Customer is king
Consumer insight is critical to driving the innovations Fox says will impact the quality of the product and she is confident that Fairmont will continually challenge itself on how to adapt to evolving trends, particularly when it comes to technology.
“Everyone’s travelling today with an iPad so you’ve got to make sure that you offer wireless and we offer wireless in all of our hotels and we offer it free to our Fairmont President’s Club members, but we absolutely know if you don’t have wi-fi in a guest room that’s one of the big frustration levels for a customer today. It’s just a matter of constantly being one step ahead of what the customer is telling us they want so we can deliver against that and that’s really important to us.”
The same applies to the emerging trend for self check-in, says Fox, which she says Fairmont is exploring at present.
“We challenge ourselves on a regular basis about whether or not people want to do self check in. As long as the check in is swift and straight to the room then I think that is part of the personalised service that we offer, so we’re certainly looking at these things as we move along. We’ve got a great IT team very focused on future trends and in fact when I get back to Toronto I’ve got a session with our head of IT about the need to just have that conversation about future trends. You’ve got to be constantly innovating,” asserts Fox.
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A trend she is passionate about is the move towards healthier lifestyles, with the focus being on how Fairmont can take care of busy travellers once they check in.
“One of the programmes that excited me when I actually arrived at Fairmont was Fairmont Fit Programme,” recalls Fox. “One of the things guests were telling us was that people like to travel with as little luggage as they can these days. So we’ve now got a partnership whereby if you’re a Fairmont President’s Club member, you can actually fill in all the details in terms of your size and we’ll have the work-out shoes, work-out clothes, right down to socks in the room for you. I’ve been travelling these last few days and I’ve stayed in five Fairmonts and every time I’ve arrived, this Fairmont Fit’s been in my room so I haven’t had to travel with my work-out shoes or my work-out gear. We’ve also taken that lifestyle approach in terms of our spas and our fitness to make sure we’ve giving the guests the opportunity to stay healthy and fit on the road.
“People are very concerned about well-being today — business travellers particularly because you know the last thing you want when you’ve been travelling and when you get to a hotel is any frustrations at all, you get enough of that with the airlines and all the hassles of travel. When you get to a hotel our role, our job is to make it as hassle free as we can and really create this environment where we deliver this very personalised service, very engaged service, that we’re anticipating the things you need, so that when you get to the hotel you feel like you’ve arrived somewhere that really understands you.”
As a business traveller, this is something Fox can “absolutely” relate to from a guest perspective — and she also has some “pet peeves” of her own.
“As a woman business traveller, hairdryers, bathroom amenities [are my pet peeves] because I don’t want to travel with shampoo and conditioner, those things are really important to me and I bet you’re the same as a woman traveller. Where’s the hair dryer and what kind of hairdryer is it — if it’s one you’ve got to put your finger on it drives me insane!,” exclaims Fox, and I completely agree.
“And also too, for me the bedding’s got to be great,” she continues. “The sleep experience is really important as is the shower experience,” says Fox, explaining that Fairmont is currently rolling out a new amenities range Le Labo Rose 31 with a “scent that works for both men and women”.
“We’re trying to think about every single thing in the room and what value that has to the guest.”
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Feb 7, 2012 , United Kingdom
Sounds so beautiful to be a president of Fairmont, but how much do you really care for your internal employees who are working for your company. To be a president is not only to carry such job title, it much appreicate if you indeed care about your employees, and also help them when they are fa...
Feb 7, 2012 , Mauritius
Fairmont is a great and well-known hotel brand in North America but it's still relatively unknown in some other parts of the world. With the global expansion plan that the Jennifer Fox has, together with her rich global experience, knowledge of the industry, and willingness to innovate/invest in ...