Instead, Fitzgibbon is assigning four members of her leadership team to conduct the entire pitch in French. From running down the hotel's features to explaining the prevalence of Peachtree in the city's street names, W Buckhead is going Gallic for the win.

"It goes beyond making them feel like home," Fitzgibbon said. "It's about services and experiences."

Atlanta hotels, hoping to attract international tourists who see the United States as a cheap getaway because of the weak dollar, are stepping up their game to compete. Gone are the days when the effort to appeal to foreign visitors meant meager translations of "welcome" in their native tongue.

When I was hired over a decade ago to join a hotel, the general manager told me that if in 6-months the team was not better as a result of me being hired, then I've failed.  Wow, what pressure! He explained that, just like on a sports team, the primary purpose of bringing in new players is not to take up space on the roster, but rather to help the team win more games. At that moment, I realized that he was not just looking for another "warm body". I could tell that this would be a different place to work.  This would be a place that valued my contributions as a person, and one that let me know that my work ethic and dedication would DIRECTLY influence the success of the team.  If you're wondering what the job was...it was as a busboy in the hotel's restaurant. 

Preparing the Candidate

The pre-interview stage should be a multi-step process. I prefer to hold two phone conversations with each candidate before we meet in person.

During the first call, my objective is to provide information and build rapport. I introduce myself, describe my position and role with the Hamister team, and establish the purpose of my call. I also give a brief overview of The Hamister Group, Inc., its business sectors, and history. While discussing the position in question, I gauge the candidate's interest and advise her to have a look at our website.

What is the difference between the doorman opening the hotel's door and the doorman providing a welcoming experience?  Or what is the difference between the housekeeper changing the bed sheets and the housekeeper ensuring that the guest has a clean, comfortable bed to sleep in?  Some people may say they are actually the same thing, but others would say that one drives the other.  One is the function and the other is the purpose.  It is one of the simplest, yet most powerful ways to explain service excellence and how to deliver exceptional service at the same time.  Understanding the purpose affects "how" the function is performed. 

Funny how the older we get in life the more we come to appreciate our parents.  I for one feel particularly blessed to have been born unto a family of entrepreneurs.   Although my mother Barbara passed away more than 15 years ago, the wisdom she imparted upon us kids was enough to last a lifetime.  Although my mom taught me many things about life in general, such as always maintaining a positive attitude and believing in yourself, she also taught me a lot more about the real-world of business than I could have ever learned getting an MBA.  

For five years now I’ve had the privilege of being a parent-volunteer at my children’s public school, which is Hollywood Hills Elementary in Hollywood, FL.  Now I might be a little biased in saying that this is the best elementary school anywhere, since Mrs. Roberts is my personal hero, but I do have lots of evidence to make the case that our school is one of the best in our state if not nation.  For example, Florida has assigned a letter-grade to each school, based on its students performance on the annual standardized testing we call FCAT, and HHE has achieved the highest-possible (“A”) rating every single year since the program was launched!   The state also awards a “Five Star” award for schools that also excel as a community, for example by having an active volunteer base, community/local business involvement, and student community service, and for the past 9 years HHE has also achieved this award too. 

Recently after completing an afternoon keynote address at a remote mountain ski/golf resort I decided to drive straight back to the nearby city and airport I’d flown into earlier in the week, versus risking taking the one hour drive over dark, unfamiliar roads and end up getting lost en route to my early morning flight.

Since I’d be paying for this room myself, and since I was mostly concerned with the hotel’s location being near the airport, I jumped online and simultaneously on the phone (like any good rate shopper these days!) and booked a room with an established economy lodging hotel chain that was right where I needed to be at 4am the next morning.   

Regardless of whether RevPAR and bottom-line profits are trending upwards or downwards in your hotel’s market, there’s no better time than the precious present to make profit optimization everyone’s job.  Unfortunately too many hotels still think of profit optimization as being primarily the job function of a revenue manager, versus a process that virtually every associate can embrace every day.  Yet there seems to be plenty of other hotels and resorts that have seen profit optimization evolve from a person into a process and eventually into an underlying operating philosophy for all hotel marketing and operations.