We spend the day with Rob, sales coordinator at the Alt Hotel Calgary East Village.

This is À la Germain, the podcast about the people who bring Germain Hotels to life every day.

I'm in the studio with Christian, Laurie, and Hugo Germain.

Hello, everyone.

Today, we're spending the day with Rob, who is the sales coordinator at the Alt Hotel Calgary East Village.

Rob has been with the Alt since the hotel opened in 2018.

And for those of you who don't know him yet, we're about to meet a colorful character.

To introduce him properly, here is his favorite quote about his job.

There's a really good quote.

I forget who quoted it.

So it says, service is black and white, and hospitality is color.

So service is like how quickly you respond to things, how efficiently, how on the ball you are.

Hospitality is how do you do those tasks?

Do you do them with warmth and energy and enthusiasm?

One of my biggest strengths, I think, is to be able to inject a bit of color into my interactions.

The quote is from the book, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidera.

Hugo, what do you think about what you just heard?

I think he could probably write the book because he's saying it flawlessly.

I think it corresponds to everything we do at Germain.

So according to when he's talking about color, we even use at Alt, we use the term colorful touches, sorry, and colorful touches means being able to bring something different to actions, regular actions of your everyday life and when you're serving guests and everything like that, doing it differently.

And Rob, I think is articulating it very well.

Rob explained that before joining Germain Hotels, he had worked in the hotel industry for a long time, but he was bored.

His arrival at the alts seemed to have had a big impact on his life.

I can be unabashedly myself in this company.

The company's allowed me to behave like who I truly am, which other hotel groups don't exactly appreciate, right?

Like there's, I've found before that there's strict SOPs and rules and you do this, you don't do that.

You know, you have a very defined job description.

And here I have the ability to be a ton more flexible.

And I've always appreciated that, being able to have a bit more autonomy in how I do my work, which is probably why I'm still here.

Christian, Germain Hotels have never conformed to the classic hotel mold right from the start with the group's very first hotel, Germain des Prés.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Yes, absolutely.

First, I'd like to say how much I appreciate what Rob just said, because this is what this company is all about, right?

And I remember when we opened our first hotel in 1988, I was, my background was more in the restaurant business.

So, and I was working as a hostess, greeting customers and so on and so forth.

And when I opened the hotel, my first reaction when the first, the absolute first guest arrived at the hotel, I was expecting him at the door of the hotel.

And I had his key in my hand, because I knew where his room was going to be.

And mind you, we only have three rooms available at that time, because we were really just opening the hotel.

So I knew where his room was going to be.

So I greeted him at the door of the hotel.

And I said, well, you don't have to register.

I'm going to take you to your room.

And he kind of looked at me.

And so I went up to his room on the eighth floor and actually opened the door and let him go into his room and wished him a good stay with us.

So, and I guess that has stayed in the company.

That way of doing what you think is best for the guest.

And let the employee be himself or herself in the way they greet our guests.

That to me is very, very important.

Just to make sure that the way we greet a guest is not scripted.

It's just doing it according to what you think is best for the guests.

And it would be like if you were welcoming somebody in your home, pretty much.

Rob explained earlier that he could be himself thanks to his work at the alt.

But who is Rob really?

Rob is an ambivert, I would say.

So I'm an introvert that likes to, loves hanging out with people.

I need that external push, you know?

Asking me, asking, you know, come on, you can express yourself more.

And I'm like, okay, absolutely.

You know, it's a really good motivator for me.

And it's a lot of fun.

You know, it pushes me to become out of my comfort zone, which is good.

And not to say the hotel is telling me explicitly, go, go, go, you must do this.

No, it's just, it gives me an outlet or an opportunity to explore this in a good way.

I do genuinely love being around people and making their day better.

And there's a bit of a synergy here between myself and the hotel in that regard.

So silly, happy, a little unconventional, pretty weird, but just like the Alt.

Laurie, how does hearing that make you feel?

I really love Rob.

He's the perfect example of a very unique person that brings his authentic self at work, but at the same time really embrace our DNA and our culture.

And that cultural fit for us is very important because that's what make the guest experience very unique.

We always say we're the most liberating place to work in the industry.

And I think that this extract of Rob really show that.

Now that we've given you a good introduction to Rob, let's get back to business.

In practical terms, Rob is essentially in communication with organizations that want to accommodate their teams at the hotel or organize large meetings in the reception rooms.

Hi, Robert.

Good afternoon, Julie.

How are you?

Before taking up this position, Rob was at the front desk greeting guests.

So we asked him about the difference between the two roles.

For at the front desk, 99% of my communication is in person.

Now in my role as the sales coordinator, that's more balanced.

I would say 50% email, 50% over the phone or in-person conversations.

