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With over 33 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Chris Hammond has held various pivotal roles, from General Manager and Executive Chef of independent restaurants to Assistant Director of Food & Beverage (F&B) for Hilton. He has also served as Director of F&B, Corporate Director and Vice President of Multi-Unit Resorts in the water park resort space.
As an accomplished, innovative Food & Beverage Executive, Chris has consistently achieved and surpassed goals. His exceptional communication skills have allowed him to build rapport with prospects and foster strong relationships. Recognized as a strategic-minded leader, Chris has excelled in project development, process improvements and delivering high-quality, cost-effective solutions while ensuring positive guest experiences and high Net Promoter Scores.
His extensive experience in organizational change has equipped Chris with a unique ability to analyze, assess and quickly resolve challenging situations. His successful track record in setting priorities, shaping processes and developing infrastructure has been instrumental in creating stronger, more efficient organizations. Chris is focused on integrity and customer service, with a talent for building high-functioning, successful teams.
Passion-Driven Service
Passion and sincerity are the foundations of a great guest experience. If you are genuinely trying to deliver a great guest experience it will show but conversely, if there is no passion behind the delivery it will also show with a greater negative affect. You can offer a great product, the best product but if you choose to deliver it without soul, the product loses its value.
I ask questions that maybe others haven’t asked and then carefully listen to their answers. Maybe it is asking what didn’t go well at their last meeting or what was the highlight and trying to find a way to go above and beyond that, maybe it’s asking about the eating habits of the group. Anything we can do to gain an understanding of them as a group or family to make sure we are prepared in advance to exceed their expectations. We can’t just hope we deliver because we think we are good, we must expect greatness from ourselves and our teams.
Listening and Adapting Based on Feedback
We use two things; Guest and Associate Feedback from Surveys. We shape all of our strategies based off of what guests are telling us. If it’s a priority for them it’s a priority for us. Same for our associates. They take surveys as well and we want to create a positive work experience for them too.
Similar to the above. We listen to the feedback that is given to us, sometimes things can be changed in a mater of minutes that will make an immediate impact of the guest experience, sometimes it takes a little more effort (like adding a pool!) Our innovation comes not only from our internal teams but when we start to notice trends of comments from our guests we can start to build action plans such as adding or renovating rooms or adding a new food concept or water park feature.
Key Trends and Adaptability
• Focus on Quality & Service. Everybody knows that things have gotten more expensive but more than ever people are still willing to pay for Quality & Service and we must continue to deliver on it.
• Shift in Drinking Habits. We have to understand our audience and right now we have a newer type of guest who aren’t drinking as much or at all but are still looking for something creative so we have a focus on Well Crafted Zero Proof Drinks. Just because it doesn’t have the alcohol doesn’t mean it has to be a “Kiddie Cocktail”. Our Corporate Mixologist still crafts these carefully curated cocktails with interesting flavors and ingredients that everybody can enjoy.
• People still want to find food comfortable and know what they are going to get, but there is also a demand from the guests that maybe want to explore with a little more adventurous palate. Offering some global flavors on wings or burgers and even pizza have found a home on our menus.
Be flexible and adaptable. This is an ever changing business so you can’t get complacent. Listen but make sure you are doing something with the information you are being told. You have to have your base standards such as steps of service but must be willing to operate differently from day to day depending on who your audience is.
