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Elevating the customer experience and service delivey of a luxury golf resort
Date
2024
Industry
Hospitality & Leisure
Type
Customer Experience
Skills
Experience Strategy
Customer Journey Mapping
Service Design
Team
Freddie Scutt
Marcus Dunford
Back
Elevating the customer experience and service delivey of a luxury golf resort
Date
2024
Industry
Hospitality & Leisure
Type
Customer Experience
Skills
Experience Strategy
Customer Journey Mapping
Service Design
Team
Freddie Scutt
Marcus Dunford
Overview
Apes Hill is a 470-acre luxury golf resort and residential community in Barbados. As the private residential community continued to grow and the resort welcomed guests following its recent launch, Apes Hill sought to set a new standard for luxury service across both sides of the business.
The challenge
Apes Hill needed to understand and elevate the end-to-end experience for both guests and homeowners, whose journeys span multiple stages, teams and touchpoints. The challenge was to uncover where gaps in the frontstage experience were rooted in backstage processes and structures, and identify opportunities to strengthen service delivery against five-star luxury expectations.
Results
30 guest experience and service opportunities developed into a prioritised roadmap, with detailed implementation guidance for three priority opportunities.
The project also led to the creation of a Service Delivery Playbook, Mission Statement and Core Values, now embedded within the business.
My role
Experience Strategist, researching and auditing the existing guest and homeowner experience alongside another Experience Strategist. Led ideation and roadmapping, facilitating client sessions across ideation, prioritisation and implementation.
Overview
Apes Hill is a 470-acre luxury golf resort and residential community in Barbados. As the private residential community continued to grow and the resort welcomed guests following its recent launch, Apes Hill sought to set a new standard for luxury service across both sides of the business.
The challenge
Apes Hill needed to understand and elevate the end-to-end experience for both guests and homeowners, whose journeys span multiple stages, teams and touchpoints. The challenge was to uncover where gaps in the frontstage experience were rooted in backstage processes and structures, and identify opportunities to strengthen service delivery against five-star luxury expectations.
Results
30 guest experience and service opportunities developed into a prioritised roadmap, with detailed implementation guidance for three priority opportunities.
The project also led to the creation of a Service Delivery Playbook, Mission Statement and Core Values, now embedded within the business.
My role
Experience Strategist, researching and auditing the existing guest and homeowner experience alongside another Experience Strategist. Led ideation and roadmapping, facilitating client sessions across ideation, prioritisation and implementation.
Mapping the existing guest and homeowner journey
The project began with a deep dive into existing brand assets and customer touch points. A 5-day visit to Apes Hill enabled us to experience some of the customer activites, and conduct stakeholder and customer interviews face-to-face. Findings were plotted onto a service design blueprint, outlining key interactions as well as areas of pain point and opportunities in front stage and back stage.
Mapping the existing guest and homeowner journey
The project began with a deep dive into existing brand assets and customer touch points. A 5-day visit to Apes Hill enabled us to experience some of the customer activites, and conduct stakeholder and customer interviews face-to-face. Findings were plotted onto a service design blueprint, outlining key interactions as well as areas of pain point and opportunities in front stage and back stage.
Apart from conducting desk research, stakeholder and customer interviews, we also styed at the resort to audit the as-is exprience and identify opportunity areas.
Establishing experience principles
Four experience principles were established based on emerging themes and the existing brand strategy. They provided a foundation that underpinned the following stages.
Establishing experience principles
Four experience principles were established based on emerging themes and the existing brand strategy. They provided a foundation that underpinned the following stages.
Defining key opportunity areas
Recurring themes from the research and diagnostic stage were consolidated into five key opportunity areas:
Strengthening cross-departmental collaboration
Establishing consistent service standards
Improving systems and processes
Clarifying roles across key guest touchpoints
Aligning teams around shared values and vision
Defining key opportunity areas
Recurring themes from the research and diagnostic stage were consolidated into five key opportunity areas:
Strengthening cross-departmental collaboration
Establishing consistent service standards
Improving systems and processes
Clarifying roles across key guest touchpoints
Aligning teams around shared values and vision
Findings from research and site visit were mapped against the guest and homeowner journeys.
Bringing stakeholders across the business together
Virtual workshop was held to capture ideas through 'How Might We' provocations, targetting key pain points or opportunities identified in diagnostic stage.
Stakeholders formed groups, each tackling a different section of the customer journey. Ideas generated spanned experience principles defined, esuring that they tied back to pre-existing brand strategy.
Bringing stakeholders across the business together
Virtual workshop was held to capture ideas through 'How Might We' provocations, targetting key pain points or opportunities identified in diagnostic stage.
Stakeholders formed groups, each tackling a different section of the customer journey. Ideas generated spanned experience principles defined, esuring that they tied back to pre-existing brand strategy.
Ideation workshop ran virtually with over 10 stakeholders, in groups of 3-4, generated over 100 thought starters.
Identifying low hanging fruits and big wins
Ideas were built out into concept cards and categorised using an ideas matrix to help us identify low hanging fruits vs big wins.
High-priority ideas were visualised using AI, providing stakeholders with tangible representations of key concepts.
Identifying low hanging fruits and big wins
Ideas were built out into concept cards and categorised using an ideas matrix to help us identify low hanging fruits vs big wins.
High-priority ideas were visualised using AI, providing stakeholders with tangible representations of key concepts.
Ideas were written up as ideas cards and matrix was used to sort ideas against impact and effort.
Creating a roadmap and supporting implementation
To support implementation, we developed an idea roadmap that outlined priorities, timelines and ownership clearly.
Alongside this we also delivered detailed briefs to support roll-out of three prioritised ideas, each outlining:
Objectives and target outcomes
Team shape and ownership
Operational considerations
Creating a roadmap and supporting implementation
To support implementation, we developed an idea roadmap that outlined priorities, timelines and ownership clearly.
Alongside this we also delivered detailed briefs to support roll-out of three prioritised ideas, each outlining:
Objectives and target outcomes
Team shape and ownership
Operational considerations
Idea roadmap of the final 50 selected ideas, prioritised based on impact to business vs customers and effort.
