If you stay at one of JW Marriott’s 75 hotels and resorts around the world, you might notice something unique about the people who check you in, take your bags, and serve you at the restaurants and spas. They hold their heads higher, make more eye contact, have a warm smile, and carry themselves with more poise and grace. It’s no coincidence. The associates are all being trained by experts who know a little something about body language—dancers from the world class Joffrey Ballet.
“We believe exceptional service starts with exceptional training,” says Christy Donato, senior director and global brand leader for JW Marriott Hotels and Resorts. I caught up with Donato to ask specific questions about how the new training program relates to service, marketing and communication.
“In the luxury tier, service, in many cases, is even more important than the product,” says Donato. When guests check-in to an upscale resort, they expect to see a sparkling pool, nice fixtures and rooms, high thread-count sheets, and even a spa. JW Marriott saw an opportunity to stand out in the category, building on the strong heritage it has for service.
“In luxury hospitality the guests spend a lot of time with associates, who are the living, breathing expression of the brand,” says Donato. “When you think about the amount of training for dancers to take the stage, we found it a perfect parallel to the training of our associates before they take their stage, floors and public spaces in the hotel.”
The Poise & Grace program began as local partnership with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. It worked so well it has now been rolled out across all of JW’s properties and is reinforced daily in staff meetings. Hotel staff in “high guest-contact” positions perform 5 to 15 minute exercises inspired by Joffrey Ballet dancers. The exercises cover everything from breathing and posture to eye contact and flow-of-movement (how to navigate around tight spaces like lobbies, restaurants and kitchen areas without bumping into each other). It’s all meant to build confidence in the staff, which results in a better first impression and a stronger connection with their guests.
Poise & Grace ads are being rolled out in newspapers, magazines and digital platforms. In one ad, a waiter is holding a plate with perfect posture and one hand gracefully placed behind his back. The ad reads: “Most hotels train their people with booklets. We take ours to the ballet.” The ads are intended to differentiate the JW from its competitors.
“We took a long, hard look at the luxury category. Everyone talks about pools and spas. It becomes a sea of sameness,” says Donato. In hospitality, ‘experience’ is what people are looking for. Our beautiful pool is not a point of difference. But our service style and our ability to make you feel comfortable is a point of difference. Our brand has a deep, human connection that goes back to our founder JW [John Willard] Marriott, who was focused on creating exceptional experiences and he had a tremendous eye for details.”
Poise, posture and body language matter. According to Harvard researcher and popular TED speaker, Amy Cuddy, we form impressions of people based on their first impressions. In one study that she cites in her book, Presence, job interviewees who displayed more confident body language were rated far more highly. In another recent study, three business school professors studied IPO road show presentations and determined that investors form an impression of a CEO and their leadership capability in as little as thirty seconds, based mostly on their nonverbal traits such as eye contact, gestures, “body movement.”
It’s no longer sufficient for any business to meet or even exceed expectations. By partnering with the Joffrey Ballet, the JW Marriott recognizes that customers are looking for an experience that stands apart and that’s why the brand is providing service with a side of grace.