By Kathleen Cassedy

"We all have competitors. Sitting next to you, within four seats, is someone who competes with you on a day-to-day basis," said Roger Dow, VP and General Sales Manager for Marriott Lodging. His inspiring keynote address, "Energizing Your People, Customers and Profits," opened ATME's 1998 annual conference this past May.

"Everybody seems to be pushing us on price, but yet our operating costs keep going up, and our margins are harder to come by," Dow said. Because today's marketplace, within and outside the travel industry, increasingly competes for the same dollar, it is imperative that organizations stay on top of changes in the economy and other variables that impact their businesses, he said.

Marriott should know. Marriott had overbuilt in the 1980s. "We had believed so much of our own press-that everything we touched turned to gold, and compounded annual growth at 20 percent -that we fell asleep. We weren't paying attention to how the market was changing rules and playing the game. We still were playing with a 1970s mentality."

Marriott Chairman William Marriott Jr. called a meeting with senior management, around 1990, to confirm the rumor that the company, representing 200,000 employees, was in trouble. "He said, 'If we go under, they go under...and that's not right,'" Dow recalled.

Management was asked to assess and keep what is most important to customers, and economize on the rest. "He [Marriott] said, 'Any idiot can fire people,'" Low remembered, "'That doesn't take too much intelligence.'"

Management was challenged to save the company, yet maintain customer loyalty and the brand's integrity. Employees rallied, finding creative solutions to save or raise money.

One cashier at an Ohio Marriott, for example, suggested that extra money in the company's 40,000 registers be collected. Two weeks later, more than $3 million showed up at the home office.

Referring to management guru Tom Peters' book, Turned On, Dow said, "You can have the greatest product or service in the world, but if your people and your customers aren't turned on, it's over." Dow referred to other insights from Peter's book and his own publication, The Trust Imperative, written with Marriott Hotels VP of Interactive Sales and Marketing, Michael Pusateri.

Marriott reassessed its way of doing business. "We really need to know what is changing. How to market differently? What kind of role is the Internet playing? How are people getting their information? Marketers can't become static and fall asleep," Dow said. They must continue to court customers and communicate to market segments on their level and from their points of view, whether it be with design, or using the latest slang or popular reference.

"Anyone can get customer satisfaction," Dow asserted. "Just lower your prices. But how do you build customer enthusiasm?" Dow humorously pointed out that some Harley Davidson customers, for example, have the motorcycle company's logo as tattoos.

Building both employee and customer loyalty through leadership is important. "It's not hard," said Dow, "but few do it." Leaders establish goals, involve their teams, then set examples, just as Bill Marriott does. Marriott's chairman makes a point of thanking the company's top five sales people each month, whether they are the most senior or junior sales person, with a personal phone call.

Empowering employees is also important. Dow told the story about a former football player, Albert Smitty Smith, who works for Marriott as a room service waiter. He was awarded top sports sales person, because of the exemplary way he has cared for sports team clients for 10 years. When teams switched to a new, nearby hotel, Smith visited them at the other hotel as teams arrived, greeting them, and wishing them luck on the game. He even offered to serve them special orders from the Marriott. That extra attention eventually brought the teams back to Marriott.

When your people are enthusiastic about your company and its goals, they cheerfully provide customer service and recognition beyond the expected, Dow noted. Employees develop a caring relationship with customers. Like another Marriott room service waiter, Charles, who consoled a grieving guest with a complimentary piece of apple pie and sympathy card signed by the entire night staff. Employee enthusiasm is contagious, infecting customers, and creating customer enthusiasm. When a company can make its customers feel special, it builds long-standing relationships.

"When we go down that road together as partners and really do a great job for our common customer," Dow said. "That's what it's all about."