You’re Overthinking Customer Service! (Luxury Hospitality Gets It Right)

People come to Las Vegas, especially to celebrate. It might be a birthday, it could be an anniversary, it could be a divorce party or a bachelorette.
We get it all here. Hospitality is one of the best industries to learn from when it comes to customer experience, no matter the industry that you are in.
It's really about using the data that you have in order to be able to supplement that guest experience and be able to look for permanent fixes and not band-aids. There's always going to be things that happen.
But if we recover well, then that's where loyalty sprouts from. Loyalty surpasses brand.
It surpasses location. I've been in three different hotels on the Strip and guests will follow people.
They trust that you are going to ensure that they have a great experience. We can't be complacent.
Our world is changing so quickly around us. The competition is gearing up, so we always have to be looking to see how we can better the guest experience.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Experts of Experience. I'm your host, Lauren Wood.
Today, I'm excited to have Shannon McCallum on the show. She is the vice president of hotel operations with Resorts World Las Vegas, as well as the global board director with the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals Association.
Shannon has over 30 years of experience studying and transforming customer experience within the hospitality industry and has been named the top 25 hospitality executives to watch in 2025 by the International Hospitality Institute. Personally, I believe that hospitality is one of the best industries to learn from when it comes to customer experience, no matter the industry that you are in.
So today we're going to explore how leading hospitality players like Shannon are really creating customer loyalty, leading empowered teams, and creating wow moments at scale. Shannon, so great to have you on the show.
Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
So I want to kick it off by taking a little bit of a trip down memory lane. You first started working in hospitality as a high school student.
So you've literally been in this space for pretty much your entire career. And I'm curious to know if there was a specific experience that really shaped the way that you view the hospitality industry as you've gone through your career.
Lauren, you're 100% correct. I started very young in high school working in hotels.
I had a luxury hotel just down the road from where I grew up. And when I was 16, I had really a memorable moment that stuck with me through my career.
Our property was hosting

what was called the Commonwealth of Nations. And we had individuals so notable like Margaret Thatcher, the Sultan of Brunei, Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, all gathered at our property.
And it was remarkable looking around the room to see these people that I'd only ever seen on the news before actually sitting in our establishment. And I realized at that young age, just how amazing hospitality can be to be able to interact with individuals like these.
And none of my friends were doing anything nearly as cool as that at their age. I mean, I can definitely imagine that that was an extremely formative experience.
And how has that then kind of shaped your view of the industry as you've moved on to build and grow and lead some very large hotels that are really aiming to provide an excellent experience. What have you taken? What are the insights or lessons maybe that have really stood out to you as you've moved on through your career? That time in my life was actually very formative for me because I really was set off in a whole different path.
Hospitality wasn't even on my radar. It was a means to get me through school.
And when I was graduating from college and I was on my way to law school taking my LSATs, I realized that I loved the passion and the integration and working with people that hospitality brought to me. So it really changed the direction of my career and also gave me so much insight.
and they say that we're so lucky to find your passion. And I found it so young and many people work their entire lives and they don't get that opportunity.
But what it brought to me was that interaction with people and that ability to work with people and to do so and how much gratification I get when I see people being happy and pleased with their experience. And that really has followed me through my career growing up in Canada, moving to the United States, really taking some big risks.
And it really took me in a whole new direction. I've had the opportunity to work with smaller hotels and then also huge hotels in Las Vegas

