S-1, Ep-3 | Guest Experience As A Competitive Advantage | Featured Guest - Paul Bridger, Rove Hotels

12/04/20 • 23 min

At one time, organizations could compete heavily based on product differentiation. A better, more luxurious, efficient and sleeker product could create its own niche and build its identity; that may well still be true for some industries. In reality though, for most, it's a crowded marketplace today. For one product, you have multiple options available in the market with marginal differences only. This leads to confusion and decision paralysis for a customer.
Many hospitality and service brands also compete on the basis of price, product, location, etc; with the recent battlefront being "delivering a great Customer or Guest Experience". But whilst many brands claim or leaders believe in this, it seems to seldom translate.
As #RoveHotels now gear up to open their 7th hotel in Dubai, ARK's Chief ARK-itect Aseem Kapoor catches up with Paul Bridger - Head of Operations for Rove Hotels. Paul came on board in the early stages of the brand development and plays a key role in how the brand is positioned today, within its own white space in the mid-market segment.
Right from the start, it was clear - what would help a brand like Rove to leave a mark, would be the experience they deliver. Again, typically whilst having a great product is crucial, mapping a great experience takes a lot more than just looking at all your touchpoints and seeing the world as your customers would. The glue that holds it together is your People - something that's often overlooked. But for Rove, or "Rovesters" as they proudly call themselves, is that secret ingredient that would bind the whole experience together.
Tune in to our latest episode as Paul Bridger chats with host Aseem Kapoor about how his team of Rovesters 'Go Beyond Borders', which sets the brand apart and hold its own ground, in a market place that has a plethora of options for travellers to choose from.
#CustomerExperience #Dubai #Travel #hospitality

Previous Episode

S-1, Ep - 2 | How Restaurants Can Reset To Thrive In The Next Normal | Featured Guest - Koen Theunis

The Food & Beverage industry in the UAE particularly restaurants are undergoing a massive reset. From unsustainable restaurant to customer ratios and a short supply of talent affecting the service experience; lack of understanding and aligning a brand's DNA to operator or owner's goals; lease negotiations and high rents, to diversifying revenue streams and the case for online food aggregators. What changes should restauranteurs and owners or operators make to thrive in the next normal?
In Episode 2 of ARKcast, host Aseem Kapoor catches up with KoenTheunis - Founder & Partner of RBnH Solutions; a Food & Beverage consultant and industry professional for 18 years in Dubai with popular casual dining brands under his belt including - Yamanote Atelier, Atisuto, Wise Kwai, Ostro and The Fish House. Tune-in as we discuss how the restaurant service industry can impede these challenges; and what key steps must be taken by the industry to build a deeper community connection to address the changing future of the restaurant industry, enabling us to come out of this stronger and better - together!

Next Episode

S-1, Ep-4 | The Case of the Revolving Door | Featured Guests - Sumeet & Kyriakos

The revolving door of employee turnover has been an ongoing challenge for businesses - large and small, globally and closer to home, here in the UAE too. Sooner or later, leaders will have to shift their mindset and start looking at employees as co-creators of the business; vs.' CTC'. In the Hospitality and Service Industry, employees sit at the intersection of a business and the customer or guest experience; which makes hiring and retaining the right talent even more important. After all, everyone has talent – but it's about finding the right talent!

Aligned to ARK’s Philosophy of Hiring Right for Success, host Aseem Kapoor recently caught up with entrepreneurs and ARK Affiliate Partners Sumeet Nayyar and Kyriakos Tzampazidis who share a similar passion of success through hiring the right people and harnessing the power of AI to help leaders across the Service Industry find, hire and retaining talent more suited to thrive in their organizations' culture.

Tune in to the latest episode of ARKcast to find out how AI aides the decision making process and is a great enabler in identifying talent with the right skill-set; predict with almost 60-70% accuracy the likelihood of their long term stability, productivity and performance, which eventually impacts bottom-line and help save costs attributed to high employee turnover.