The Jurys Boston
I happen to love the city of Boston. I think it’s one of those warm, intimate cities that’s full of history and personality, and I really enjoy being there.
Last winter when I took a trip there, I stayed for the first time at the Jurys Boston Hotel in Back Bay. It’s a nice place with a modern touch and beautiful amenities, but I was especially touched by the personalized service, friendly people, and all those little extra details (like free bottled water and complimentary wifi) that make a difference in my hotel experiences. (For the foodies, their onsite restaurant, The Stanhope Grill, is yumtastic).
After I returned from that visit, I quick mentioned on Twitter what a great experience I’d had, and not too long after that I received an email from Niall Fagan from the Doyle Collection (parent company of the hotel) over in Ireland. He mentioned that he’d seen my tweet (there’s that pesky listening thing again), and we got started talking a bit about the potential of social media. Turns out the hotel is undertaking a re-brand in the near future, and Niall and the hotel team are hoping that social media will play a role in their future communication and outreach efforts. So we chatted a bit, and exchanged some friendly dialogue.
And naturally, in the course of our conversation, he mentioned that I should let him know next time I was going to be in Boston.
So when I recently went back for a quick couple of days, I pinged Niall to let him know, and he took care of a reservation for me (disclosure: I got a pretty decent break on the room rate, with lots of thanks to Niall for that). I got a personal call from Stephen Johnston, the General Manager of the hotel, to confirm my stay, and he made sure to connect with me personally when I arrived at the hotel, just so we could get acquainted. We sat and chatted for a while in the lobby, and it was great fun to get to know him a bit on a personal level.
So a tweet, a few emails, and all of a sudden I have a hotel in Boston that feels very much “mine”. Why would I stay somewhere else when I know the people, and feel like they’re genuinely happy when I come back again?
It’s not about the discount – I’d happily pay their going rate to stay there, just for the experience. But it is about the personal connections I’ve made with people, the feeling of being a valued customer, and the sense that I’m dealing with a business that really cares about the people that support it.
Now, where have I heard that before??
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Indeed. And yes. Sorry, it’s just that we spend so much time as social media folk talking about the tools and the ‘space’ but actually it’s all about customer service. Old fashioned, personal and attentive. I hope it stays that way.
Alexs last blog post..Baking, baking, baking. Buttercream! Vanilla. Mmmm.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Indeed. And yes. Sorry, it’s just that we spend so much time as social media folk talking about the tools and the ‘space’ but actually it’s all about customer service. Old fashioned, personal and attentive. I hope it stays that way.
Alexs last blog post..Baking, baking, baking. Buttercream! Vanilla. Mmmm.
But does this scale? It’s really nice to get the VIP treatment, but the management of hotels don’t want to be ‘this close’ to everyone. When social media really does hit the mainstream, it’ll be impossible to give everyone this much ‘love’ won’t it?
Charles Nevilles last blog post..Using sex to sell
But does this scale? It’s really nice to get the VIP treatment, but the management of hotels don’t want to be ‘this close’ to everyone. When social media really does hit the mainstream, it’ll be impossible to give everyone this much ‘love’ won’t it?
Charles Nevilles last blog post..Using sex to sell
@Charles – I think VIP treatment isn’t always scalable, but decent customer care is. It’s about time that companies quit using a bullhorn to talk to people, and start instead to not only hear them as humans, but treat them as such. It’s scalable when it’s embedded in your company culture because it stops being part of a transaction, and it becomes just a way of doing business. So the short answer: good business always scales.
I agree with Alex – it’s great to see good old fashioned customer service making the leap! It’s great to see a larger chain like Jurys paying attention. It’s much easier for me, in a 28 room Inn, to monitor and respond in a timely manner but the big guys need to do it too. I said on Chris Brogan’s recent post about hotels and I’ll say it again – word of mouth is the best advertising a hotel can ever hope for – repeat guests are money in the bank and should be taken care of. Our repeat guests always get special discounts in recognition of their loyalty – it’s the least we can do!
