Essays

Aishel Kleinmoedig - 2006
Report Cornell University - July 2006

First of all I have to say that I am very proud that I got the opportunity to follow these courses at the Cornell University in Ithaca.

My impression of living on a campus was very exciting, the campus is very relaxing and you can get everything you need and the nature was also very nice. The classmates were from different countries they were all very friendly and helpful.  The aspect of the summer course was very professional, the attention you get, the opportunity to learn more about Hospitality and the culture of the different countries of the other classmates makes Cornell University very unique. It was a great experience to have been able to attend to the three following courses:
- Customer Relationship Management and frequency marketing.
July 10 - July 12, 2006
- Managerial Behavior and Team Effectiveness
  July 13 - July 15, 2006
- New York City Site Visit: Hotel and Food service Operations
July 17 - July 21, 2006

The courses were very interesting and it was a very valuable experience, for example I have worked with different Turn Around study cases that help you learn how to deal with people and to learn what kind of person you are. In this course I have learnt that I am a Sensor and I have learnt also how  to work with a Thinker, the Feeler and Intuitor persons to get the best results with your Behavior. In the Turn Around case study we got also some general questions individually and in the group study helps you know your self better and the tools to work with. I have seen and learned a lot more than I have imagined. This has stimulated me not only in my daily duties at work but also in my personal life.

The first course was how to make and keep your guest loyal to your hotel and the way you have to do your work with loyalty which enclosed also the tools to help you to do your work in the good direction. This was a few examples that we had about loyalty:

• The benefits of real loyalty
• Why Hotels should be concerned about Customer Loyalty.
• Lessons Learned from Research in hotels, restaurants tipping.
• Annual profits throughout Guest Life.
• A Frame Work : Loyalty/Relationship Marketing/C.R.M.
• Evolution of How Marketing Defined in >13 C’s help create Value
• Customer, Categories of offerings, capabilities of firm, Cost profitability and value, Control of process, Collaboration within firm, Customizations Communications, Customer measurement, Customer care, Chain of relationships, Competition, Capacity. Case Study H Hilton Honors, Frankenmuth,
• How to make an loyalty program.
• Ways to using Data Base
• Employee Research for how to create great value.
• Dimensions of Service and Quality.

Strategies to handle Complaints:
The strategy to handle and resolve complains is to take good notice of the  complaint, let someone know what you are doing to resolve the complaint, Admit that there is a complaint to resolve, Train the staff to view complaints as a gift, Create staff comment forms to capture customer complaints, Thank the customer, explain why you appreciate the complaint and apologize, Let the customer know what you have done, Be simple, but specific.

The second course, Behavior styles Overview was also very interesting.

Personally it was the course that I liked the most. I have learn a lot of things in this course and the most important was that I have learn to know myself better. In this course we also discussed the following items:

• Service /Quality/ Leadership
• Build & Train Teams in teamwork process. example: The teamwork is very important because the members share common objective, a team produces in output terms more than the sum of its individuals parts, members participate willingly in talking individuals problems, members are clear on rules and relationship within the group, they shares responsibility for success and failure and they learn while they work.
• Determine Guest Service Expectations. Generally we can compare many things I have learn about service and guest expectations, but we need to be more guest minded and be ready for the guest needs.
• We have also to follow the standards efforts to improve our service and to reach our goals.
• The marketing Plan, Red, Blue and White Concept how to work with the best concept to reach the best economic result of course with your good product and your guest expectations in mind for your Restaurant. So I have heard and learned many things that was worth while for my own development and my work.

My Third course was the Site Visit at the different Hotels in New York. WOW it was Amazing, I could not believe my eyes.

We visited : Marriot Marquis, Hotel Pierre, New York Palace Hotel, St. Regis Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, The Ritz Carlton Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel. We also visited a restaurant called The Tavern on the Green. In the presentation the Manager mention to us that they have a revenue of $41 million a year.

This Restaurant is every day full for Lunch and Dinner. They also host many private parties like weddings and anniversaries.

We went also to The Reuters Restaurant; at this Restaurant they served us a six course menu, it was very nice and professional and the service was excellent. At least we visited the United Nation Building where we had fabulous Lunch Buffet.

Generally all the presentations in the Hotels we visited mentioned a lot about their Loyalty Program, Employee Motivation and Quantity of employers, Labor Cost, The system to Hire Employer and about Food & Beverage Cost.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures on the Tours in the various department of the Hotels. The most Hotels were very nice but they were all in same trend, Chandeliers, Carpets all around and Marble every where specially in the Toilets very nice.

Most of the Buildings were built many years ago, but they keep renovating them. We are talking of the years 1902 -1955 -1960 and also from 1887. But they are in very good shape.

The Hotels are usually a Brand and the ideas they gave you is also in that direction. Avila is a Family Hotel and not a Brand Hotel, We are working and trying to make the of Avila World Wide known. That's why the Value of this courses is very very important to work on and together as a Team.

The most things I have learn in this courses are items we are already doing in the Avila Hotel what I think we have to work on is to involve the employees more in the dissensions we make to improve better result for the hotel, to let them give their opinion, upgrade courses to increase their knowledge and skills with the standards, motivate all employees of the importance of the guest and the teamwork. What we can adopt in our hotel is how to hire employees, Gave them three interview by different manager, to check what their second choice is in the hotel industry to train them in case you need someone  with that skill in case of emergency you can use that person instead.

I like to thank every one Again for this Opportunity, Especially:
- CHF
- Carnival Cruise Lines
- Avila Hotel Scholarship (Mr. F.N.Moller)

Aishel Kleinmoedig.
August 10th , 2006

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