Ep 652 | Inside a Forbes Five-Star Experience

Thank you for joining me today. It's Caitlin Saunders, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. I am back, and I am so excited to share an experience I had recently that really left me thinking a lot about what it means to create excellence in business. I am located here in the Phoenix, Arizona market, and there is a really, really wonderful resort here in town called the Global Ambassador. And the Global Ambassador is just impeccable. From the moment you walk into this property, you are transported into a European Parisian oasis. It's stunning. The decor, the service, the meals, the staff is attentive. I mean, every single aspect of this property is intentional and you can see. And so I went there and I did a staycation with my mom and we made an entire experience of it. We did the spa, we had dinner at one of their onsite restaurants, and then we stayed for the night. And I wanted to highlight a few of the moments that we had at our dinner that really stood out to me. So we went to their Parisian steakhouse on property. It is called Le Homme. And again, every part of this restaurant is just amazing. So one of the first things that we experienced at our dinner was really simple, but we noticed it and we talked about it later. I got up to use the restroom, and in the blink of an eye, somebody had come to our table, folded my napkin, and placed it back right next to my plate so it was waiting for me when I returned. That attention to detail and the speed at which they picked up my napkin the moment I set, set it down is really impressive. And again, noteworthy for us. And the second moment came from, uh, watching the kitchen. We were, our table was placed near the kitchen and my seat happened to be facing the kitchen. It's an open kitchen concept. You can see all the cooks in there. You see them making the food, you see the food coming out, you see the waiters and waitresses. Grabbing the food to take it to their tables. And I was fascinated. I am always very high alert and curious when it comes to these places where there's high volume and so many moving parts. Like every time I'm at an airport, I think about the logistics, and every time I'm at a casino, I think about the, the logistics. And I was doing the same thing watching this kitchen. It was just fascinating. And as I was watching this, our waitress came over to me and I think she thought maybe we needed something. And we were like, no, we're good. We actually were just admiring the kitchen and how well-oiled it is. It's really impressive. And she said, yeah, it is. Would you like a tour of the kitchen after your meal? And we were like, sure, that sounds awesome. So She said that she goes away, we finish our entrees, and then she brings the dessert menu. Now, this is another part I really want you to pay attention to. After our entrees, they brought us the dessert menu. And if you know me, you know that I have a second stomach that's just for dessert. And if you know me super well, you know that my favorite dessert ever is a warm chocolate chip cookie. And we were so full from our meal, nothing was really jumping out at us. From our, um, from the dessert menu. And so when she came over to take our order, we had just told her, you know, nothing's really standing out to us, um, but, you know, a warm chocolate chip cookie would sound really good. And we were just kind of joking with her, and she said, you know, we don't have that on the menu, but let me see what I can do. So she brings us our bill, we pay the bill, we go meet this gentleman to take us on a tour of the kitchen. And we do this kitchen tour, and again, I'm mesmerized. I mean, I am watching all of these moving parts work in such cohesion. It is the perfect dance, and they're doing it so gracefully. And again, they are pumping out so much food, and it's so high quality. It was just really amazing to watch. And so we're making our way around the kitchen, and I noticed that on the wall there was this bulletin board. And on the bulletin board, there were two things that I noticed. One was a handwritten quote. And I asked the gentleman who was giving us the tour, I said, this quote right here, do they change that every day? And he said, yes, they find a quote and they write it up there and they have the staff get behind it for the day. It's part of their vision and kind of the experience they want to bring to the table, or maybe the mood that they want to set among the team. And I thought that was really cool. So I made a mental note of that. And then the second thing on this bulletin board that I noticed was a piece of paper that said Forbes 5-star rating or Forbes 5-star standard, something along that line. And I thought, huh, that's interesting. So I made a mental note and I thought, I'm going to go look that up later. I'm curious. So we kept walking and we get to the kind of the end of the kitchen and I noticed the head chef and he's calling out orders. And then there's this digital clock right next to him with these big numbers. Like, it is a big clock that's pretty noticeable. And I hear him shouting out numbers and times. And so I asked the gentleman giving us the tour, I said, what is he doing? And he said, for every single dish that comes into the system, it is assigned to a table, and that dish needs to be out on the counter by a certain time. There is a specific time that each dish takes to be made and that should be presented to the customer or to the table. And of course there's all this, this methodology behind it, right? And I'm like, wow, that's crazy. So this chef is, he has 15 tickets in front of him and he is shouting out numbers and his team is moving in such cohesion and not skipping a beat. They are putting the dishes on the, on the counter when they're supposed to be there. And it was really, really cool to watch. And then the other thing I noticed about the cook staff was, you know, you watch these movies and you hear in the kitchen, when there's kitchen scenes, these chefs are yelling, they're like, behind or corner, or they're just yelling in general and kind of bumping into each other. There was none of that happening here. I mean, these people were stationary in their areas. And I asked the guy, I said, What's going on with that? And he said, every single cook in here is trained on every single station and every single dish. However, every shift that they come in for, they stay on one station for that