I agree with Alex – it’s great to see good old fashioned customer service making the leap! It’s great to see a larger chain like Jurys paying attention. It’s much easier for me, in a 28 room Inn, to monitor and respond in a timely manner but the big guys need to do it too. I said on Chris Brogan’s recent post about hotels and I’ll say it again – word of mouth is the best advertising a hotel can ever hope for – repeat guests are money in the bank and should be taken care of. Our repeat guests always get special discounts in recognition of their loyalty – it’s the least we can do!
@Amber I couldn’t agree more, companies treating their customers like humans rather than a customer id is what every company should aim for (unless you’re a veterinarian, in which case, treat the cats like cats, etc). But are you suggesting that everybody who says nice things about a hotel on social media should get this level of treatment? Or just that every hotel should treat their guests as the Jury’s did on your initial stay?
Perhaps it would be interesting to find out, from Niall, what happens in other cases, when the guest isn’t a social media maven?
@Amber I couldn’t agree more, companies treating their customers like humans rather than a customer id is what every company should aim for (unless you’re a veterinarian, in which case, treat the cats like cats, etc). But are you suggesting that everybody who says nice things about a hotel on social media should get this level of treatment? Or just that every hotel should treat their guests as the Jury’s did on your initial stay?
Perhaps it would be interesting to find out, from Niall, what happens in other cases, when the guest isn’t a social media maven?
@Charles I’m suggesting the latter. That companies (hotels included) need to be putting overall customer experience first. I was treated especially well, but the first time around my experience was every bit as good (without the personal visit from the GM). It’s clear that taking care of their guests is a priority for this hotel, and I’m suggesting that *that* is the lesson here.
Sure, it can be occasionally about taking extra care with someone special, but you have to have the mindset of human-based business in the first place for that ever to be a consideration. It’s much more about recognizing that people matter, and you ought to recognize that in your dealings with them. It’s really that simple.
Great points Amber – If more businesses dealt with people instead of numbers, customer service as a whole would be so much better. It’s all about the relationships we build – whether it is the personal connection between the guest and staff, or the personal attachment to a familiar place – making a guest feel comfortable, welcome and ‘at home’ is the key to good hotel customer service!
Great points Amber – If more businesses dealt with people instead of numbers, customer service as a whole would be so much better. It’s all about the relationships we build – whether it is the personal connection between the guest and staff, or the personal attachment to a familiar place – making a guest feel comfortable, welcome and ‘at home’ is the key to good hotel customer service!
Great post Amber. It’s nice to see a focus on customer service and a company that is listening!
Chris Moodys last blog post..Free Font of the Week: Walk Around the Block
Great post Amber. It’s nice to see a focus on customer service and a company that is listening!
Chris Moodys last blog post..Free Font of the Week: Walk Around the Block
I think brands – especially consumer brands – are beginning to realize the power of social media not just for marketing, but for customer service. A personal touch always makes a consumer experience better.
George Snells last blog post..Crowds Really Aren’t Smarter
I think brands – especially consumer brands – are beginning to realize the power of social media not just for marketing, but for customer service. A personal touch always makes a consumer experience better.
George Snells last blog post..Crowds Really Aren’t Smarter
The basement of Jury’s is home to a bar called Cuffs that is quite the club scene Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
If you’re a hotel guest you wouldn’t know this, but next time you’re in Boston, make sure to go to Cuffs on a Thursday night around 10 p.m. and you’ll be forced to stand outside with everyone else waiting to get in. Doesn’t matter how cold it is; they make you wait.
Funny thing about hotel management, indeed. But I’m biased; I live here.
Ari Herzogs last blog post..Wirtland Establishes Itself as Internet Country
The basement of Jury’s is home to a bar called Cuffs that is quite the club scene Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
If you’re a hotel guest you wouldn’t know this, but next time you’re in Boston, make sure to go to Cuffs on a Thursday night around 10 p.m. and you’ll be forced to stand outside with everyone else waiting to get in. Doesn’t matter how cold it is; they make you wait.