where they don't really get any bigger than they are in the city. And really trying to strive to make that experience a personalized experience for my guests, no matter what the size of the property is, is truly very important to me.
Something I think about a lot when it comes to hospitality is how do you provide that one-on-one personal experience at scale? I know you've mentioned to me previously that you've managed some properties that are over 4,000 rooms, but you still aim to create that individualized experience. How do you do that? Well, you know, you have to really focus on it because it's very easy in volume operations to treat everybody in a very cookie cutter way, like they're there for the same reason.
But truly you need to recognize that guests are traveling all for different reasons and they all have different needs when they're traveling. And I've found that by adding technology, it enables the guest to then choose their path.
And what I mean about that is say mobile check-in, that is something in the last eight to 10 years has been really a search that many properties have pursued. And it really is to streamline that guest experience.
Some guests who are on business only wanna get their key and get to their room. So being able to deliver that to their phone and have them bypass the lobby and make sure that they're not standing in line is fantastic for them.
But it's also really amazing for the property as well, because those people that want to check in and they need to talk to someone and they want recommendations for dinner or activities to do while they're staying with us, have that ability to have the time of those individuals at the property because they have different needs. And I think that's where you need to really focus on that every touch every time and every interaction every time and how do you make that memorable with the guest and to be able to listen to them in an individualized manner to understand what they truly need in order to have a successful stay? So it's really thinking about how do we take all of the activities that are going to be the same for every person and automate that so that we can create more space and time to address the individualized needs in what you are serving.
Correct. Correct.
And it is a way to give people what they want, sometimes not without even them knowing it. It's just like, here's this wonderful way of being able to check in and get your key before you arrive and be able to start your stay right away.
And many people will take that opportunity and then come back later in order to be able to speak to someone. But what that does is freeze up the individuals that are here to give service so that they have more opportunity to be able to deliver successfully.
Is there any other advice that you would give to customer experience leaders who are really trying to balance personalized experiences with a scaled operation? You know, it starts with the training and making sure that our teams, especially in these large buildings, understand that our guests, this is an important stay for them. People come to Las Vegas, especially to celebrate.
It might be a birthday. It could be an anniversary.
It could be a divorce party or a bachelorette. We get it all here.
And making sure that our team is not treating the guests the same because they all have different needs. Also, some of our guests may save six or eight months to be able to come here and make this a memorable experience.
So making sure that the team understands how much control they have on providing that experience. I also would say training is incredibly important.
Making sure that you're not just throwing people out on the desk and letting them like sink or swim. We have a very elaborate training program here to make sure that our team members are 100% prepared before they get out onto the desk.
In addition, we assign them a mentor. And that's something that is really a good practice to do so that they always have someone that they feel comfortable asking questions that they know are approachable.
And they can balance different situations they may have off of them in order to be able to have success with the guests that's standing in front of them. It's all about the team.
It's about the team of people who are interacting with that customer day in and day out. And you mentioned something that I think is just so vitally important for client facing leaders is really empowering your team to know what decisions they can make.
And so can you give us some examples of how your team is set up and, you know, so that they know I can do this and take an opportunity to make a customer's day with kind of some predetermined boundaries? Absolutely. Empowerment is critical, especially again, in a volume operation where the manager can't be with every individual checking in at the same time.
So giving your team the ability to be able to have perhaps up to a certain dollar value that they can make a decision to be able to solve that situation while it's right in front of them. The most important thing for guests when they're looking for some fix to a situation that they're having is having it done quickly.
And then they can get back to enjoying themselves and enjoy their vacation with us. If the issue is not resolved and they have to wait for a manager because that individual doesn't have empowerments, it can make that problem last for their entire stay.
It's really important as well that we solve their problem while they're staying with us, because that way not only can they enjoy, but it also is more efficient and less costly often for the hotel to make it work during the stay than having to deal after the stay where the guest has lost their trust in a property because we didn't follow up the way that we needed to. Delays impact the trust of the customer.

When something takes a long time,

when the person that you're speaking to,

when the person the customer is speaking to

is not able to make a decision

where they have to go back to someone else,

you start to degrade the customer's trust minute by minute.