What I miss is that face-to-face interaction or that frequency of interactions, I'd say, because let's say in my role, I'll meet 12 people a day, whereas at the front desk, I'll meet 70 people a day.

But there's still some noted similarities, and that's kind of understanding who they are and what they're about and how I can tailor my interactions with them.

So like Julie, Julie's mostly professional, but she's friendly.

So I'll get down to business, chat a little bit, but Julie is quite focused on her work, wants to do business, and that's fantastic.

For some of my other guests, I'll send them three-word email replies because that's what they're sending me and that's what they want, just down to business.

Other guests, I have one of my favorite corporate clients.

We actually have something that we call a cat tax in an email.

We've built up a really good, casual, bantering relationship, and we're both cat lovers.

So on every email that we send, the client and myself, we need to attach a picture of our cat.

It's just the ground rules.

Who among you has ever sent a professional email with a picture of a cat?

In all seriousness, it's interesting how Rob reverts his front desk reflexes, adapting his language to suit the person in front of him.

I think Rob takes a lot of pride in his work.

He mentioned it's my work, you know.

And part of the way he's interacting with the guests, I think he's taking a lot of effort to adapt to the person who's in front of him, and what is making these people feel good.

And I think the role of whether it be through sales, Rob's role, or at the reception, the front desk, I think it's being able to find the trigger and to find the thing that's going to change somebody's day, the course of somebody's day.

And by being able to have active listening and everything, I think that's the most we can bring.

I think that's the value-add we can bring.

And Rob is a terrific example of that.

Yeah, a lot of emotional intelligence.

Yeah, I think so.

One of Rob's current projects is the Calgary Marathon.

He's keen to participate in the event to get the hotel even more involved in the community and ultimately draw more people to the hotel.

The race route passes in front of the hotel, and Rob is trying to gather volunteers to cheer on the runners.

To prepare for this, he contacts the race coordinator by phone.

Thank Hey, hi, good afternoon.

Is this Amber?

Yes, this is Amber speaking.

Amber, hey, this is Rob calling from the Alt Hotel in the East Village.

Oh, hi, how are you doing?

I'm very well, how are you?

The call goes well.

They talk about the upcoming marathon and their shared passion for running.

After hanging up, Rob's old reflexes kick in.

That's awesome.

Thank you very much for your time, Amber.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you, bye, Rob.

All right, have a nice afternoon.

Cool.

Big takeaway from me on that call is she's doing an Ironman in October, which is a ridiculous feat.

An Ironman is like a full marathon, 100 kilometer bike ride, a few kilometers swim.

So this person is tough as nails.

What can I do with that?

That's what we're always encouraged in the company is like you have some information.

How can you create a memorable experience out of that information that you've been given?

So I'm trying to think like, marathon ends in the end of May, her race is in October.

Is there something that I can do to celebrate the end of her race, or is there something I can do to kind of wish her luck for her Ironman in the States?

Something I can think about.

Even in sales, you can add that colorful touch.

Am I right, Christiane?

Oh, absolutely.

You can actually add the colorful touch in sales, at the front desk, in housekeeping, everywhere.

I mean, it's colorful touches are just part of the...

I guess it's not...

Yes, it is the touches, but it's also the attitude.

You know, it's so...

and it goes with generosity.

And a lot of people sometimes wonder what generosity has to do with our values.

Well, generosity is all about...

It's not just giving things, it's thinking about the other one.

You know, what can I do to please that person?

This is being generous.

So I think what Rob just described is a really good example of what generosity is all about.

You know, you give yourself, you think about somebody else.

Rob takes hospitality to heart.

As much as he loves his new job in sales, we asked him if he ever misses the front desk.

Here's what he told us.

Yes, yes.

Actually, that happened last week.

Is I had a day where it didn't have a lot happening.

So I was just happening, happening to pass by the front desk.

And one of the front desk agents was explaining where a destination was to a guest.

The guest really wasn't understanding it too well.

I was starting to hear a bit of like tension in his voice, getting a little, a little frustrated.

So I kind of pop in, introduce myself and was like, hey, how can I help?

Like I hear it's not going too well.

What can I do?

He's like, I just can't remember all the lefts and rights to this bookstore I want to go to.

Okay, that's easy.

What's the bookstore name?

Pop it into my phone.

It's about a 15 minute walk.

So I'm like, I've got nothing happening.

You ready to go right now?

He's like, yes, why?

Well, let's go for a stroll together then.

Let's go.

And that's actually how I ended up in Inglewood.

So we go out for a stroll, take him to his 15 minutes destination away, dropped him off his bookstore, had a great conversation in the meantime.

Those are things that I can do in the sales role that I could never do at the front desk.