Funny thing about hotel management, indeed. But I’m biased; I live here.
Ari Herzogs last blog post..Wirtland Establishes Itself as Internet Country
Great example of social media being done right. This company gets it. Because of social media you just became a marketer for that hotel. WOMM at its best.
Jared O’Tooles last blog post..How to Rekindle Your Love for Your Business
Great example of social media being done right. This company gets it. Because of social media you just became a marketer for that hotel. WOMM at its best.
Jared O’Tooles last blog post..How to Rekindle Your Love for Your Business
What a great lesson in customer service – using the tools to make a difference in your experience!
Last year I spent the weekend at a hotel and they sent me a follow up email survey after my stay, using the signature of the hotel manager.
Turns out I had a complaint to register and used this opportunity to voice it. Sad to say that I never heard back from anyone at the hotel, much less the manager – made me feel as though my opinion ended up in the electronic trash bin.
The level of service you experienced is an example of how all companies should use tools (even direct mail) – to create happy customers!
Global Patriots last blog post..Global Patriot @ South by Southwest
What a great lesson in customer service – using the tools to make a difference in your experience!
Last year I spent the weekend at a hotel and they sent me a follow up email survey after my stay, using the signature of the hotel manager.
Turns out I had a complaint to register and used this opportunity to voice it. Sad to say that I never heard back from anyone at the hotel, much less the manager – made me feel as though my opinion ended up in the electronic trash bin.
The level of service you experienced is an example of how all companies should use tools (even direct mail) – to create happy customers!
Global Patriots last blog post..Global Patriot @ South by Southwest
As to the question of whether this is scalable, it seems quite apparent from the focus of Amber’s post that the fact that her room was discounted was secondary to the personal service and connection she got from the people who work there.
This is a great example of how a small time investment scales itself. We need not go back to the days of “selling our wares door-to-door” in convincing people one at a time. Just look at the coverage this one blog post has gotten, here, on Twitter, etc. If even half of the folks who read the post or my post inspired by it think of Jurys Boston while choosing a hotel to stay in Boston, the half-hour spent interacting with Amber was well worth the time.
Jeremy Meyerss last blog post..Align Your Intents: Removing Friction in Brand Experiences By Showing Interest In End-Users
As to the question of whether this is scalable, it seems quite apparent from the focus of Amber’s post that the fact that her room was discounted was secondary to the personal service and connection she got from the people who work there.
This is a great example of how a small time investment scales itself. We need not go back to the days of “selling our wares door-to-door” in convincing people one at a time. Just look at the coverage this one blog post has gotten, here, on Twitter, etc. If even half of the folks who read the post or my post inspired by it think of Jurys Boston while choosing a hotel to stay in Boston, the half-hour spent interacting with Amber was well worth the time.
Jeremy Meyerss last blog post..Align Your Intents: Removing Friction in Brand Experiences By Showing Interest In End-Users
@Charles The reason for contacting Amber was simple:
I love the web and I love the company I work for. How could I get the company I work for to embrace social media and offer our customers another quality service?
I am relatively new to Twitter and for the most part I’m still trying to work out who I should follow. There were articles across the web about how brands were embracing social media – Dell & Marriott were two that I found who were using Twitter to speak to their customers. Another was a mcd.ie who were letting their followers know about gigs that were just announced in Ireland.
So I decided to put something together & happened to come across Amber’s tweet. Of course the Tweet could have been negative but it would have been treated in the same manner for the sake of my presentation. – People are talking about our brand whether we like it or not. Since I used a screenshot of Amber’s tweet I felt compelled to contact her to let her know that there might be a breakthrough in my company embracing Social Media and also to thank her for her kind words.