And I think it's just so vital that organizations,

again, in any industry,

think about the cost of that long-term decrease in trust. Because like you said, we want to close something up as quickly as possible so that that guest can then move on to having a good experience.
We need to do that quickly. And I know I've taken the Ritz-Carlton customer service training in the past.
As an example, they have a $2,000 amount for each employee. And of course, that's a lot of money and not every business can do that.
But just that fact of you are able to spend this money to make sure that something gets resolved, you are empowered to resolve it, enabling employees to do that builds trust and drives revenue in the long run. And we just have to think beyond that initial dollar amount and really look at the total lifetime value of a customer.
I can't agree more. And again, it's about building the confidence in your team that is on the front line.
So when they know that you're standing in their corner, no matter what the decision is, and again, we shouldn't Monday morning quarterback and tell them that they should have done this, this and this, but we can let them know in the future, there's a few other things that you could offer in order to be able to resolve a situation and make it comfortable for them and really build them up and thank them for taking the time to work with that guest to resolve their problem. Say goodbye to chatbots and say hello to the first AI agent.
AgentForce Service Agent makes self-service an actual joy for your customers with its conversational language anytime on any channel. To learn more, visit salesforce.com slash agentforce.
I'm curious to know, how do you run your meetings with your team? Just in terms of having them, one, be comfortable to make decisions and then also learn from their peers. I can tell that you're such an impactful leader and I'm just curious to know, what are some of your methods, tips, tricks so that our listeners can learn from you? You know, we're very fortunate to have a great leadership team at the property.
And we always track all of the great comments that our team members have. And we have a practice of posting those great comments up on the wall.
So the individuals, say at our front desk, can read what other people did in order to take care of our guests. And I think learning from others is huge because you don't always get all of the different variety of items that come to you to be able to learn from.
So being able to do that and saying, oh, I didn't know I could do that. Oh, this is great.
I can take that path. It really helps to be able to have that variety.

We spend a lot of time really now in the social stage, looking at social reviews, feedback that we get on Google or TripAdvisor or other ways of communication that our guests have to be able to not only look at the individual comments, but we have a guest relations team that actually tracks them and reports on them.

So we can also see maybe if there's trends in what's happening. Are there common things that our guests are not happy with? Are there common things that our guests are happy with? And then we look at root causes for those in order to be able to create a long-term solution that will fix the majority of what the issue may be.
So it really is a great way to analyze not only the amount of dollars that we're spending on recovery, should we need to, but then also is it going up or down year over year or month over month? And did we have a unique issue that maybe affected our guests in the short term that won't repeat? So it's really about using the data that you have in order to be able to supplement that guest experience and be able to look for permanent fixes and not band-aids. It's like continuous learning and enabling our teams to continuously learn and gain insights and inspiration around what they can be doing differently.
What's working? What's not working? what are people liking, what are people not liking? It's so, so, so valuable to gather those insights from all the different channels and bring them back so that that client facing team can really learn from what has happened. Because it is so often that we help a customer or a client and we don't actually know what their outcome was or what

they're feeling about it was later. And that feedback, if we can help our teams get that

feedback, it will really support them in their growth. And speaking of growth, I wanted to talk

about training. I know you've mentioned you have a very robust training program for your team.
Tell us a little bit about what are the key components of that training program? Well, we're a big property. We've got 50 restaurants and lounges.
We've got a loyalty program actually too, because we're with Hilton as well as our Gentium Awards. So there's a lot of information to take in.
Our training is about three weeks for our new team members. And we have speakers that come in from different areas to be able to share their knowledge about all of the different programs and the food and beverage outlets and safety and security to really make it as engaging as possible.
And as well, we do have technology training, which allows them to know how to work the functionality that we have. But then we move into like that modeling that I talked about, where you might stand and shadow someone to see how they're entracting as they check someone in, check someone out, or deal with a guest situation.
Then we have a shadowing portion where they're actually the ones doing, and they have their mentor that's shadowing them to be able to give them feedback in between interactions so that they can continue to improve.