Like, you know, if I tell them my front desk manager, hey, I'm gonna go for a stroll with a guest for half an hour, are you cool with it?

He's rightfully gonna say, no, stay here, please.

But this lets me have a bit more flexibility in my schedule, as long as I have no appointments coming up and I know I can manage it.

Yeah, I learned our guest comes down from Edmonton about once a month for some appointments, really likes coffee.

There's actually a really nice coffee shop across the road from us called Phil and Sebastian's.

So I dropped off a little bag of coffee in his room.

I was like, souvenir from your time in Calgary.

See you next month.

What I really like about this is, because when it's unexpected, this is what's making the difference.

If something is expected, it's not a surprise.

But in this particular case, it just shows empathy, good listening skills, and then you bring something that the guest would never have even thought possible.

And that will make memorable moments for this guest to come back and everything and have a real connection with the hotel.

You know, and I really, really like that example.

Well, we're halfway through the episode, and you'd think that Rob is perfect and completely deserving of the Germain Hotels Employee of the Year award.

But he confided that he's still learning and improving every day.

He told me about a discussion with Clara Germain after a team meeting that had a big impact on him.

Every morning, we have a meeting with all the department heads, and we just tell each other what's on our game plan, what are we doing this day?

And I explain my things.

Billing, couple conversations, this, that, nothing special.

And then afterwards, I overheard her speaking to another colleague, and Clara was like, yeah, out of everybody today, you were the only one that talked about our guests and talked about our guest's experience.

And I'm like, oh, right, I didn't do that.

So I think it's mainly like what we should be focused on every day.

Is it our tasks or is it our people?

We are a business we have to do, we have to do our tasks, but our big focus should be on our relationships and with our people.

So that was a little kick in the butt, so I appreciated that.

Uncomfortable kick in the butt, but that's fine.

That's how you grow, right?

How do you feel about what you just heard, Christiane?

Well, I feel, I think it's great.

I think, first of all, I have to say that Clara is doing a great job at making sure that everyone in the company is understanding of their role through our guests.

So that's one thing.

And to have someone responsible for that shows how important it is, because we are a growing company, and sometimes it can be easy to sort of forget about these things.

So by having Clara taking care of making sure that this message is always present, within the team, is very important.

And sometimes we're busy.

We're busy doing all kinds of things that are very important.

But maybe we tend to forget the most important.

So Rob is a great example of knowing how to handle a guest.

We need to be reminded of.

So I think it's another great example.

It's mid-afternoon, and Rob receives an email.

Our GM sent a few of us an email about a recent guest survey that we sent out, and it was really positive.

So just being a little like, yeah, this is awesome, this is really good.

Actually, do you folks want to go for a quick walk to the staff room and I can show you something cool?

Rob then leads us to the staff room.

So one of the things that we've done semi-recently is to show the team all the positive comments that we get from our guests.

Because in the front office, we can see the feedback quite frequently, but our other team members, like in housekeeping, banquets, they don't see a lot.

They don't get to see the guest feedback.

So we wanted to figure out a way to shout out the team a bit more.

So we made it very visual.

What we did was very, very analog, but I think pretty cool.

Anytime we got some really cool feedback, we take a little screenshot, we print it out, and we slap it here.

So real messy, but I like this.

Kind of like the more you look, the more you see.

Vadim and Sarah were the best customer service I've ever had.

They have some constructive feedback here, which is helpful as well.

Very modern, earthy looking.

Well, that's cool.

We couldn't be happier.

And just listen, Rita, you are amazing.

Rita is a front desk agent.

Rita got like four of these comments this past month, so she's killing it.

Hugo, is this kind of initiative encouraged within Germain Hotels?

Certainly.

I mean, this is I think what we're all about.

It's being able to encourage our team members to come up with initiatives like that.

And that's why it's always interesting because there's no set book of things to do when you open a hotel or when you...

Obviously, there are certain elements that we follow, but at the same time, I think it boils down to initiatives like that that make things different and makes us grow because we take those ideas and now we're going to be able to encourage other hotels to take that idea and spread it over and everything like that.

And after that, there's going to be a next great idea from one of our team members and so on and so forth.

So yes, it's encouraged and it's really amazing that they're doing this because it's really showing everybody all the good work and how things are done at that particular hotel, which is great.

If I may add something to this, what's exceptional about what you just mentioned is that it was his idea.

It was not something that we ask actually for.

I mean, it's his idea to actually show all the reactions his colleagues are getting and making a wall out of this.

So yeah.

Rob continues his tour of Alt Calgary East Village, this time bringing us to the lobby.

What I like about our lobbies is that they actually feel like living spaces.

So in a lot of other hotels, their lobbies are super clean.

They're very functional.

