Asheville, North Carolina is all about tourism, the tourist and the hospitality that can be extended to all who visit this beautiful mountain setting. Those of us who work the front lines day in and day out, meeting and greeting thousands and thousands, over and over, answering the same questions, providing all the service needed to keep visitors smiling can just plain wear out!
My time spent working at Biltmore Estate’s Winery enables me to feel and see up close the challenges of providing outstanding hospitality every single day. Fortunately, I am surrounded by a team of sales and support staff that can be matched by none. In fact, every retail shop on Biltmore Estate could chant the same tune. We take great pride in our efforts to give our visitors positive experiences to remember and share. But…and there is a but here, when late August arrives we take a deep breath, share a wink, pat each other on the back and say “we made it”. We who face the tourist masses will have to take a step back, catch a break and let down for a moment so that we can do it all again in a very short time. We are thankful for the “August slowdown”. It enables us to recharge our batteries and pump ourselves up for the quickly approaching “leaf peepers” only to be followed by a very long holiday season! As a motivational sales speaker, my keynotes tell the tales of how employees can keep the smiles, answer the questions, pack the boxes, wrap the gifts, fill the shelves, pull the wines day after day after day. It comes as no surprise to me that there are great similarities between the words “hospitality” and “hospital”. Keeping employees refreshed, focused and motivated will let visitors experience the one and keep staff from ending up in the other!