuss examples from each component of the SOAR model, along with how to best empower employees to deliver on the expected standard. We also talk about the difference between coaching and discipline, and Candi’s philosophy is that if your coaching is effective and well-intentioned - you will never need to terminate an employee, because they will already have terminated themselves.
Shep Hyken is a customer experience expert, author, speaker, and consultant. His latest book, I’ll Be Back, talks about one of the most critical factors of customer and guest experience: repeat visitation. In this interview, we talk about the difference between a loyalty program and a marketing program, the difference between service and experience, and how the biggest friction points are a combination of processes and training. Shep is passionate about the concept of “moments of truth,” which is defined as every interaction that a guest has with your business - and this is not limited to your staff. Look at your technology, your marketing, and every other aspect of the experience - they all form an impression. According to Shep, every moment of truth will either be a moment of magic, a moment of mediocrity, or a moment of misery. Think about how that applies to your business and your operation. When done well, every single touchpoint that your guests have across their journey should lead to the three words that you want them to say: I’ll Be Back.
Ken Maguire is the Director of Guest Experience Operations at Monterey Bay Aquarium. In this interview, Ken talks about the strong emphasis that the aquarium places on guest experience, including the importance of investing in your frontline staff. When new employees join Monterey Bay Aquarium, they go through an entire welcome week, not just a quick orientation, so that they can be fully immersed in the culture of the aquarium’s guest experience philosophy. This has proven to be a successful training model, because Ken shares examples of how the service that is delivered by the staff quickly translates into guests upgrading their tickets to membership, donating the aquarium’s conservation fund, and becoming advocates for the aquarium, whether they are local or coming in from out of market. Ken is passionate about inspiring his team, investing in their success, and also shares why the best recognition is simply recognition itself.
Bethany Evans is the Executive Vice President of the International Association of Trampoline Parks, or IATP for short. Founded in 2012, IATP serves the trampoline park industry through education, resources, and assisting with safety standards that help make the industry so successful. In 2020, when the pandemic shut down the entire industry, IATP turned to virtual content to help park operators stay updated with what they needed to know to reopen safely, and ensure that guests were assured of the health and sanitation procedures that trampoline parks were implementing to keep guests safe and rebuild confidence. When it comes to the trampoline park guest experience, Bethany shares that the largest differentiator amongst similar types of venues is completely driven by the people element of the business. The staff that guests interact with during the visits is what creates the experience memorable, repeatable, and enjoyable.
Jennifer Berthiaume is the Vice President of Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, FL. Lion Country’s mission is to be a leader in animal care, conservation and education to inspire people through connections with wildlife in a fun, family-friendly environment. Located just west of West Palm Beach, Lion Country Safari offers a unique experience that combines a zoo, safari, amusement park, and water park. Jennifer has been with Lion Country for more than 19 years, yet she still walks the park every single day and says that it never gets old. Prior to taking on the role of Vice President, Jennifer oversaw marketing, public relations, and social media and from the stories she shares in this interview, it is clear that marketing and guest experience go hand-in-hand, rather than acting as completely separate departments. Jennifer shares how a negative social media post was managed so well that it created a loyal advocate, as well as how a publicity event turned first-time visitors into raving fans. She also shares how Lion Country managed challenges during the pandemic while at the same time ensuring a positive guest experience. Lastly, the focus that Jennifer places on motivating and inspiring her team shows such a high level of appreciation, which Jennifer says is driven by the importance of kindness.
Nikki Padilla Rivera consults for tour operators and her website is Tripkinetics.com. With an incredible background of being a tour guide and tour operator, Nikki focuses on translating between guides and operators, which ultimately creates for a better experience for the tour guides, and a superior experience for tour guests. In this interview, Nikki talks about how to take a tour from standard to excellent by following the peak-end rule: create a memorable beginning, a few high points along the way, and then at the end, leave them with an emotional life changing experience. Nikki says that the best tours end with guests feeling like they owe the guide something back for providing such a great experience, which of course opens the conversation for requesting online reviews and positive word of mouth. Also, the topic of virtual tours is an important conversation, having mostly started at the beginning of the pandemic and now determining their future and how virtual tours fit in with the tourism industry for the long term. Lasty, Nikki shares her philosophy that you should overproduce, yet make it feel serendipitous.