Jurys Boston Hotel is the number 1 hotel on Trip Advisor and is there on merit. It is an excellent product with excellent service. One of the reasons I enjoy working for the group is because they are constantly aiming to make the guest’s stay as memorable as possible. We at The Doyle Collection share a single aim: to provide our guests with a modern interpretation of extraordinary hospitality and expert service to a standard that only a hotelier with decades of experience can consistently deliver.
I hope this explains my reason for contacting Amber in the first place – I will continue to push our brand into the social media space and make every effort to listen to what is being said, good or bad.
@Charles The reason for contacting Amber was simple:
I love the web and I love the company I work for. How could I get the company I work for to embrace social media and offer our customers another quality service?
I am relatively new to Twitter and for the most part I’m still trying to work out who I should follow. There were articles across the web about how brands were embracing social media – Dell & Marriott were two that I found who were using Twitter to speak to their customers. Another was a mcd.ie who were letting their followers know about gigs that were just announced in Ireland.
So I decided to put something together & happened to come across Amber’s tweet. Of course the Tweet could have been negative but it would have been treated in the same manner for the sake of my presentation. – People are talking about our brand whether we like it or not. Since I used a screenshot of Amber’s tweet I felt compelled to contact her to let her know that there might be a breakthrough in my company embracing Social Media and also to thank her for her kind words.
Jurys Boston Hotel is the number 1 hotel on Trip Advisor and is there on merit. It is an excellent product with excellent service. One of the reasons I enjoy working for the group is because they are constantly aiming to make the guest’s stay as memorable as possible. We at The Doyle Collection share a single aim: to provide our guests with a modern interpretation of extraordinary hospitality and expert service to a standard that only a hotelier with decades of experience can consistently deliver.
I hope this explains my reason for contacting Amber in the first place – I will continue to push our brand into the social media space and make every effort to listen to what is being said, good or bad.
@Niall, it’s always great to hear when a company is making use of social media to connect with their customers, and it’s fantastic that your company ‘gets it’, so many still don’t!
I would now definitely consider the Jurys Boston (and your other properties in other cities) over other hotels based on Amber’s comments in the first couple of paragraphs.
My question really is how do you/will you follow up with people who comment on Jurys/Doyle hotels on social media in future, what strategy have you worked out so far and what kind of resource, at what level of the company, are you devoting to it? Are you getting much buy-in from the individual hotels and are you/will you be training them on social media?
Will you be giving the SM crowd updates on how it’s going? I for one would find that really interesting – we’ve all heard the Dell, Zappos and Ford stories over and over, it’s good to get some new insight.
Charles Nevilles last blog post..If you can’t see it, you can’t buy it
@Niall, it’s always great to hear when a company is making use of social media to connect with their customers, and it’s fantastic that your company ‘gets it’, so many still don’t!
I would now definitely consider the Jurys Boston (and your other properties in other cities) over other hotels based on Amber’s comments in the first couple of paragraphs.
My question really is how do you/will you follow up with people who comment on Jurys/Doyle hotels on social media in future, what strategy have you worked out so far and what kind of resource, at what level of the company, are you devoting to it? Are you getting much buy-in from the individual hotels and are you/will you be training them on social media?
Will you be giving the SM crowd updates on how it’s going? I for one would find that really interesting – we’ve all heard the Dell, Zappos and Ford stories over and over, it’s good to get some new insight.
Charles Nevilles last blog post..If you can’t see it, you can’t buy it
@Amber: Very nice story, thanks for writing it.
@Niall Fagan: I have stayed at Jurys in Boston several times and found the staff and accommodations to be outstanding. I personally LOVE it when I find a company that has employees that genuinely seem to care about the company and the customers. The fact that you are leveraging SM in such a proactive way just adds to my respect for your company. Well done.
David Alisons last blog post..MacHeist 3 Bundle – some great apps
@Amber: Very nice story, thanks for writing it.
@Niall Fagan: I have stayed at Jurys in Boston several times and found the staff and accommodations to be outstanding. I personally LOVE it when I find a company that has employees that genuinely seem to care about the company and the customers. The fact that you are leveraging SM in such a proactive way just adds to my respect for your company. Well done.
