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LRA Worldwide Develops Benchmarking Data for the Lodging and Timeshare Industries
Leading Consulting and Research Company Develops Comparative Data for its Clients
HORSHAM, Pennsylvania; December 7, 2004 - Beginning in January of 2005, LRA Worldwide will be able to provide its client base with anonymous benchmarking data on a wide range of universal quality and customer service attributes, as well as metrics for facility condition and cleanliness standards. LRA, a leading provider of strategic Customer Experience Management Solutions for the hospitality and lodging industry, has culled the data from the thousands of quality assurance site inspections and "mystery shop" programs they have performed for their diverse clientele in the past year. LRA will update the comparative database regularly to provide the most up-to-date benchmarks for its clients.
The project was far from turnkey for LRA; the complete customization of each LRA client inspection/mystery shop protocol made it challenging to identify and calculate the universal service and facility attributes. As the technology behind the reporting advanced, allowing for more advanced data queries, LRA was able to determine the common threads throughout their programs and begin crunching the data.
"We're thrilled to be able to offer this to our clients as a value-add to our quality assurance services," said LRA Chief Operating Officer Stan Lashner. "The real value in our QA inspection programs is that they have never been 'cookie-cutter', but that also proved a hindrance in providing generalized industry data. Now, for instance, we can let our clients know what the industry levels of compliance are for a service standard - for example, 'Did the front desk clerk acknowledge the guest by name at check in?' - and where they fall in relation to that standard."
LRA will be able to provide overall benchmarking for the lodging and timeshare industries, as well as specific sector data for various market segments. In addition, LRA will be able to provide the comparative report for certain geographic markets as well.
"This is a welcome upgrade to the already superior level of service, data and reporting that LRA provides," said Katy Adams, Director of Franchise Business Services for Carlson Hotels Worldwide. "Given the completely unique program that LRA designed for us, we were resigned to forgoing benchmarking data you might get from a more standard inspection program. This is certainly a pleasant surprise, but typical of the level of service we've come to expect from LRA."
LRA also will have benchmarking data available in 2005 for research clients who utilize LRA's innovative customer satisfaction survey programs. This data will be available for an overall cross-section of businesses and industries in which LRA operates, as well as the hospitality and lodging industries in particular. The customer satisfaction benchmarking data will provide clients a snapshot of where they stack up against the overall group in the areas of customer satisfaction, advocacy, retention and overall loyalty, as well as a number of additional key performance metrics.
About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc. is a leading consulting, organizational development and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in "operationalizing the brand" - turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA's CEM practice areas include CEM Strategy Design, Standards Development & Content Management, Organizational Development & Training, Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific tactical client need.
LRA's clients include some of the world's leading companies and brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the PGA TOUR, Albertsons Supermarkets, the NBA and First Niagara Financial Group. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com
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