Then once they're on their own, we have management coverage that can be there to support in case any situations individual can't manage on their own so that we have someone nearby that can help with that escalation to get that resolved. And then they do that with the individual.
So they can also understand what were those extra steps that they maybe didn't have that they needed to be able to take care of it. And is that something that they can actually do on their own next time now that they have that knowledge and they've been part of the solution.
So again, it's really about that support, making the team feel supported. And there's always someone there that can come and assist in order to have a successful interaction and help to diffuse any kind of a situation that may come up.
And again, trying to fix it while the guest is there. Again, I can't stress how important that is because otherwise it does carry on and it can take a guest stay in a different direction.
So that's truly what our goal is. I want to talk a little bit about that, making sure that the guest has a good experience and kind of ensuring that you're remedying something quickly because it can, it's easier said than done.
And I know having worked in restaurants and hospitality myself and then moving into SaaS, it applies for all of us in every space. What are some of the tactics or techniques that you teach your team around how to really remedy something so that a guest or a customer can have a good experience quickly.
You know, it's interesting when I was a young manager outside of Las Vegas, you know, I used to think that I needed all the information about the guest situation, like a 360 view before I could talk to the guests because I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to stand on the line and defend the property.
And again, I think when you're more more green, that is something that you feel like you need to do. You have to have all the details.
I can't talk to that guest because what if they bring up something I don't know about? Then I realized over time that my best way of diffusing the situation was coming out without having the knowledge from the team member because maybe they had a negative interaction and their take of it was slightly different. or maybe they misunderstood what the guest was trying to get at.
So I come out with my blank notepad and a pen, and I would greet the guest, and I would ask them to tell me about their situation. And I would take notes so that the guest could understand that I actually cared about what they were saying.
In addition, I would thank the guest for their feedback, because that is something that I wouldn't have known about if they hadn't have taken the time to bring it to our attention. And perhaps this is something that could be affecting other guests.
I was validating the fact that they had an issue and really then look to see what is the appropriate solution. Again, it can't be a cookie cutter, like here's a resort fee for free, or I'm going to take care of your parking, because every guest situation is different.
And every guest remedy that is desired could be different. Some people don't want any compensation at all.
They just want to bring it to our attention in order for us to be able to fix it. Other people may want compensation because they feel like they've been inconvenienced.
And we have to be flexible and we have to fully understand the situation to be able to make sure that the guest sees that we're being genuine about their concern. And that is something I tried to pass on through my experience to my team members.
Because I think that, you know, when we work in this business, there's so many moving pieces, you know, there may be a bump in the road from time to time because, you know, it is so big and there are so many moving parts that they need to be flexible to understand that, you know, each situation is different and we need to treat it like that. We need to identify what is valuable to our unique customer.
It is sales 101, right? Listening to understand what is it that this person really cares about? And then how can I remedy this situation to their needs? Because I'm sure we've all been in an experience where something wasn't working with some company and they say, okay, well, we'll do this. And you're like, that's not what I want.
That's not helping me. And it just increases your frustration where if someone really listens to you, ask questions, it makes you feel seen and heard, and then delivers to the information that you have given them, you uniquely have given them, then trust is built.
And sometimes often trust is built even beyond where it was in the first place. I have to agree with that too.
I really do. I've had situations years ago where I've gone out and taken care of a guest issue and those guests now will travel with me no matter where I'm at.
Because they feel like it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, because I know Shannon's there and she'll take care of it for me. And again, it's building that loyalty and that loyalty surpasses brand.
It surpasses location. I've been in three different hotels on the strip and guests will follow people because there's so many beautiful properties on this strip, but it's the people that make the difference.
And that's what I try to share with my team as well. They trust that you are going to ensure that they have a great experience.
Like that's the simple root of it is they're following you because they trust and they know that you are going to ensure they have a great experience and that's where they want their money to go. I truly believe it's all about the recovery.
When we have something that happens, there's always going to be things that happen. But if we recover well, then that's where loyalty sprouts from.
So I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about the evolution of hospitality. It has changed a lot in recent years from COVID happening to AI now being on the scene and something that is really infiltrating our ways of working.
How have you seen, let's start with 2020 because know, still in our recent memories. How have you seen hospitality change since COVID? And then we'll get into AI after that.
Absolutely. I mean, I've been in hospitality over 30 years.
So, you know, for a long time, it didn't really change very much. You check someone in, you check someone out.
You always had someone at the desk. You had people answering the phones.
You had Bellman taking guests to rooms. And COVID really challenged hoteliers, especially in the luxury space, that technology is not necessarily a bad thing.
Technology can help you. And our guests were looking for unique experiences that were more touchless.
And that kind of threw a wrench in the luxury arrival experience needing to be something that's one-on-one where we're touching their keys. And, you know, so it really challenged many environments that they needed to look for something new and different that could help them to be able to diversify the way that they gave service.
Mobile check-in is one of those things that can not only be an option for a guest who's in a hurry that doesn't really want an interaction, to also providing a touchless experience where the guest can feel safer because they don't have to interact with anyone for an extended period of time. You know, that has been fantastic.
And I think that also allows us to gain efficiencies in our business, which is a great thing because COVID also, we didn't have a lot of workers. We had people that were afraid to come back to the workforce because they were worried about getting someone who was compromised and their family sick, their children sick.
And there was a lot of fear, not only for travel, but people that worked in the industry. And this really enabled us to be able to do more with less, not because we were trying to cut services, but because we had constraints in our workforce.
And again, that allows us to be able to look at other technologies that may help us as well. And as you know, I'm very involved in the technology community with the HFTP, which is the Hospitality Finance and Technology Professionals Association.
And the use of bots and AI is something that is up and coming. And many other industries have been early adopters in those items.

