Local hospitality training program announces fall class schedule

GULF SHORES AND ORANGE BEACH, ALA. – Families from around the world travel to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala. expecting to experience sunny days, white sand beaches and turquoise Gulf Coast water. But research shows that whether first-time guests decide to join the ranks of families who return to the Alabama Gulf Coast year after year is often dependent on one more expectation – guests come to the area hoping for a refreshing dose of good ol’ Southern hospitality.

Hospitality is the lifeblood of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach’s economy, Amy Elliott said to local employees attending the foundational class of the Five Star Southern Hospitality Customer Service Certification program at Faulkner State Community College in June.

“We’re all ambassadors for five-star Southern hospitality,” said Elliott, one of the Five Star Program instructors designed to help sustain and develop local businesses. “People have heard the term before, and they come expecting to experience southern hospitality here.”

The employees in attendance discussed the value of exceeding visitors’ expectations that people from the South are warm, welcoming and generous to anyone who walks past their front porch – or up to their front desk or into their restaurant.

“First impressions are extremely important when it comes to providing customer service,” and research shows that those impressions begin forming within 30 to 60 seconds of an initial interaction and over 60 percent are formed based on non-verbal factors, Elliott said. “Employees who interact directly with the customer can make or break a business.”

At its inception, the Five Star Program was funded through the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development. In March, the Coastal Resiliency Coalition (CRC) agreed to fund a portion of the classes as a type of grant-funded scholarship money. For those interested in taking classes through the program, Hospitality 101 is free and all remaining classes in the series are $25 each. The CRC announced they will continue to support the program as long as the grant money remains available to fund it.

In Hospitality 101, the two-hour introductory class, Elliott discussed practical ways to provide guests with such excellent service that they will be excited to return year after year. It is often the small things – a friendly tone of voice, a genuine smile that reaches the eyes, or remembering a guest’s name – that make people feel like they’re guests on the red carpet.

 “People won’t remember everything you said or did, but they will remember the way you made them feel,” said Elliott.  

Community members can also equip themselves to provide superior customer service by gaining knowledge about the area, said Herb Malone, president and CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism (CVB), who also addressed the class. After giving a synopsis of the numerous experiences the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area offers its guests, Malone encouraged those in attendance to get out and visit highlights of the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The Five Star Certification program is a work product of a joint chamber of commerce board retreat in 2006. Regional business leaders asked Faulkner State Community College to develop the curriculum and administer the program. The Faulkner State program has received both statewide and regional acclaim for innovation and delivery. Colette Boehm, the special projects director for the CVB, helped implement the program with community partners.

“We invited our industry partners for their input on the kind of training they needed and what format would work. The feeling was that there was a need for something that was ongoing so that employees who came in at any point of the year could receive training,” Boehm said. “Representing our industry partners, we worked with Faulkner State Community College to develop the curriculum.”

Faulkner State’s Office of Workforce Development designed a seven-course certification program with classes offered by a team of instructors throughout the year. Individuals become Five Star Southern Hospitality Certified by completing five courses, and with 70 percent of its permanent employees certified, a company becomes certified as a Five Star Southern Hospitality Provider.

 “The service that we offer visitors very often has a huge effect on their overall impression of the area,” Boehm said. “And chances are that the people they have the most interaction with are the people they meet when they check-in and the servers at our restaurants – they are our frontline people who really have an opportunity to make an impression for the area.”

Ali Chadwick attended the class as an intern with Meyer Real Estate, one of the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach businesses certified as a Five Star Southern Hospitality Provider.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of Southern hospitality, and being from the Midwest, it was great to be able to learn about it and experience it firsthand,” said Chadwick, a sophomore at the University of Alabama from St. Louis, Mo. “I think this class will help me as I’m working at the front desk and learning how to respond and have patience with customers.”

“I am very impressed with the certification program,” said Marcy Kichler, the front office manager at Kaiser Realty, another Five Star Southern Hospitality Provider. “Amy Elliott couldn’t be a more perfect instructor for these courses. She is adept at maneuvering students to see situations from a different viewpoint.”

“Customer service is a priority at Kaiser Realty and these classes reinforce how important the guest is – no matter how much customer service training and experience you have had, you will benefit from these classes. Even if it just refreshes your commitment to excellent service,” Kichler said.

The program targets different aspects of customer service through courses such as Coaching for Managers, Communication Basics and Tele-sales Skills from A-Z. Classes are offered at Faulkner State Community College two or more times a month on average.

“It is so important that our visitors leave with a warm, favorable impression,” Kichler said. “This course helps ensure that our employees have all the right tools to make that a reality.”

More information about the Five Star Southern Hospitality Certification Program is available at www.faulknerstate.edu/programs/cpd. To register, go online, and fill out the CPD Online Registration Form. For questions, call Faulkner State’s Center for Professional Development at 251-990-0445.

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Media Contact:

Kim Chapman
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism
kchapman@gulfshores.com
1-800-745-SAND
251-974-4625 (direct)
251-752-8448 (cell)

About Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism:

Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism serves as the official destination marketing organization for the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in addition to the unincorporated area of Fort Morgan. To learn more about Alabama’s 32 miles of sugar white sand, visit either www.gulfshores.com or www.orangebeach.com. This convention and visitors bureau is an accredited Destination Marketing Organization (2012-2016) and is an official corporate sponsor of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).