Clients
LRA works across industry verticals and on projects of various size and scope with one common thread - helping clients deliver exceptional customer experiences.
At LRA, we are very proud of the clients that we have helped. Our client list represents companies and brands large and small, globally-recognized and less well-known, all with the desire to differentiate themselves from the competition based on customer experience. The client relationships described in the following project capsules and case studies run the gamut from full Customer Experience Management engagements to more focused projects utilizing only one of our CEM solutions. Most client engagements come with a good story or two...as well as a satisfied client eager to discuss their LRA experience.
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Interested in learning more about LRA's Customer Experience Management solutions?
Accor Hotels
Accor Hotels is one of the leading global hotel companies, with more than 4,000 hotels representing 11 brands located in 90 countries throughout the world. This far-flung enterprise relies on LRA to ensure the proper guest experience is being delivered for a range of brands across a variety of locales. For one, LRA provides the Global Quality Assurance program for Sofitel Luxury Hotels and provides training for property management on how to use all of the company performance data to drive improvements; in addition, LRA conducts brand compliance audits in Asia and the Middle East for Novotel, Pullman and Mercure. In the United States, LRA has worked with Sofitel and Motel 6 on the Green Key Global Eco-Rating program, helping each of these brands understand that “green” and “quality” go hand in hand
ARAMARK
LRA works with multiple lines of business within the ARAMARK Corporation, a global leader in foodservice and facility management, on a variety of projects, ranging from the development and implementation of hospitality service standards and business processes, to conducting research programs, to the development of complex "Knowledge Base" websites. Within ARAMARK, LRA has worked with the Stadiums & Arenas, Parks & Resorts, Healthcare, Higher Education, Senior Living, Business Services, Conventions & Cultural Attractions and ARAMARK Harrison Lodging divisions.
AvisBudget Group
The car rental giant need to get creative in its efforts to monitor Quality across its locations, and turned to LRA to mobilize the ABG sales force as “mystery shoppers” using LRA’s TrueView platform. The program, branded internally as “YourView,” informs ABG employees of the standards that govern every location and how to measure them effectively, ensuring consistent customer experiences throughout the land.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
This global hospitality company relies on LRA Worldwide to conduct its QPR program for the Radisson and Country Inn & Suites brands in the Americas and Asia Pacific. LRA’s global coverage is complete, as the relationship extends to the Carlson-affiliated Rezidor Hotel Group in Brussels, Belgium. LRA conducts the Quality Assurance and Brand Compliance audits for Radisson Blu and Park Inn throughout EMEA for Rezidor.
Choice Hotels
Faced with dipping guest satisfaction scores and seeking to elevate the public perception of its brands, Choice Hotels turned to LRA to implement a Quality Assurance program to reinforce its brand standards. Today, LRA consults with more than 6,500 properties representing seven different brands throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, providing Choice's corporate team with a consistent measure of franchise performance and each property with a blueprint for improvement.
Churchill Downs Incorporated
The iconic home of the Kentucky Derby felt the need to elevate its customer experience on two fronts. For one, renovations at the namesake track created some big-ticket premium seating areas and the accompanying big-ticket customer expectations. Secondly, the company had acquired a number of additional high-profile racetracks...but didn't know how to create a branded "Churchill Downs" customer experience. LRA helped CDI facilitate the creation of the "Aspire" Guest Service model, implemented the related training across the enterprise, and runs an ongoing mystery shopping program to measure compliance.
Copa Airlines
LRA was retained by Copa, the Panamanian carrier that “moves more passengers through the Americas,” to help revamp its “Voice of Customer” research program. LRA’s research team dove into the consulting engagement, providing analysis and recommendations to reshape the Copa passenger experience for future generations of travelers
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
When this stunning property opened its doors in December 2010, it marked the most high-profile opening on the strip in years…and LRA was there to help. LRA consultants were on-site for weeks pre-opening and after, providing continuous feedback on the guest experience to help fine tune the unique Cosmopolitan Service Culture. Since LRA and Jay-Z helped open the property, LRA has continued to provide measurement services for the resort – ongoing quality assurance evaluations, guest surveys, and more.