David Alisons last blog post..MacHeist 3 Bundle – some great apps
@David Alison: thank you for your kind words, I’m sure the employees at Jurys Boston will be delighted to here of your experience.
@Charles: At the moment, all of our hotels are on TripAdvisor and comments are reviewed daily. When necessary our GMs respond to comments left by guests. It is a great way to listen to our customers and better our hotels.
We are in the early stages of listening to our customers in the wider social space. We envisage that social media monitoring will be managed at both property level and group level. I have trialled a couple of Social Monitoring tools where each hotel can have their own unique login to see what is being said and respond where possible. At Group level we can monitor all hotels but also the brand.
My hope is that there will be one voice from each property (GM/Marketing/Sales) and the same from head office(Marketing). Of course it is impossible to respond to every mention of our hotels and brand across the web but where a response is necessary, we will endeavour to deliver one.
@David Alison: thank you for your kind words, I’m sure the employees at Jurys Boston will be delighted to here of your experience.
@Charles: At the moment, all of our hotels are on TripAdvisor and comments are reviewed daily. When necessary our GMs respond to comments left by guests. It is a great way to listen to our customers and better our hotels.
We are in the early stages of listening to our customers in the wider social space. We envisage that social media monitoring will be managed at both property level and group level. I have trialled a couple of Social Monitoring tools where each hotel can have their own unique login to see what is being said and respond where possible. At Group level we can monitor all hotels but also the brand.
My hope is that there will be one voice from each property (GM/Marketing/Sales) and the same from head office(Marketing). Of course it is impossible to respond to every mention of our hotels and brand across the web but where a response is necessary, we will endeavour to deliver one.
It’s stories like this that make me want to mention my favorite brands much more often in my tweets. I hope Arby’s is listening, I *heart* them. 🙂
Stacy Lukass last blog post..Slides from Leadership Genesee presentation 4/2/09
It’s stories like this that make me want to mention my favorite brands much more often in my tweets. I hope Arby’s is listening, I *heart* them. 🙂
Stacy Lukass last blog post..Slides from Leadership Genesee presentation 4/2/09
Great post Amber.
It’s nice to hear the bigger brands are embracing social media, using it as a method to monitor what is being said about their brand (good or bad) and responding to individuals. I think it will be a large task for them to keep this level of social media service up (if they do endeavour to monitor and respond to the majority of social media comments) but it’s refreshing to see them take this medium seriously.
@ Niall I’d also love to have further updates on how The Doyle Collections SM story unfolds.
Great post Amber.
It’s nice to hear the bigger brands are embracing social media, using it as a method to monitor what is being said about their brand (good or bad) and responding to individuals. I think it will be a large task for them to keep this level of social media service up (if they do endeavour to monitor and respond to the majority of social media comments) but it’s refreshing to see them take this medium seriously.
@ Niall I’d also love to have further updates on how The Doyle Collections SM story unfolds.
Amber,
Great post. I also love Jury’s and when people come in to Boston from the West coast, I always tell them to stay there. This is a prime example of how corporations can communicate with their clientele and focus on retention. By having that twitter search set up, the company can keep up with anything that is being said about them and respond where appropriate.
Mike Pascuccis last blog post..Corporate Responsibility – Social Media
Amber,
Great post. I also love Jury’s and when people come in to Boston from the West coast, I always tell them to stay there. This is a prime example of how corporations can communicate with their clientele and focus on retention. By having that twitter search set up, the company can keep up with anything that is being said about them and respond where appropriate.
Mike Pascuccis last blog post..Corporate Responsibility – Social Media
Great to see an Irish Corporate company embrace social media in this way! Well done to the Doyle Collection.
Richard FitzGeralds last blog post..Treking to Mt Everest Base Camp
Great to see an Irish Corporate company embrace social media in this way! Well done to the Doyle Collection.
Richard FitzGeralds last blog post..Treking to Mt Everest Base Camp