Michael Ramsay is the General Manager Commercial of Skyline Enterprises. What started with a gondola in Queenstown, New Zealand, Skyline now operates multiple attractions and hospitality businesses in several countries. Michael focuses on bridging the digital experience with the onsite analog experience, ensuring that guests are having just as positive of an experience on Skyline’s digital platforms as they are when they visit the sites in person. In this interview, Michael stresses the importance of a seamless and frictionless user experience, but cautions that sometimes less friction up front may cause bottlenecks down the road. As a result, the digital experience must be thoughtfully created with the guest in mind, which will create more confidence, higher satisfaction, and ultimately increase their lifetime value. Michael shares that inspiration for improving the experience can come from listening to what guests have to say, along with gathering feedback from employees, who are living and breathing the guest experience every day.

Michael focuses on bridging the digital experience with the onsite analog experience, ensuring that guests are having just as positive of an experience on Skyline’s digital platforms as they are when they visit the sites in person. In this interview, Michael stresses the importance of a seamless and frictionless user experience, but cautions that sometimes less friction up front may cause bottlenecks down the road. As a result, the digital experience must be thoughtfully created with the guest in mind, which will create more confidence, higher satisfaction, and ultimately increase their lifetime value. Michael shares that inspiration for improving the experience can come from listening to what guests have to say, along with gathering feedback from employees, who are living and breathing the guest experience every day.

Erin Swales is the Senior Director of Guest Experience for the San Diego Padres and Petco Park, in San Diego, CA. In this interview, Erin talks about the Petco Park Promise, which drives their guest experience standard, and consists of three main elements: Care, Connect, and Exceed. Erin walks us through how this promise begins with their hiring process, their onboarding and training, and continual recognition and motivation for frontline staff to make sure that every guest that visits Petco Park has a memorable experience, whether they are attending a San Diego Padres baseball game, a concert, graduation, or any other live event at the stadium. When talking about guest feedback, Erin doesn’t just tell us about how she and her team can deliver great service recovery, but that her standard is to dive deep into pressing issues by inviting guests into focus groups that truly enable the organization to gain that “aha” moment, that leads to implementing improvements for future success.

Sarah Cole is the President & CEO of Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa, FL. The way that Sarah describes what the experience is like at Glazer might not sound like she’s describing a traditional museum. In fact, Sarah emphasizes the importance and the power of play, and how critical it is children’s learning. And with a core demographic of children between the ages of 3-8, Glazer helps to facilitate the experience of learning through play, so that when guests leave, they don’t just talk about the information that they learned, but take the skills developed with them far beyond their experience at the museum and weave it into their growth and development. Sarah also shares how she was able to provide support for the Glazer team throughout the pandemic, by demonstrating empathy for both staff and guests. And when asked to share her guest experience philosophy, Sarah emphasizes that you should treat your guests as if it is the only time that you are going to see them, which is why it is so important to have a guest mentality.

Candi Kelley is the COO of TrainerTainment, which helps family entertainment businesses through training related to service, sales, and leadership. In this wide-ranging conversation, Candi discusses how the common thread that links each of these three initiatives together is the people aspect of the business, and that creating a guest-centric culture can ensure that the service that you provide leads to higher revenue and business success. Candi also shares her SOAR acronym for guest experience, which stands for surprise & delight, over-deliver, accommodate, and refine. We discuss examples from each component of the SOAR model, along with how to best empower employees to deliver on the expected standard. We also talk about the difference between coaching and discipline, and Candi’s philosophy is that if your coaching is effective and well-intentioned - you will never need to terminate an employee, because they will already have terminated themselves.

Shep Hyken is a customer experience expert, author, speaker, and consultant. His latest book, I’ll Be Back, talks about one of the most critical factors of customer and guest experience: repeat visitation. In this interview, we talk about the difference between a loyalty program and a marketing program, the difference between service and experience, and how the biggest friction points are a combination of processes and training. Shep is passionate about the concept of “moments of truth,” which is defined as every interaction that a guest has with your business - and this is not limited to your staff. Look at your technology, your marketing, and every other aspect of the experience - they all form an impression. According to Shep, every moment of truth will either be a moment of magic, a moment of mediocrity, or a moment of misery. Think about how that applies to your business and your operation. When done well, every single touchpoint that your guests have across their journey should lead to the three words that you want them to say: I’ll Be Back.