Dallas Cowboys
When you open a new $2 Billion stadium – as the Dallas Cowboys did this past fall – it comes with some outsized service expectations. LRA delivered its tested “Building Relationships” training program to the Cowboys premium seating sales and service staff to make sure each and every premium seat holder at Cowboys Stadium feels like a billion bucks. “Building Relationships” has helped more than 30+ professional sports teams strengthen their relationships with their most valuable customers.
FLIK International
FLIK, a division of the international food service giant the Compass Group, provides high-end and innovative corporate dining, catering and food service to businesses and conference centers throughout the Northeast. LRA has built a comprehensive brand assurance and management program for FLIK that helps operators deliver the promised “Platinum Service” and corporate stakeholders rest easily knowing that great food, great service and great people are not just a marketing tagline.
Giorgio Armani
LRA has served in several roles in support of the international fashion icon, most prominently with the Giorgio Armani Café division, conducting mystery shops of the café experience at 14 locations across four continents. For this project, LRA recruits, trains and certifies independent contractors who are rigorously screened to fit the demographic profile of an Armani customer. More recently, LRA was called in to consult on the pre-opening of the flagship Giorgio Armani Hotel in Dubai, UAE, proving customer experience and fashion sense go hand in hand.
The Grand Opera (Wilmington, DE)
The “patron experience” had long been taken for granted at performing arts venues and arenas, with the assumption that the only thing that matters is taking place on the court or stage. With increased competition for consumer’s discretionary income, however, venues like The Grand Opera are using LRA’s PatronView ™ to measure the patron experience immediately post-event across all operational “touch points” in order to better understand venue performance, patron needs and how to keep the seats filled.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
The LRA - Hyatt relationship operates on several different levels. LRA's Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping Group conducts Hyatt's QA program, a comprehensive site visit that scores service and facility elements for multiple brands, and conducts periodic service-only “Mystery Shops” for select properties in between QA visits. LRA's Research Group works with Hyatt on a variety of initiatives, including several high-exposure ad hoc research studies and an ongoing project with Hyatt Vacation Club to measure the efficacy of the sales process. The goal - identify the key drivers of purchase intent in order to convert interest into ownership.
Intercontinental Hotels Group
The relaunch of a brand is enough to keep even the most confident hotel executive up at night - when the brand is an industry icon such as Holiday Inn, the process calls for an extra layer of assurance to make certain the new brand is performing on all cylinders. IHG turned to LRA to provide a comprehensive brand evaluation program for all Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties in the EMEA and AP regions; the results were so powerful that this one-time initiative transformed into an ongoing program for all IHG brands in EMEA and Asia Pacific.
International Speedway Corporation
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owns and operates 14 motorsports entertainment facilities throughout North America - including the iconic Daytona International Speedway, and runs the 19 NASCAR events held at these sites. With competition for the entertainment dollar at an all-time high, ISC works with LRA to measure the NASCAR race fan experience with a comprehensive post-race survey so as to ensure that fans come back for the next race, tell their friends...and the bleachers remain filled.
Joie de Vivre
As a leader in the boutique hotel sector, Joie de Vivre provides affordable and stylish accommodations for guests throughout California…and LRA’s brand assurance evaluations helps ensure that the authentic JDV experience is delivered from Sonoma to SoCal, and all points in between.
Langham Hotels International
Langham is growing its luxury brand throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, with more than 30 hotels operating under three brands. The common theme – each wants to create a strong emotional connection with its guests, leading Langham corporate to enlist LRA to enhance the Langham brand standards to align with this mission and deploy LRA's Emotional Audit measurement program to measure progress around the globe.