And the hotels are coming along.

And I do think that there's many people that would disagree with me that technology has a place in luxury.

But it truly does when you think that people can actually choose the path that they're going to take.

It gives them more flexibility to find the best fit for them.

And we've been able to integrate technology into our business in many ways. One of those is using bots.
And using bots is huge for being able to replace manual work like reporting. My managers are putting out reports every two hours on what our room pickup is and what our occupancy is and when is it time to sell out.
And they sit behind a desk and we don't necessarily need our managers to be sitting in an office away from the business. We want to make sure they have eyes on the business, that they can step out and they can reorganize if there is a few people in queue or if people have questions and make sure everybody is smiling and taking care of the guests in the way that we want.
So really being able to introduce voice concierge, bots to do reports. There's so many different ways that we can incorporate technology without it taking away from the luxury experience.
What I'm hearing you say is that AI and AI agents or bots are really enabling your team to spend more time with the customer, less time behind a screen, which is amazing. I actually have a client in the hospitality space at the moment.
And I've been kind of diving into what are some of the new AI technologies coming onto the scene. And I've heard things like having a voice recorder.
I don't know if you've heard of any of this, but tell me if you have, like a voice recorder at the front desk where it's listening to the customer and then it has a screen telling the person behind the front desk what it is that they can recommend or suggest. So if a guest is saying, for example, oh, I don't like that room.
I stayed here last time. Can you move me? The AI is automatically saying, here's a suggested room so that the person doesn't even, the person behind the front desk doesn't even need to spend time going in to look at what's there.
I don't know if that, that to me was like an extreme example of AI use. And I don't know if we're there yet per se, but just the idea of removing the need for that front desk agent to be behind a computer and really focus on the customer is amazing.
So I'd love to hear some examples of what you've seen around really enabling that human to human interaction more than ever before. Well, last week was CES.
That's the largest consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. And there's always really great new things that are there being showcased.
One of them that was a standout for me in the hospitality space was a little box, like you said, that's put on the desk. But what it does is if people are traveling internationally and they don't speak English, it'll actually recognize the dialect of the language that they're speaking, be able to translate it for the front desk.
And when the front desk replies, it can speak back in their dialect. So, you know, a lot of people don't travel to places they've never been because they don't speak the language.
But now it's making it so easy. You don't have to pull out your phone and use some kind of an app and fiddle with that.
That takes time. And the fact that it recognizes the exact dialect that they're speaking is just amazing.
In the past, we've had to get translators on the phone or have someone who speaks that language and find them and the guest has to wait. This eliminates all barriers.
And I just thought, wow, that's poosh. You know, it just blows your mind because it really is.
it helps us to be able to be more welcoming to our guests who are coming from all over the world, without them being worried that we won't be able to understand that they need a new key for their room, or they're looking to find a restaurant that's open at that time. So I thought that was a really good new, new tool as well.
And anything that can make that interaction easier and eliminate barriers and to be able to help the guest in a more efficient way is actually a win-win for everyone. Oh, completely.
I mean, as a consumer, as a traveler myself, I am so excited and so looking forward to what AI can do to help improve my experience and the experience for everyone. I think it's really opening up a new frontier of what experience means because we are enabling people to have more of that human-to-human interaction.
When I think of luxury, I think of like concierge,

I think of someone really considering my unique needs. And I think this is doing it so much more.
I'm curious to know, what about in the realm of CRM and kind of tracking guest preferences and things like this? Have you been using AI at all in that arena? You know, we've been using AI more for a digital concierge.