Mandy Sybrandy is the Vice President of Attractions for SkyWheel, with locations in Myrtle Beach, SC, and Panama City Beach, FL. SkyWheel operates observation wheels, and don’t call them Ferris wheels, because the experience is entirely different. SkyWheel is a type of attraction that can serve an entire family, from a newborn baby to a 100-year old grandmother, and the memorable aspects of the experience go beyond the wheel themselves. Mandy talks about how SkyWheel can serve as the location for marriage proposals, weddings, and even for gender reveals. The moments that Mandy shares as being some of her favorite stories to tell include the milestone life moments that guests have when they visit, and she also shares emotional and sentimental experiences that guests have had, making the attraction much more than a quick visit or a day out. Mandy also shares how her team is encouraged to visit other attractions and gain inspiration for how to make the SkyWheel experience even better, and why having fun is not only a job requirement, but also Mandy’s guest experience and life philosophy.
Nathan Jones is the CEO of eXP Maven, which helps attractions collect data that helps improve the guest experience. Upon learning that there was no other solution that pulls together data streams to help attractions operators make decisions in the moment, he set out to create that solution for the industry. By combining guest behavior intelligence with a strong proficiency of guest experience, eXP Maven can drive short-term operational decisions, as well as long-term strategy. For instance, leveraging the power of heat sensors can indicate where guests may be more or less comfortable when visiting a park, which suggests that the temperature should be adjusted as necessary, or implement something to disperse the crowd. Or, if guests are made aware of where the most comfortable spots are at any given time, it might suggest where capital improvements might need to be made, whether through benches or tables, or even where a concession stand might be most profitable. Nathan also talks about how all data, whether actively collected through surveys or passively through identifying guest behavior, should be shared across all departments for the greatest benefit, and why back of house employees need to experience what it’s like to work front of house, as well as the importance of visiting your attraction as a guest themselves.
Cara Treadway is the Senior Director of Guest Engagement at ZooTampa at Lowry Park in Tampa, FL. A few years ago the zoo underwent a major rebranding initiative that completely transformed nearly every aspect of the guest experience, except for the zoo’s mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and care for animals. Cara shares how small things like changing the color scheme of the brand made the entire experience feel new and fresh, which immediately enhanced guests’ perceptions of the zoo. Additionally, the zoo was able to expand its offerings to serve additional guest demographics who might not otherwise visit the zoo, which proved to have a positive impact on revenue, as well as connecting more people with the zoo’s mission by stressing that every dollar that they spend goes toward saving animals. When talking about exceeding guests’ expectations, Cara shares an inspiring story about how in a previous role she took a tour up the east coast of the United States to bring zoo animals into classrooms to interact with children who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to visit the zoo themselves. And when it comes to staff motivation, treating everyone like an individual is essential to creating a positive culture where staff members feel appreciated, ultimately leading to an ideal environment that benefits employees, as well as guests.
James Wallman is the Founder of the World Experience Organization, which is focused on bringing together individuals and companies across multiple industries to share, collaborate, and innovate on the best ways to deliver a superior experience, regardless of the setting. James talks about the shift in people’s desires from stuff to experiences, especially as we continue to emerge from the pandemic. James suggests that the business is responsible for creating the environment for the experience to exist, yet it is up to the customer or guest to have the positive experience for themselves. To understand this further, pay close attention to what James describes as a “palate cleanser,” the threshold that your guests cross to enter your facility by leaving any issues behind, so that their experience is built on a clean slate. How can you apply that to your business?
Michael Browning is the Founder and CEO of Urban Air Adventure Parks. Founded in 2011, Urban Air’s mission is to provide escapism from the hardships of daily life, which is more critical now than ever. In this interview, Michael talks about how Urban Air focuses heavily on research and development, by collecting data from guests that they use to continually innovate. Before rolling out a new attraction or ticket package, Urban Air will test a minimal viable product just so they can gather the input from their guests to determine the feasibility. Oftentimes that leads to determining that something doesn’t work, but because of the way that it was slowly tested with their audience, minimal damage was done. Urban Air even involves children in the ideation process, and although they can come up with ideas that are far beyond the realm of feasibility, Michael and his team still look at how they can incorporate some of those elements into their attractions. Michael also shares how the quantitative and qualitative data must be balanced so that the metrics and survey results lead to monumental moments that invoke positive emotional reactions from guests.