Madison Square Garden
The “World’s Most Famous Arena” embarked on an ambitious $500 million physical renovation plan and decided they want to renovate the fan experience to match. LRA conducted an extensive evaluation of the “current state” fan experience and help design, implement and reinforce a branded customer service program at the arena and the related “Circle of Service” training. Progress is measured via a Team Member survey program and extensive mystery shopping at MSG and its “sister” facilities – Radio City Music Hall, Chicago Theater and Beacon Theater. LRA helps keep the “Circle of Service” turning at MSG.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Few brands evoke luxury and guest service like Mandarin and LRA’s comprehensive guest satisfaction and loyalty program is engineered to ensure it stays that way. LRA conducts post-stay research with thousands of Mandarin guests throughout the world, providing real-time results to more than 300 corporate- and property-level managers. The program allows Mandarin to respond immediately to guest needs, adjust on the fly within the operation and make strategic adjustments to the guest experience, all based on what their guests value most.
Meliá Hotels International
When Meliá Hotels International, the twelfth largest hotel chain in the world, announced a strategic plan centered around "enhancing the value of its brands [and] repositioning the brands on a higher level," they recognized that defining the internal brands would be as important as marketing externally. Meliá contacted LRA to run six distinct "brand boot camps" for each of the company's hotel brands, where the desired brand image was translated into a distinct service philosophy and brand and operational standards - the foundational elements of a distinct, differentiated and branded guest experience. With the rollout of the new brand standards, LRA currently conducts Meliá’s global Quality Assurance program, conducting evaluations at each of 300-plus properties worldwide.
National Football League
Professional football is the most popular sport in the United States, with attendance figures and television ratings that bear witness to the NFL's popularity. LRA has partnered with the League on a variety of team season ticket renewal studies designed to ensure that the fans who come to the games continue to feel like valued customers across their entire game day experience.
Pestana Hotels & Resorts
Pestana Hotels & Resorts is one of the top 100 hotel companies in the world, providing its guest 4- and 5-star hotel and resort experiences in cities and beaches throughout Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique and Cape Verde. LRA helps Pestana to measure and enhance the guest experience on an ongoing basis, conducting a post-stay guest satisfaction and loyalty survey. The program allows Pestana management to react to survey results in real time and prioritize big-picture investments in the guest experience based on what is most important to their guests.
The PGA Tour's Tournament Players Clubs
With course supply far out-driving demand, the TPC embarked on a strategy to differentiate its clubs. LRA's research indicated that immaculate greens and ornate clubhouses were a must...but expected, and that service interactions - beginning at the bag drop - were the real drivers of an optimal golf experience. With that information in hand, LRA helped TPC reengineer the service elements of the golf experience, integrate guest/member satisfaction metrics into management compensation scorecards and help each individual course action plan towards increased revenue.
Philadelphia Marketplace at Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia Marketplace is the collection of 140-plus retail and food and beverage outlets that beckons travelers at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and has helped the airport rocket up industry passenger satisfaction studies. LRA and Philadelphia Marketplace have partnered on an innovative performance enhancement and professional development program that meshes mystery shopping, training and coaching in the field and leadership development, all for the purpose of making those passing through PHL say “now that’s an airport I wouldn’t mind getting stuck at.”
The Port Authority of NY & NJ
The PANYNJ, which oversees LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports, was faced with the realization that travelers really had a choice - i.e., regional airports and Southwest. In response, the PANYNJ set about engineering a more pleasant travel experience and employed LRA to help design that experience - from the vendors to the gate agents - as well as measure its delivery via a comprehensive site audit and mystery shopping program. Though preconceived notions are hard to change, travelers are voting with their feet and their votes. Both travel volume and traveler satisfaction scores are on the rise.
