Hi, I’m Sean and I’m a Marriott Rewards Platinum member.
I am very proud to say that because I’m someone who love great service. I enjoy finding people who truly love what they do and everyone who gets to interact with them knows it. I teach my audiences how powerful it is to deliver memorable experiences to their customers. There is something really cool about a big international brand making their guests feel like people rather than just another number or piece of data in a shareholder report.
I’ve written about my experiences with the Marriott family before in these posts; Feeling at Home Away From Home and Treating Your Fans Fantastically. They are one of my spotlight brands when I present around the country about companies who do a great job of listening on the social media channels. I don’t always get a choice in my lodging accommodations when I travel but when I do, you can be sure I’ll be staying at one of the Marriott family of brands.
Great Social Presence Begins with Listening
I mention them often in my tweets as I always seek to recognize a staff member who delivered great service to me upon check-in or to share publicly about one of their great properties. It’s always a great feeling when I ask the front desk representative if they have a personal Twitter handle. When they ask me why I say something like “You were an amazing help to me today and I want to let the world and your company know it. I’m going to tweet about your awesomeness as soon as I get up to my room.” You can just imagine the look on their face but it’s even better when I see them again and they’ve already heard from a boss or the social team.
They are always quick to respond with a word of appreciation or a retweet of my message which shows me they are listening. They aren’t a brand that has a Twitter account just to look “hip.” They actually use it and quite effectively at that. Sure, they use their social presence to market their properties and services around the globe, monitor the streams for unhappy customers and guests so they can try to make things right and to advertise promotions and deals for guests. They also probably enjoy some positive tweets now and then so I am happy to oblige.
Delivering Awesomeness to My Door
My wife texted me last week to let me know that I had received a package. Well, correct that…my dog Callie had received a package. I wasn’t expecting anything so it certainly intrigued me. Who was it from? What could it be? Why was my 18 month old lab getting mail?
I got home and there on the counter was a large package waiting for me. The return address label showed the package was from Marriott. I smiled because I know it must be something from the social media team that monitors and manages the Twitter accounts for @Marriott and @MarriottIntl. The team had just helped me with a recent issue the week before while I was on the road so I was guessing it was something related to that encounter.
I called Callie over to help me open the package. As I ripped through the packing tape, Callie sat patiently and wagged her tail. As I finally busted the box open, I saw a card and some packing paper. Callie can’t read so I pulled the card out first and set it on the counter for me to go back to later. Inside the box was two dog toys for Callie. A squeaky dog and a stuffed cow. Callie was standing on her hind legs, front legs on the counter anxiously awaiting me to give her those toys.
I held them aloft and said “Let’s go outside Callie and see what you think of these.” She bounced outside like only labs can do and started playfully barking and turning in circles. I tossed the squeaky dog across the lawn and she bounded off to grab it. As I squeezed the soft little cow it let out a series of “moos” which caught Callie’s attention and she came back in a spring with the other toy firmly in her jaws. She was in heaven and sat outside for 15 minutes just going from one toy to the next.
I went back inside and read the card. It was signed by 10 different people from the social media team at Marriott with personalized notes from each of them, thanking me for my support, being a loyal guest and sharing my experiences with the world. I think it’s safe to say that loyalty works both ways and little things like this are reasons why I am so proud to be a Marriott customer.
They are big fans of Callie and I can assure them that the feeling is mutual. So to Sara, Jackie, Britt, Janice, Alexis, Nicole, Jeff, Jan and all the rest of the All-Stars there at the Marriott social team – thanks for everything you do. You’re great examples of how a big brand can build relationships, solve problems and have fun.