So we have what we call red chat at our property. And a guest can actually type on the website or by text message when they check in, anything that they want to know, whether it's the pool hours of operation, or if they need a recommendation for, what's open, if they want to go on a tour.
And it connects them automatically to all different areas of the property so that they don't need to go and find a concierge. The other great thing, too, is it's connected to a 24-hour concierge system that allows the guests to be able to go online and book things, not only when

the concierge desk is open, but 24 hours a day. So they can book their tour to the Grand Canyon in the helicopter or their transportation if they like, all through this system that's interconnected with our AI chat bot, which is really fantastic further development of our service.
They can buy tickets to go see Janet Jackson in our theater, you know, at 11 p.m. at night, even though the concierge desk is closed.
So I think that that is what guests are expecting now. When they pick up their phone and they do a search, they want their information right away.
And hotels need to figure out, how do I do that? How do I expand the hours of my desk without incurring additional costs, but giving that service to our guests that they're looking for when they're looking for it? We have international travelers that their day is our night and they're up all night. And we've got restaurants that can service them 24 hours a day, depending on what their schedule is.
And it's capturing that information. And I think that's where you're going with that question is, you know, when someone's having a celebration or they have something that's important to them, how can we notate that and make sure that when they're visiting the front desk, that that pops up and the team knows it's their anniversary or that they may need a special assistance with certain areas of the property.
You know, those are the kind of things that I think all properties are searching for right now. It's not always easy when you've got over, you know, 3,600 guest rooms to try, you know, and it's, you are also dependent on the guests giving you the information so that you have it in there.
Otherwise, it's really making sure that our team captures it so that it can be used for the rest of their stay. But I mean, that is a big, big search for many properties right now.
And you have to find these ways to be able to use technology to help you do that. Because when you get those insights, a guest asking a question or saying, oh, it's my husband's birthday, taking note of that so you can use it later, like that's such an amazing way to create those wow experiences.
And that's really where technology can help us because there is no way that that one front desk person today is going to be the same front desk person a year from now and that guest comes back, you know?

And so really making it easy and streamlined

for us to gather that information.