Evan Barnett is Park President & General Manager of Typhoon Texas, with locations in Houston and Austin, TX. In this interview, Evan shares how he and his team spend more time talking about culture and guest experience than they do on revenue and per cap, because the foundation of the culture must be in place first in order to achieve success in the business. Evan talks about the importance of hiring the right people and putting them in the right positions so that the culture can thrive. When Typhoon Texas took over the Austin park, Evan shares how the park engaged the local community to learn what they wanted and expected from the park, and the end result turned into a loyal following of superfans. Evan talks about how an experience that he had with his family on a cruise a few years ago inspired him to recognize opportunities to make a guest’s experience better, even during times when you don’t have to. Lastly, Evan says that leaders must have empathy for their employees so that employees will have empathy for their guests.
What happens when you take action sports, innovation, experience design, and put them all in a blender? You get Divert Brands. Zach Adamson, Divert’s Founder & CEO, joins The Guest Experience Show to talk about how his passion for action sports led to the creation of Divert Brands, which removes the barriers for action sports and makes them more accessible to people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to participate. In this interview, Zach shares how the importance of Divert’s theme, which is to achieve the impossible, carries through how the experience is designed, including their core impressions that guests should feel after visiting. We talk about the importance of resilience, embracing failure, and how sometimes businesses may have a disconnect between what they want the experience to be versus what the guest wants it to be. This conversation is guaranteed to bring you inspiration.
Matt Heller is the Founder of Performance Optimist Consulting, and his focus is on “helping leaders lead” to maximize employee engagement and retention. When you emphasize training and developing your employees, you can save ample costs on turnover and hiring, and at the same time enhance the guest experience. Matt shares specific examples on what happens to the guest experience when employees exude both competence and confidence, and why training should be stretched out over time, versus the figurative approach of “drinking from a fire hose.” Also in this interview, Matt talks about how employees can enforce policies or take on guests’ questions, even if they don’t know the answers, but that it’s the responsibility of leadership to give employees the tools and resources to do exactly that. Lastly, Matt’s message of “be human, be kind” is a great lesson in leadership, guest experience, and life.
Tyler Pellerin is the Guest Excellence Manager at LEGOLAND Florida Resort. Tyler shares with us how LEGOLAND creates a unique experience for guests specifically between the ages of 2-12, including the amount of “firsts” that happen every day at the park, and their goal of providing the “best day ever.” With no shortage of enthusiasm for the guest experience, Tyler shares several stories that show how service recovery can lead to repeat visitation and loyalty, why a rainy day shouldn’t wash out the park experience, and the amount of small things that happen in between the rides, shows, and attractions, all delivered by the park’s staff, who are known as Model Citizens. Tyler stresses the importance of data collection and guest feedback to understand how to continually improve the experience, and creative solutions that he has implemented to increase the volume of feedback from guests. And when it comes to training, Model Citizens don’t go through guest service training, they go through guest obsession training.
Clint Novak is the General Manager of Fun Land in Fredericksburg and oversees Fun Land in Fairfax, both in Virginia. As a dedicated enthusiast of the industry, Clint looks at the guest experience from the perspective of the guest himself. Upon becoming Fun Land’s General Manager, Clint immediately took a deep dive into every issue that guests were having that detracted from their overall experience, and focused on making improvements that in turn, resulted in higher satisfaction, stronger perception of value, and an improved experience that proved the return on investment. Additionally, Fun Land strives to be an active member of the local community, which has resulted in very meaningful experiences that take guest satisfaction to the next level. Clint talks about how he stays connected with managers and owners of similar venues to Fun Land to collaborate on ways to improve the guest experience, and that sharing of ideas can be highly beneficial. And when it comes to employee satisfaction, it’s not one thing that keeps employees motivated, but a culmination of little things that add up to ways to keep employees happy, engaged, and retained.
