The Loyalty Leader - LRA Worldwide eNewsletter Q1 2010

sidebar Feature Article
Hospitality Across Generations: Move over Black Tie, Hello Blue Jeans!
By Rob Rush, President and CEO

The first sign of the times, you ask? Perhaps it was back in 2006 when Ritz-Carlton looked in the mirror and realized that "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" didn’t exactly apply to a 32-year-old CEO in jeans and a t-shirt. In a nod to the changing demographics of those who consumed "luxury," Ritz loosened up a bit, recognizing the need for a generational component to its time-honored and revered operational and guest service standards. Full Article

Consultant's Corner
The "Warm and Fuzzy" Score
By Rick Reilly, Project Director

We all spend a great deal of time and money on the implementation of customer experience initiatives to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and - eventually - profitability of our organizations. We keenly measure the success of these initiatives in a variety of ways - directly by asking or observing the customer and indirectly through customer retention and financial metrics - to foster continuous improvement. Despite our best efforts to improve performance based upon these measures, we are often times unsuccessful in reaching our baseline goals. Why? Perhaps a major reason is that we’re not driving change where it really counts: how the customer experience makes the customer feel. Full Article

The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is the first of its kind to rank, certify and inspect hotels and resorts in North America based on their commitment to sustainable "green" operations. In the United States, Green Key is a joint partnership between the Hotel Association of Canada and LRA Worldwide, Inc. For more information, visit www.greenkeyglobal.com.

Motel 6, Sofitel hotel chains joins green race, will test green rating program in USA this year
USA Today – January 19, 2010

Accor North America Announces Green Key Pilot in the United States
January 18, 2010

Green Hotel Certification Programs Snowball, Sparks Confusion
Eco Green Hotels – January 12, 2010

Hilton Portland Earns Prestigious "Green Key"
December 29, 2009

Travelocity Recognizes Green Key Global Membership in Green Hotel Directory
December 16, 2009

Green Hospitality Steals the Show
EcoGreen Hotels – December 3, 2009

'Green' Vendors Had Strong Presence at This Year's IH/M&RS
Green Lodging News – November 12, 2009

LRA Client News

Sol Meliá and LRA Worldwide Launch Global Brand Assurance Program

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain/HORSHAM, Pennsylvania, USA; December 17, 2009 – Sol Meliá, the 15th-largest hotel chain in the world and the leading Spanish hotel and resort company, has launched a comprehensive brand assurance evaluation program across its global portfolio of hotel and resort brands. To execute the program, Sol Meliá has partnered with LRA Worldwide, Inc., a leading firm in the design and development of performance measurement and quality assurance programs for the hospitality and lodging industries. Read More

New Clients

We welcome these new clients to the LRA family:

About LRA Worldwide, Inc.

LRA Worldwide is a leading research and consulting company in the emerging discipline of Customer Experience Management (CEM). We work with our clients to help them design and deliver consistently exceptional customer experiences in order to drive customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy, and company growth and profitability.

In LRA's 25-year history, we have grown from a provider of customized quality assurance evaluation programs for the hospitality industry, to a leading CEM consulting company offering a variety of client solutions. The evolution has been driven by our clients asking us one question - "How do we get better?" In response, we have built a range of performance measurement, research, training and consulting solutions to help them do so. Today, we are a growing company operating in more than 120 countries throughout the world, helping clients such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the National Basketball Association, the PGA TOUR and Ritz-Carlton Clubs deliver exceptional customer experiences. Every touch. Every time. For more information, visit us at www.LRAworldwide.com.

LRA Worldwide, Inc.
300 Welsh Road
Building 1, Suite 200
Horsham, Pennsylvania 19044.2263, USA
Tel: +1.215.957.1999
Fax: +1.215.957.6570
e-Mail: info@lraworldwide.com
www.LRAWorldwide.com

Privacy & Legal Notice

Legal Notice. If you received a mailing from us, (a) your email address is either listed with us as someone who has expressly shared this address for the purpose of receiving information in the future ("opt-in"), or (b) you have registered or purchased or otherwise have an existing relationship with us. If do not wish to receive this newsletter, use the "leave mail list" link below.

Your privacy is important to us. We never share, sell, or rent personal information without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law.

Click here to avoid receiving future e-mails from us.
Click here to modify your profile.

To ensure you're properly receiving this newsletter, please be sure to add us to your e-mail address book.

If you are having trouble reading this email message, follow this link: http://www.lraworldwide.com/newsletter-2010-Q1-email.html