And again, this goes without saying

to every single industry, every single company,

taking notes on your customer,

on those insights they give you,

on the requests that they make,

on the things that they say they're interested about

will help you in the long run to provide those wow experiences. So really exciting about what is happening now and really enabling us to streamline those efforts.
Something else that I wanted to just mention really quickly in going back to the chat function and the virtual concierge, I love this so much. And this is also something that I've been seeing in my research for this client that I mentioned is that one, we are streamlining front desk operations.
We don't have to have a concierge 24 seven. We are able to get back to the guests immediately because they can have information when, when and where they want it.
But what this is also really doing that I think is important to note is it's diversifying the experience for your customers so that if I am someone who would prefer to look at the tours available to me from my bed, I can. And if I'm someone that wants to go and talk to someone and have someone recommend to me what it is that I need, I can go downstairs and do that too.
If the concierge is open, you know, I might have to wait. But at the end of the day, it means that depending on our preferences for how we experience something, we can.
And I think that's just such a great advancement in how we're servicing customers. I agree.
And we thought, you know, before COVID that QR codes were going away. And we were so sure.
The poor QR code. No one wanted to use it.
But now it's like everywhere. You go into a restaurant, you scan it, you can get your menu on your phone or you can pay.
We've got QR codes on our TV screen, our smart TVs in the room from every restaurant so you can scan it and you can actually get the menu just like you said, sitting in your bed. We have a whole digital platform where they can get a map to the property.
They can send a concierge request. They can book their spa.
Everything that you would need, order food, can all be done from your bed with a QR code. So I do think that when we're talking about what happened during COVID, yes, the QR code came back and it seems to be here to stay because it is such a great way to deliver information to our guests 24 hours.
And that also brings some efficiencies too, because having that kind of a platform for your guests in their rooms, you don't need to maintain your guest directories. Everything is available digitally for your guests, which also is an efficiencies because when the in-room dining menu changes, you don't have to reprint on your guest books times 3,500 or 5,000 with backup.
So, you know, it is, we have learned a lot in the last five years and on how to do things better and more efficiently. So I do feel like we're better for it.
Are there any examples that really stand out to you as efficiencies that have come from technology that you were just kind of blown away by? Definitely being able to go cashless. We opened up our property cashless.
So, and that was a huge savings for us not having to prepare banks times 50 for the front desk, banks times 50 plus restaurants and lounges and having a team bank area in addition to a cashier cage for our guests being a casino property. So and that was really rare.
And it is very rare in Las Vegas to not have the front desk have cash banks. So we've got all digital experience in the restaurants.
They can use credit card or they can charge through the room. But the restaurants don't take cash.
And that's very similar to how we see some stadiums moving. Like we've got in Las Vegas, two large stadiums, Allegiant Stadium, our football stadium, and our T-Mobile Arena, which is where our hockey is played.
And those are all cashless as well. So guests are traveling less with cash.
And, you know, that has really streamlined our business, even on the gaming side. And I know we're not talking about gaming, having cashless tables where people have a digital wallet in their loyalty program where they carry their cash.
So that really is unique and different too. I mean, thinking about a cashless casino is kind of blowing my mind.
I don't know a ton about the space, but just in thinking of what I know about casinos, it's very, very different. So that's amazing.
Well, we're coming up on time here and I want to make sure that we talk a little bit about one of my favorite topics, which is employee engagement and how you really engage your team because I know you know this because we've talked about it is the engagement of our team directly impacts the engagement of the customer. And so I'd love to hear a little bit about how you approach that.
How do you approach leading your team and really making them feel like they have a home with you? You know, I'm a huge believer in the service profit chain. I'm sure you've heard of that, that happy employees will take care of your guests and make them want to come back in the future and thereby the company will be successful.
And I've always really operated with that philosophy, but engaging with your team. And again, I'm in meetings a lot of the days.
But when I'm going from place to place, I'm alert. I'm greeting the guests and I'm greeting my team members and saying hello and thanking them for the hard work that they're doing.
We just came out of Christmas and New Year's and Formula One and rodeo and thanking them specifically for the work that they're doing to take care of our guests. when I get into the elevator with room attendants that are taking care of our guests in the rooms,

whether I'm walking through the lobby and I see the front desk,

making sure that they know that I am happy with the work that they're doing and that I appreciate them goes such a long way. I also take feedback from guests where our individual team members are recognized and I share them.
We have an internal digital platform that's like a Facebook for team members. And it allows me to speak with a voice to our team to be able to share those great comments.
And again, have other people see the great things that are being done, which really propels the team to want to continue to do it. So I think you have to take the time to engage and really make sure that the team know that you care because that is how they feel when they're at work and you want them to come to work and be excited to go and feel like they're being appreciated.
Acknowledging people for specific things like that. Again, it's almost the same thing that we were talking about and like really listening to the customer and understanding their unique needs, that specificity in human to human interaction goes so, so far and being specific with your team members about here's something that you did really well.
Thank you for that. It makes people feel so good.
And what about like, we talked about training, we've talked about how you really empower the team, but how do you create a culture that really supports itself too, because you can't speak to every single person. And so there needs to be kind of an environment that people operate in that continues to reinforce the stage that you're setting.
Well, when we talk about team members, we need to also talk about leaders. And I have a lot of leaders that also work for me, with me on our team.
And I like to continue to inspire them to continue to grow. Because just because we're further along in our career doesn't mean that we don't have things to learn.
And often I will do book clubs with my leaders, my top leaders, so that we can read a book together and take the learnings and discuss it as a group. One of the books that really has been a go-to for me is Trust and Inspire, and it's a Stephen R.
Covey book. And it's really about how to change your style of leadership from a dictator kind of style.
I've got people that have been in the industry over 40 years that work for me and things have changed a lot. And the newer team members that are coming into the environment don't respond to that very well.
They want to feel valued and they want to be able to try things out and not do things because they're being told to do them. And so that has been really helpful.
Another book that's been powerful for us is Unreasonable Hospitality. And that's a Will Gadara book.
And it again, it's more food and beverage based, but it's very relatable across the industry about striving for excellence, and really how to do more than what our guests are expecting us to do. So those really surprise and delight moments that catch their attention and make them feel valued.