Mark Shaw is the General Manager of Eureka 89, Eureka Skydeck, and Journey Beyond Cruise Sydney. Journey Beyond focuses on bringing Australia’s unique and iconic experiences to life, with an aim to take their guests beyond, to ignite their imagination and to transform amazing into breathtaking. Across each of Journey Beyond’s wide variety of experiences, Mark shares the importance of creating a seamless, frictionless experience that leaves guests with the highest levels of satisfaction. In this interview, Mark shares many key elements of his guest experience philosophy, from the importance of hiring the right people for the right job, empowering frontline staff members to do whatever it takes to create a memorable experience, and why the guest experience must be a core component of your business strategy in order to achieve success. Additionally, Mark shares the importance of collecting multiple streams of guest feedback, focusing both on Net Promoter Score (NPS) and verbatim feedback from online reviews, and even comparing review rankings with comparable attractions across the world.
Richard Earney is passionate about fitness and wellness, and in particular, the experience that the fitness industry delivers. The way that Richard describes guest experience in fitness is so similar to what we strive for in attractions, even if we’re a little less protein shake and a little more funnel cake. Richard talks about creating the “yearn to return,” in the interest of retaining members and helping people achieve their goals. He also stresses that no interaction is insignificant, and no employee is insignificant. When personalizing the experience, you must pull back from the operation and look at each of your guests’ characteristics and demographics, so that everyone feels that the experience was created exactly for them. Lastly, wait till you hear about Richard’s visit to a fitness studio in New York City that advertised “the hardest workout in the city” that not only delivered on that promise, but created an experience that was even more memorable than the workout.
Christina Stang is the co-owner of Skateworld San Diego and Skateworld Tacoma. After growing up in the roller skating business, Christina and her husband purchased Skateworld San Diego in March of 2020, which we all know turned out to be an obscure time to buy a business. Hearing how Christina pivoted her business model during the pandemic and continued to thrive, even though the skating rink was closed for 396 days is nothing short of inspiring. Christina shares what the guest experience has been like since opening, full of praise from guests who were so thankful to go skating, along with the additional concerns brought on by having to enforce new policies and manage new friction points. Christina talks about how she finds inspiration to continually improve the guest experience, and stresses the importance of focusing on the user experience, including how guests are making their reservations and booking their timeslots to visit. She says that this is what also keeps Skateworld feeling fresh, while not losing sight of the nostalgia that is preserved.
Mat Duerden is a professor at Brigham Young University and coauthor of the book, Designing Experiences. Mat walks us through anticipation, participation, and reflection when it comes to intentionally managing your guest experience, and the steps to follow to control each component. While you might be focused on the experience onsite, how much energy do you put toward anticipation and reflection, which occur before and after your guests visit? Mat shares an incredible story about how a trip to Secret Cinema in London created an experience that went far beyond what he expected by turning all guests into active participants in the story, giving everyone their own unique story to tell afterwards. When discussing friction, Mat says that frustrations with waiting in line can take away from the experience because they detract a guest’s attention from where you want it to be. He also mentions that the transition from anticipation to participation, and again from participation to reflection must be carefully crafted to yield the desired feeling from your guests, which is what will define how they perceive their experience to be.
Chance Sanford is the Guest Experience Director at Space Center Houston, home of NASA’s mission control and astronaut training center. Chance and his team of crew members focus on creating personalized facilitated experiences so that every guest walks away feeling satisfied and knowing that they learned a thing or two about space exploration. In this interview, Chance shares what the guest experience is like at Space Center Houston, how he and his colleagues are regularly finding new ways to minimize friction, as well as how crew members are motivated and recognized for doing an amazing job. Chance also shares an entertaining story about a high profile couple who had a pretty special occasion at the space center, along with Chance’s role in making it memorable. We also discuss the importance of looking for inspiration both on and off your property, and to always be on the lookout for what might be a great idea to bring back to your own operation. Lastly, Chance says that you should do everything you can to “provide authentic experiences that will wow everyone, every time, on every visit.”
