Rapport Guest Services epitomises exceptional customer service through a wonderful sense of team and an acute attention to detail. Their receptionists, concierges and call handlers are quite literally in the business of providing excellent guest experiences, so The WOW! Awards offered the perfect fit for them to recognise and encourage the behaviours they most value.
Summary
Rapport Guest Services provides award-winning reception, concierge, meeting room management and switchboard/call services to their corporate clients. As the name suggests, creating rapport with guests is absolutely central to their brand ethos.
Their approach to this is entirely customer-led, tailoring unique experiences for each client as well as every individual guest.
Rapport Guest Services is quite literally in the business of delivering service excellence. Their approach is incredibly detail-oriented, down to the coloured thread in their uniforms or the bespoke scents of their reception areas. The entire guest experience is considered and tailored to create that perfect lasting impression. As such, The WOW! Awards is delighted to work with them on their employee recognition programme.
As I took a coat from my guest and gave them a cloakroom tag number in return, I noticed that one of the buttons was loose. Without saying anything, I decided to sew it back on while he was in a meeting. Noticing it on his way home, he sent an email of thanks to the Chairman
The challenge
When you are in the business of delivering customer service perfection across a number of sites, how do you measure and further encourage it?
The challenge was to find a colleague recognition platform that offered instant feedback as well as being available to all colleagues. A successful solution would encourage the service perfection that Rapport Guest Services prides itself on, whilst boosting the sense of one team across a number of locations.
By uncovering stories of excellent service, management hoped to recognise and further encourage it across their wider teams:
“We were aware that we had so many great stories, but previously these weren’t being stored in a single location. This was also a great opportunity to share best practice and inspire others to create remarkable service.”
Examples of colleagues being incredibly proactive to go above-and-beyond expectations needed to be rewarded and shared.
The approach
A working party was formed within the business to make decisions about certificates, website and awards ceremonies. Experienced managers together with their engagement team helped to launch The WOW! Awards across the whole business in 2015. They were excited to capture the wonderful work that their people were doing every day and to bring it together in one place.
The awards are designed to align to Rapport’s business values, which are often quoted in the written nominations. Assessment of each nomination then considers company values with the intention of recognising and promoting those preferred positive behaviours.
Rapport Guest Services also really understood the value in instant recognition. Personal interactions with customers are felt in the moment as they’re based on individual human connections. So boosting the sense of reward in helping someone as soon as possible after the experience gives the greatest potential for the important sense of job satisfaction.
“The WOW! Awards seemed like a great way to recognise all the wonderful things that our Ambassadors had been doing in the moment, rather than months later.”
Amazing work ethic and dedication. When I know that Kata is on-site the building is in safe hands. She is very proactive and forward-thinking. As FM of the building, I have received compliments from the tenants of a similar nature. I believe this is what first-class customer service looks like.
The outcome
The WOW! Awards has been part of the glue that binds together a team that are by nature working across a number of client organisations and offices. A great sense of team is fostered in the sharing and celebrating of exceptional work and colleagues feel seen and recognised for their efforts. Greg Mace, Founder and Managing Director of Rapport comments:
“We have worked closely with the team at The Wow! Awards for a number of years and this enables us to recognise examples of brilliant service and supports our desire to celebrate and showcase our team.”
Since launch, over 5000 nominations have been received, resulting in 1176 award certificates. Greg Mace continues:
“Our aim is to ensure we create a really personal, intuitive service for our clients and their guests which anticipates their needs, saves their valuable time and makes our guests feel welcome and relaxed. The recognition we have received over the years for the way we engage our teams is a tribute to the culture we have built and the passionate leaders in our business.”
Rapport Guest Services have collected many an award to this effect and their thriving business is a testament to the positive impact that employee recognition has had on their service levels.
Our ethos in Rapport is all about providing a service that is personal and intuitive, anticipating our guests’ needs. We truly believe that every guest experience should be unique and to do this, we empower all of our Rapport Ambassadors to do whatever it takes to delight our guests.
Every day, our brilliant team bring this to life with some inspirational examples of service that go above and beyond what would normally be expected, to literally make you go “WOW”!
We have worked closely with the team at The WOW! Awards for a number of years and this enables us to recognise examples of brilliant service and supports our desire to celebrate and showcase our team.