Ken Maguire is the Director of Guest Experience Operations at Monterey Bay Aquarium. In this interview, Ken talks about the strong emphasis that the aquarium places on guest experience, including the importance of investing in your frontline staff. When new employees join Monterey Bay Aquarium, they go through an entire welcome week, not just a quick orientation, so that they can be fully immersed in the culture of the aquarium’s guest experience philosophy. This has proven to be a successful training model, because Ken shares examples of how the service that is delivered by the staff quickly translates into guests upgrading their tickets to membership, donating the aquarium’s conservation fund, and becoming advocates for the aquarium, whether they are local or coming in from out of market. Ken is passionate about inspiring his team, investing in their success, and also shares why the best recognition is simply recognition itself.

Bethany Evans is the Executive Vice President of the International Association of Trampoline Parks, or IATP for short. Founded in 2012, IATP serves the trampoline park industry through education, resources, and assisting with safety standards that help make the industry so successful. In 2020, when the pandemic shut down the entire industry, IATP turned to virtual content to help park operators stay updated with what they needed to know to reopen safely, and ensure that guests were assured of the health and sanitation procedures that trampoline parks were implementing to keep guests safe and rebuild confidence. When it comes to the trampoline park guest experience, Bethany shares that the largest differentiator amongst similar types of venues is completely driven by the people element of the business. The staff that guests interact with during the visits is what creates the experience memorable, repeatable, and enjoyable.

Jennifer Berthiaume is the Vice President of Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, FL. Lion Country’s mission is to be a leader in animal care, conservation and education to inspire people through connections with wildlife in a fun, family-friendly environment. Located just west of West Palm Beach, Lion Country Safari offers a unique experience that combines a zoo, safari, amusement park, and water park. Jennifer has been with Lion Country for more than 19 years, yet she still walks the park every single day and says that it never gets old. Prior to taking on the role of Vice President, Jennifer oversaw marketing, public relations, and social media and from the stories she shares in this interview, it is clear that marketing and guest experience go hand-in-hand, rather than acting as completely separate departments. Jennifer shares how a negative social media post was managed so well that it created a loyal advocate, as well as how a publicity event turned first-time visitors into raving fans. She also shares how Lion Country managed challenges during the pandemic while at the same time ensuring a positive guest experience. Lastly, the focus that Jennifer places on motivating and inspiring her team shows such a high level of appreciation, which Jennifer says is driven by the importance of kindness.

Nikki Padilla Rivera consults for tour operators and her website is Tripkinetics.com. With an incredible background of being a tour guide and tour operator, Nikki focuses on translating between guides and operators, which ultimately creates for a better experience for the tour guides, and a superior experience for tour guests. In this interview, Nikki talks about how to take a tour from standard to excellent by following the peak-end rule: create a memorable beginning, a few high points along the way, and then at the end, leave them with an emotional life changing experience. Nikki says that the best tours end with guests feeling like they owe the guide something back for providing such a great experience, which of course opens the conversation for requesting online reviews and positive word of mouth. Also, the topic of virtual tours is an important conversation, having mostly started at the beginning of the pandemic and now determining their future and how virtual tours fit in with the tourism industry for the long term. Lasty, Nikki shares her philosophy that you should overproduce, yet make it feel serendipitous.

Mandy Sybrandy is the Vice President of Attractions for SkyWheel, with locations in Myrtle Beach, SC, and Panama City Beach, FL. SkyWheel operates observation wheels, and don’t call them Ferris wheels, because the experience is entirely different. SkyWheel is a type of attraction that can serve an entire family, from a newborn baby to a 100-year old grandmother, and the memorable aspects of the experience go beyond the wheel themselves. Mandy talks about how SkyWheel can serve as the location for marriage proposals, weddings, and even for gender reveals. The moments that Mandy shares as being some of her favorite stories to tell include the milestone life moments that guests have when they visit, and she also shares emotional and sentimental experiences that guests have had, making the attraction much more than a quick visit or a day out. Mandy also shares how her team is encouraged to visit other attractions and gain inspiration for how to make the SkyWheel experience even better, and why having fun is not only a job requirement, but also Mandy’s guest experience and life philosophy.