Zishan Amir is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of ZRG Adventures & Consulting. Founded in 2020, ZRG’s mission is to develop world class attractions and teams with industry leading safety standards. Zish joined the attractions industry after having served in the military, which he says helped prepare him to be process oriented along with leading and empowering teams - all of which seamlessly transfer into the attractions industry. In this conversation, we talk about the guest journey, specifically on how the pre-visit, duration of the experience, and post-visit all tie in together, and are equally important to creating a positive experience for your guests. We also discuss how employee empowerment should be a part of any organization’s culture, which allows for quick resolutions that lead to ongoing guest satisfaction. Lastly, the role of technology in the guest experience should only be used to enhance the experience, so operators need to watch out for additional friction points that it may cause.
Tim Canada joins the podcast to talk about making it easier for attractions to manage their online reviews and mentions on social media. As the Vice President of Netserv, Product owner of Tatvam, Tim shares how guest sentiment is measured and delivered to attractions operators who don’t have the time to read every single piece of guest feedback that shows up online. We talk about “separating signal from the noise” and bringing in the most impactful data to make changes in useful ways. Tim gives some great examples of using negative feedback to make improvements, along with positive feedback to maximize where things are going right, and the positive benefits from each of those initiatives - improving the guest experience and seeing massive revenue boosts. We also talk about the importance of effective communication to your guests in advance of their visit so that their experience does not fall below their expectation, and how anticipating guests’ needs is so critical.
What do data and analytics have to do with your guest experience? Well, just about everything. Paul Gibbons joins The Guest Experience Show to talk about how his company, New Vue Solutions, helps attractions pull multiple sources of data together to bring out insights that are incredibly useful. When you combine all of your revenue streams, mix in your online reviews, and then bring in the weather, you can learn a lot about what’s happening right in front of you, and what you can do about it to make improvements in the future. Paul shares how operators can go deep into the granular details of their business and then pull back to see how they can make operational improvements that will impact both the guest experience and the employee experience. When it comes to friction, Paul shares a common frustration that guests feel when they need to jump through hoops just to accomplish basic and necessary tasks, but when it comes to satisfaction, there are very simple things you can do that have a huge impact, and technology can help you do it better. Additionally, as a business owner who serves attraction operators, Paul works hard to make sure that his “client experience” matches the same standard as the venues’ guest experience.
When you compare the attractions industry to the live sports industry, you’ll find that every aspect of the guest experience is nearly identical. Exceeding expectations, service recovery, and driving loyalty are all critical components of the venue’s operation. In this interview, Josh chats with Amanda Vought, Manager of Guest Strategy and Analytics for Olympia Entertainment, which operates several sports and live entertainment venues in Detroit, MI. Amanda has a background in theme parks and talks about how her mindset stayed the same when she entered the sports world, which is to always do more than expected - and guess what? Sometimes, your guests don’t expect that much! Even when resolving service failures, oftentimes guests just want to be heard, and Amanda shares great examples of small gestures that can have such a great impact on the guest experience.
Daine Appleberry is the Vice President of Guest Services at Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, LA, which includes the zoo, aquarium, and butterfly garden & insectarium. In this interview, Daine shares how there are five behaviors that drive guest experience across each location, and how Audubon’s leadership team supports the frontline staff to achieve each of these behaviors. We cover topics like employee motivation and coaching, including recognition tools that reward the five behaviors. Daine shares stories of service recovery that turned into a large contribution from a donor years later, as well as an example that he feels is his biggest guest experience failure, along with the lessons learned from it. We also explore how attributes like consistency, patience, and teamwork are crucial characteristics for any leader, especially when looking to deliver superior experience.
What do you get when you mix a Ninja Warrior course with Wipe Out and put it over water? You get a Whoa Zone! Jen Rice is the General Manager with Empire Recreation Management, which oversees the operations of several Whoa Zone locations throughout the US. Jen walks us through what the guest experience is like when visiting a Whoa Zone, along with the parallels that it shares with families who visit destination theme parks. Get ready to hear some stories about how Jen’s staff makes meaningful impacts on guests’ lives that extends far beyond their visit, and why delivering life-changing “wow” moments can be woven into standard operations that cost nothing for the business to implement. When looking at your policies and procedures, separate the policies that can’t be compromised from the ones that can, and build that directly into your training program. This will give your staff the tools and empowerment to resolve issues from day one. When you do that, you are building a mindset that guest service is a culture, not just an act, which Jen summarizes as her guest experience philosophy.