Preferred Hotel Group
The Preferred Hotel Group provides sales and marketing support for a global collection of distinctive hotels under four brands – Summit, Preferred, Boutique and Sterling. For the consumer, with the Preferred Hotel Group designation comes a peace of mind that the property in question shares the PHG commitment to excellence. LRA serves as PHG’s partner in ensuring that excellence globally; the comprehensive Quality Assurance evaluation at each affiliated property ensures that a Preferred Hotel lives up to its name.
Regal Hotels International
This Hong Kong-based hotel brand was recognizing its ambitious growth plans in China…and realized it needed some assistance to make sure that the “Regal Experience” delivered in Kowloon is that same as that in Chengdu. LRA helped developed the “Regal Connection” brand standards and service training, and is now conducting regular quality assurance evaluations at each property to ensure the Regal experience remains so.
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo has long been regarded as the gold standard of the industry, with a stunning array of animals displayed in settings that mirror their natural habitats. With a world-class product, the Zoo turned its focus to delivering world-class service, revamping its customer service standards and training programs, and turning to LRA to conduct periodic assessments and frequent mystery shops of the Zoo experience. There’s no elephant in the room – this is one assignment that’s easy to bear…
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has set its sights on not only being the airport of choice for Bay Area travelers but the “gateway to the United States” for those passengers and airlines flying into the U.S. via the West Coast. SFO asked LRA to help assess the traveler experience at the airport and make prioritized recommendations for improvement via a study that integrated exploratory research from travelers and a site evaluation by an LRA travel consultant. SFO embraced the findings and is planning enhancements to the traveler experience that will keep the airport ahead of the crowd.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Some of the most buzz-worthy brands in hospitality operate under the Starwood umbrella, and LRA helps ensure the buzz stays worthy, from Boston to Bangkok. The LRA Brand Assurance program makes sure the Sheraton Service Promise is kept, the Westin Heavenly Bed is truly celestial, and that W Hotels truly can deliver Whatever/Whenever. With an active role on each brand's standards committee, LRA ensures that the brands remain cutting edge and the individual properties remain just as sharp. And the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program deployed TrueView to make sure the member experience was being delivered in all four corners of the world..
Station Casinos
With an increased emphasis on the lodging experience in Las Vegas, Station Casinos was interested in measuring the guest experience at its varied portfolio of hotel-casino properties in the Las Vegas market. LRA created an online system that generated a guest survey invitation upon checkout, allowing Station to gather immediate operational feedback to property-level operators and high-level oversight to corporate officers via a dynamic executive dashboard. LRA's advanced analysis provides longer-term strategic guidance, keeping heads in beds and the jackpots ringing.
Stowe Mountain Resort
With a $100 million capital improvement campaign yielding a new base area and five-star resort hotel, Stowe is transforming its business from a "ski mountain" to a full-service "resort." Stowe realized that a transformation of that nature doesn't occur with the facilities alone - it requires a shift in the service culture and orientation of the organization. LRA works with Stowe to measure the Stowe guest experience and employee engagement, and use the related analysis to ensure that this ongoing transformation is a smooth ride, for clientele old and new.
Sunrise Senior Living
The landscape in the senior living industry has become highly-competitive, where “healthcare” and “hospitality” have assumed equal billing. Sunrise Senior Living, one of the industry leaders, has taken great pains to ensure its sales force captures all that Sunrise has to offer – from empathy to entertainment – in each and every sales interaction. LRA conducts mystery shops of the sales process across 200-plus locations, making sure that Sunrise is positioned to turn prospects into residents..
Vintage Senior Living
Vintage is a growing provider of independent, assisted and skilled nursing senior living services at more than 20 locations in the western United States. The company came to LRA looking for greater insights into the experiences they provide their residents (and their family members) from the initial sales process, through move-in and – most importantly – in the day-to-day resident experience. Likewise, they had keen interest in the employee experience, knowing full well the engaged employees lead to happy residents. LRA has partnered with Vintage on a comprehensive survey program designed to manage this feedback loop and analyze the findings to make sure residents, families and employees alike feel cared for and secure.