entire night. We find that it maximizes efficiency and it decreases the amount of mistakes that might be made. Because if you think about it, if a chef is cooking, if they're grilling a steak and then making a bowl of pasta and then grilling vegetables, those are so many different types of dishes and, and tools and things that they need to use. That leaves a lot more room for error. And so I thought, wow, that's super efficient. So we keep going and we end our tour, and this very tall man in this suit walks up to my mom and I, and he has this small plate in his hands, and he hands it to me, and on that plate are 3 small chocolate chip cookies. And I looked at him and I said, "Seriously?" And he said, "Yes, these are the last 3 cookies on the entire property." And I said, "Oh my gosh." And I felt the plate and the plate was warm. And I said, "You even warmed them?" He said, "Yes." And he had gone to a private area in the property and he grabbed these cookies for us and brought them back. That moment will literally live with me forever. My mom and I have talked about it. Multiple times since it happened. Like the fact that they heard us talk about chocolate chip cookies, our waitress went, must have gone to him and said, hey, what can we do? And he thought, what can we do? And they made it happen. We were not expecting that to happen, but they made it happen. So that's our dinner experience. It was so cool. It was something that we will remember for a very long time, but I want to go back to the note that was on that bulletin board. That Forbes 5-star standard. So I looked into this and I found out that Forbes has been setting these standards for a very long time. They started back in 1958 and they gave their first 5-star rating to a property in 1960. And the way it works is they send anonymous inspectors to a property who check in like a normal guest and they live the experience like a normal hotel guest would. And then based on that experience, They grade the property and get this, there are 900 standards that they're grading a property on. 75% of that score will come from service, things like warmth or consistency, maybe attention to detail, anticipating the customer's needs, all things that I experienced. And then the other 25% comes from the facilities, the design, the cleanliness, the comfort, the overall feel when you're inside of the property. Again, I mentioned that when we first started here. So in order for these properties to receive these 5-star ratings, the property has to be flawless. I mean, they are giving world-class service. Every facility is extraordinary. Every touchpoint that the consumer, the customer is experiencing is perfect. That will give you a 5-star rating. Now, to give you a sense of the scale, I looked into this a little bit further and I wanted to see how many properties are awarded this status. So in the most recent Forbes Star— the Forbes Star Awards, there were more than 2,100 properties across 90 countries that they rated. Out of those 2,100 properties, there were only 336 hotels, 79 restaurants, and 124 spas that they gave the 5-star status to. That's about 25% that received that status out of that full 2,100. That is not a very big percentage. And so when these inspectors come in and they look at every part of the guest journey, they look at the moment you check in at the reservation counter to the moment you get to your room, to the way the team is handling the phone calls that you're hearing, or the way they offered to take care of your luggage. I mean, they're looking at the detail of the guest room. They're thinking about staff greetings. They're thinking about, I mean, every single thing that I have already mentioned about the Global Ambassador experience is happening here, and this is what Forbes looks for. So I thought a little bit more about this system and these standards that these properties are trying to instill in their teams and uphold in the, the overall experience of their property and, and to get these, this rating from Forbes. And I thought, there's gotta be a way that we can apply this to our business world. And so I looked into this framework a little bit more and I just started asking myself questions and I wanted to take a moment and have you think about your business and your team. And I want you to ask yourself in your client journey, do you simply meet expectations or are you exceeding them in a thoughtful or consistent way? Do you have systems that create accountability and efficiency? Like that kitchen and that chef did? Do you have a culture that rallies behind one vision like that daily quote on the bulletin board? Or do you have people on your team who are going to go above and beyond to surprise and delight a customer just like that tall man with that plate of cookies? I think that we all need to take a minute and audit our businesses like, like a Forbes inspector would. Look at our service. How are we answering calls? How are we delivering results? How are we making people feel, whether they're on our team or purchasing from our business. Then look at our systems and our presentation of how our services are delivered. Do they reflect that level of excellence that we want to be known for? And then you gotta, you gotta think about this. These hotels are not just given these 5-star ratings by accident. There's a detailed method for what it takes to be the best. You get this rating from discipline and systems and relentless attention. To that small detail that you might not think the customer picks up on, but when those compound, it makes for a really, really memorable experience. And I wanna leave you with this: if Forbes showed up at your business to rate your business today, what would they see? What could you do to make one small improvement this week to move you closer to that 5-star standard that Forbes expects of their properties? I'm so glad I got to share this with you. This was such a fun story to share and experience. If you're in Phoenix, go check out that property. You're going to have the same experience I did. And Sam Fox, if you're listening to this podcast, I want you to know that if I was Forbes, I would give you a 5-star rating. You just exceeded every expectation when it comes to a customer experience, and I cannot wait to take what I've learned from you and your business in this 5-star rating system and go put it into play in our businesses. So that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's get after it.