In order to reduce guests experiencing “survey fatigue,” Avius took onsite guest feedback and converted it into a digital format, focusing on kiosks and tablets rather than paper and clipboards. In this conversation, Ben shares that guests who are unwilling to sit and take a 20 question survey are actually more likely to take 40 or more micro surveys, with just 2-3 questions each. We discuss how this applies to measuring more specific areas of guest experience, such as restroom cleanliness, where the data is accurate, timely, and immediately actionable. In 2020, when the attractions industry focused on minimizing touchpoints, Avius was able to pivot to offer contactless options for their survey kiosks while still collecting the critical data that operators needed to run their business. Additionally, Ben stresses the importance of practicing what you preach, so his guest experience mindset is just as prevalent with his internal team as it is with Avius clients and the guests that they serve. Lastly, Ben shares his philosophy that you should never be afraid to listen to your guests, because their feedback is a vital part of your success.
If you’ve been following industry news lately, you may have seen that Herschend Family Entertainment has become a major partner and operator of Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, KY. Jessi O’Daniel has worked at the park since 2014 and is currently the Vice President of Guest Experience. Josh chatted with Jessi about her guest experience philosophy, how Kentucky Kingdom merges social media with guest experience, and what goes into ensuring consistency in service delivery across all staff members, and all departments.
Jessi gives excellent examples of positive service moments that she is thrilled to be a part of, showing that going above and beyond doesn’t need to cost anything… for both guests and employees. When it comes to friction, one thing that is always on Jessi’s mind is making sure that the park’s policies and procedures resonate quickly with guests, knowing that they are walking into an unfamiliar environment, and it takes a little more than just putting up a sign. And at the end of the day, being a good human is one of the most important aspects of being a leader and a guest experience provider.
In this episode, Brandon Willey joins the podcast to talk about how Hownd helps attractions improve their guest experience and increase their per capita spend. We discuss how attractions were able to navigate the first wave of COVID lockdowns through Hownd’s support voucher program, and also how consumers were protected if they were unable to have their voucher fulfilled. Brandon shares amazing insights into how technology should be woven into the guest experience to create more personalized interactions, but not to replace the human element. We cover how Hownd collects feedback from both clients and from the customers of clients to regularly innovate and improve the product, and why the first 10 minutes of a guests’ visit is the most critical. Lastly, Brandon shares why delivering meaningful value is the most important aspect of his guest experience philosophy.
Jennifer Thomas-Sassone is an experienced leader in the attractions industry with a unique perspective on guest experience. Most recently, Jennifer was General Manager at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and the story of how she ended up there is not only incredibly entertaining, but completely aligns with her views on how attractions should provide a great guest experience. Prior to Xtreme Action Park, Jennifer came from the health and fitness industry, which gave us an opportunity to bounce back and forth between attractions and fitness centers, and discuss the similarities between the two in terms of how they operate. Pay close attention to how Jennifer defines what it means to deliver a “predictable experience,” which is much more important than going above and beyond. In order to create a predictable experience for your guests, Jennifer talks about looking at each attraction and area of your venue as its own business unit, with specialized team members who are experts in that space, versus the more widespread practice of cross-training employees so they can jump in wherever they’re needed. Also, if a guest complains, even if it’s about service, Jennifer believes that it is not that staff member’s fault, but the processes put in place that led to that guest’s dissatisfaction.
In this interview, Josh chats with Luke Schueler, Founder and COO of Flying Squirrel Sports. We talk about how Flying Squirrel strives to control every aspect of the guest experience to ensure the highest level of satisfaction and safety. From manufacturing their own equipment to customizing every square inch of their facilities, Luke shares some insight into their design process and the importance of seeing the business through the eyes of the customer. He also has some pretty wild stories about turning around really bad situations along with lessons learned to avoid service failures in the future. And of course we can’t talk about Flying Squirrel without talking about the color pink.