A R.O.S.E. is a Rose Fifteen years ago I was given an opportunity to work for Visit Michigan City LaPorte and since I already knew most of the staff, I jumped at the chance. I moved to LaPorte County in 1978 and one of the first things I saw was Lake Michigan on a sunny day with iceburgs floating in the water. I knew then that this was a special place, so I got involved with the community. First thing I did was become a docent with the Washington Park Zoo where I met many visitors, so becoming community relations manager with Visit Michigan City LaPorte was just my cup of tea. As community relations manager, I have many duties. One of my first assignments was to develop the R.O.S.E. (Recognition of Service Excellence) program. The R.O.S.E. program strives to highlight LaPorte County’s exceptional individuals who provide service above and beyond most others. One of the first and lasting impressions a visitor takes with him when visiting an establishment is that of the frontline employee. An entire vacation or excursion can be based on one experience encountered with a frontline employee and the kind of service that was provided. Customer service can be the main factor as to determining if the visitor will want to return. Frontline employees, be they wait staff, front desk attendant, sales associate, or any service related representative, are extremely important to the tourism industry. They are the first, and many times, last faces a visitor sees before leaving to return home. Excellent customer service is crucial in adding to a pleasant experience in LaPorte County. For this reason, Visit Michigan City LaPorte asked me to create the R.O.S.E. program to congratulate and encourage those who provide excellent customer service on a daily basis. R.O.S.E. stands for “Recognition of Service Excellence”, and is a program, starting in May of 1999, designed to highlight LaPorte County’s most exceptional individuals who provide service above and beyond most others. The R.O.S.E. program honors these individuals’ spirit and willingness to serve their community and further encourages them to uphold their exemplary behavior as a representative of their community. Visit Michigan City LaPorte has made the online R.O.S.E. nomination form available electronically to business owners and managers of every community partner that wishes to participate in the program. It is easy to make a nomination just by following this link and we encourage you to make this one of your favorites. bit.ly/RoseNomination Employers can recognize their front line staff or someone that they work with that usually does not come into contact with the public, but that is invaluable when it comes to their contribution to the whole. When the nomination is submitted it is automatically entered into our database. Each employer is sent a congratulatory letter listing all of their nominees, to share the information with their staff. At the end of the month a report is generated that shows just the “reason for nomination” section. This report is sent to a panel of judges who choose the winner. The winner is rewarded with a plaque, a rose corsage and $100.00 in cash. The Bureau takes a picture and conducts an interview with the employee. We then write a press release that is placed in all of the local newspapers and on several websites. Once a year during national tourism week we host, along with Porter County, the R.O.S.E. luncheon where we honor all the past year’s winners and their employers. At that time, we honor “the best of the best” and give more awards chosen by either the CVB staff or by nominations that come from the community. Also, all nominations are sent to the Lt. Governor’s Office to be considered for the Hoosier Hospitality Award. I am always available to bring the R.O.S.E. training program to your staff meeting and help them understand the importance of exceptional customer service. So the next time you are impressed with excellent customer service in LaPorte County, take a few minutes to complete a R.O.S.E. nomination card and possibly reward someone who takes pride in their community. Not many other roses smell as sweet as a one hundred dollar R.O.S.E.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 20:13:49 +0000
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