Company: Marriott International, Bethesda, MD
Company Description: Marriott International, Inc., is a leading lodging company. Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington, D.C., in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott. Today, Marriott International has more than 3,200 lodging properties located in the United States and 66 other countries and territories.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Complaints Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Marriott Customer Care Contact Center

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

During 2009, the Marriott Customer Care Contact Center ensured the
satisfaction and loyalty of customers with innovation, availability, and by
focusing on those individuals at the core of our success, our customers.;
Responding to thousands of telephone calls and emails each year while facing
the ever-increasing demands of immediate action means that, to be successful,
our associates must hear not the repetitive drone of endless customer problems
but, instead, face every customer interaction as an opportunity to recover a
lost opportunity, in both terms of revenue and customer satisfaction.; The
phrase, “I could just as easily stay at one of your competitor” is a call to
action.

When speaking with a Customer Care representative to resolve an unfortunate
experience, a customer recently questioned the associate whether “the outcome
was a win or a loss” in terms of the effort that had been put forth to achieve
resolution of the issue.; Without hesitation, the associate responded “Mr.
Kline, at Marriott you will always win.”; That attitude is not trained;
instead, it is the perfect match of personality and professional opportunity
that drives associate engagement. Associate Satisfaction Survey results in the
engagement category, already at their highest levels in recent memory,
experienced real and significant gains during 2009, a 2.7 percentage point
increase over the previous year.

Successful service is also measured in terms of the methods by which we do
business, driven by forward-looking minds that look beyond all things limiting
the expansion of opportunity.; In 2009, the Marriott Customer Care Contact
Center began responding in the languages of expanding markets.

Today’s workforce also questions why they must arrive at a central location to
work.; “Isn’t this why the internet was invented?” they suggest with an equal
degree of innocence and insight.; In response to the needs of our associates,
twenty percent of our associates started working at home during 2009.;
Satisfied associates result in satisfied customers, who continue to express
their loyalty with phrases like, “This kind of service is what makes Marriott
stand out.”; Stand out as professionals.; Stand out as leaders.; Stand out as
people.; Second to none, with the pride, customers, and history to back it up.

During 2009, Customer Care has crossed the next frontier to ensure customer
satisfaction.; We are employing state-of-the-art software to identify
opportunities for our customers that were, previously, on the fringes of our
understanding.; We implemented web diagnostics software to witness the
activities of our customers who choose to do business online, providing us
with previously unattainable perspective.; In addition, the “voice of the
customer” is represented in advocacy groups within our company.; As a result,
we reduced customer contacts by 18%.

Service quality is universal.; That concept is demonstrated in the consistency
of our training methods, the expectations of our customers and associates, and
our practices worldwide.; After speaking with a Customer Care Contact Center
associate, a customer expressed her thanks saying, “She has no idea how much
of a difference her kindness made to me!”; We do now, Mrs. Harper.; We do now,
and it is opportunities with customers like you that make us return to work
every day.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Jodie Larson, Senior Director, Customer Care Contact Center
In her current role of Senior Director, Customer Care Contact Center, Jodie is
responsible for providing strategic and organizational leadership between the
Global Reservation Sales offices, Corporate Headquarters, Marriott Rewards,
Marriott Business Services and eCommerce divisions.; This position is directly
responsible for monitoring market trends, developing resources, implementing
advanced technology, and supporting Marriott’s Spirit to Serve our guest
strategy by reducing the number of issues and improving the overall guest
experience at all touch points across multiple channels.