The current one that we're reading is Be the Unicorn.

And this one's an interesting one

because it's all about data-driven habits

to really separate us out.

So I talked about really understanding the guest feedback

and doing the reporting and looking for root causes.

This is about being intentional, about using data to understand our business to become the best. And so this one's a little bit of a different take, but there's lots of leaders out there.
Dr. Brian K.
Williams is also a go-to for me in the luxury space as a thought leader. He's fantastic.
And it's all about bringing your best to work every day and showing other people that the best is what we need to do to be successful and how contagious that is. So, you know, continuing to really dwell in that space really engages my leaders, which engage my team members, which take care of our guests.
So it all works together. I love that you do that together, that you're reading those books together because it creates a focus on improvement in community.
And I think that it can, I've done this as well with my leaders on teams that I've led, where we've all read books together and kind of like implemented it together and then said, I tried this thing and maybe it didn't work so well. Like, how have you done it? And we can kind of, you know, help each other learn and grow.
And it builds trust amongst your team as well. So thank you for sharing all those titles.
And Unreasonable Hospitality is the one that stands out to me the most just because I hear about it all the time. It's next on my list.
Actually, like literally it's next on my list because it applies to every industry. Again, what I kicked the show off with is that hospitality is something that every client facing leader should be looking to, to learn from, because it's, in my opinion, really like customer, the essence of customer experience is what we experience when we go to a restaurant or a hotel or a show somewhere that's really in that luxury space.
It can show us and teach us so much. So thank you for those suggestions.
All right. We are in the final moments of this episode and we have our lightning round questions.
So first and foremost, I would love to hear about an experience that you've recently had with a brand or a company or a venue that left you impressed. Tell us about that experience and why it was amazing.
I have a couple. I went to Vancouver and I went to an anniversary of a property I opened 25 years ago.
There were still team members there that I had recruited to be there. And it was so lovely to be there.
But just their attention to detail. It was an airport property, the first luxury airport property in the world in Vancouver, British Columbia.
And they had a welcome amenity in my room with cookies the shape of airplanes. And they had a like a telescope in the room so I could plane watch while I was having my stay.
And I feel like they've done such a great job personalizing that experience and making it so unique, something you can't get anywhere else. The other one was at the Conrad in New York, where a good friend of mine works.
And he leads an amazing team there. And the focus on wellness and sustainability was really apparent in the room.
My room had a filtered water station, and they gave me a logoed reusable metal container so I could actually fill up in my room and then take it with me. And that is something that's unique and new and different and really recognizes their care for the environment and then also for their guests to be able to provide that as a service and as an amenity.
So I think both of those properties are really doing great things. You were the third person to mention the Conrad on the show.
So we're going to have to have someone come on. Maybe you can help us find that person.
It's mentioned often as an example, as a response to this question. All right.
My last question for you, Shannon, is what is one piece of advice that every customer experience leader should hear? I would say we can't be complacent. Our world is changing so quickly around us and the competition is gearing up.
So we always have to be looking to see how we can better the guest experience. So status quo is no longer acceptable in our world.
It's very competitive out there. So really staying engaged.
Whenever I travel, I'm taking photos of what other people are doing in order to continue to give me ideas and I send them back to my team so they can also learn from my experience. But I would say just stay progressive, keep looking, keep focusing on the experience and keep supporting your team because they're the ones that

drive guest satisfaction on the front lines. So such wise words.
Thank you so much, Shannon. It has been so wonderful to have you on the show.
And I hopefully will get to come and visit you in Vegas sometime. I've never been.
That's unacceptable. You've got to come and visit us in Vegas.
It really is an experience that you need to have.

I would love to.

Awesome.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful day and I'm sure we'll talk soon.

Thank you so much for having me.