They're very neat.

But it's nowhere that I'd like to spend any amount of time because they feel like utilitarian and that's it.

So like for us, these are real plants.

We're not the best green thumbs in the world, but hey, we've at least kept them alive for five years and counting.

I think our sense of aesthetic is pleasing to the eye, but welcoming, you know, not stifled, not completely precise, but warm and welcoming while still looking good.

Where I really have an issue with this is this pool table, because more times than not, you know, it looks exactly like this.

Nobody plays it because it actually looks, it looks pretty good.

So I have to encourage people like pretty much every day, hey, please, you know, there's points where I'll just like, there, come, please play.

It's not a prop, come, hang out.

After Rob mixes up the billiard balls on the table, believe it or not, 10 minutes later, guests were playing pool.

I guess Rob's technique works.

You go, do you agree with Rob's definition of a lobby?

Yes, and if I may add, you know, he's talking about the plants and that the plants not only stay alive, but they grow.

So because many, many time I've been back, you know, they're growing, they're looking very nice and everything.

But yes, the lobby for the hotels become a place where increasingly the way we're designing it and we're bringing life to it, we're encouraging the community to come in and spend time in the lobby.

I think those needs to be living spaces, interacting guests with us, with the community members.

You know, we've recently opened a hotel in the university context in Calgary.

Same thing, you know, we encourage students to come in.

So that's something we are working it.

And not only that, obviously, aesthetic sense is something very important.

So having our employees, everybody working at the front desk, taking ownership of that space and, you know, seeing it as their own living room, you know, making sure that the space looks good, looks impeccable all the time.

And taking ownership of the space, I think, is something extremely important as well to make sure that people, when they come in, they feel good about the place.

Since the beginning of our afternoon together, Rob has been wandering around the hotel's various common areas, working and talking to us.

He agrees to show us his official back office with some of his management colleagues.

On the wall is a photo of Rob and his two office mates.

One of them insists we ask Rob the story behind the photo.

He modestly agrees.

To kind of give you a little bit of a story on that one, one of the guests that I really have a good relationship with had I think it was our third or fourth visit with us here at the hotel.

So I'm like, okay, what can I do that would really impress her?

Kind of like what I was explaining before, trying to find something like personalized or individual, something made specifically for her.

So I go down those rabbit holes, and a bit of a sad story here.

Her name is Dana.

Her son passed away when he was six from leukemia, and since then, she's set up a foundation in her son's name called the Maximilian Foundation, raises money for sick children, and on that website, it gave us a couple of ways that we can help support the foundation.

One of the obvious ones was donate money.

So I'm like, okay, we could do that.

We could donate a couple hundred dollars.

Then I'm like, well, actually, any hotel can donate a few bucks here and there.

What can we do more?

Another way that we could support this foundation was donating blood.

So I checked with our GM, ran it past him first, and he was like, yeah, go for it, and organized a group blood donation drive.

Short story long, it was a cool trip.

We all donated blood, took that picture and sent it to Dana.

And it made her week.

Like the email response that I received was just heartwarming.

Just something to say, hey, we see you, we appreciate you.

You're way more than customer ID 1256, let's say, you know?

Rob was simply looking to give a client a colorful touch.

And in the end, he and his colleagues found themselves donating blood.

What do you think, Larry?

Well, this is very touching.

It shows how much he cares about people, about a special guest in that occasion.

But he went above and beyond to find something that would really touch her.

And it shows how generous he is about his time.

And not only with the guest that is a cause that is very important for her, but also with the community giving blood.

So it's really touching and inspiring to hear that.

Our afternoon at Alt Calgary East Village comes to an end.

But before we leave you with all these great stories, we had no choice but to ask Rob if he ever makes mistakes when it comes to taking initiative with customers.

There was one time I was looking for a little something for a guest.

And I was super confident I found the right person on LinkedIn and found a really cool personalized TTC for them.

Well, turns out I found the wrong person.

So this one person showed up to their room with all the different kinds of ketchup flavored potato chips in their room.

And they were so confused as to why that was there.

They were like, this is really strange, because the person I found his favorite snack was ketchup potato chips.

Well, I got the wrong guest.

So when you try to do a gesture or a TTC for someone, it's meant for them and only them, you give it to someone else, it leaves this all meaning and makes for kind of a confusing experience.

So that's something that we laughed about.

So he ended up not appreciating the ketchup chips, but oh well.

If 5% of the things that I do fail, I mean, that's still a pretty good batting average.

So let's continue on and let's laugh about it.

And if he's back next time, I'll leave a note in the room saying, we took away your ketchup chips this time.

Let me know if we can replace them for you.

Be happy to, you know.

So it turns out that Rob is, in fact, only human.

What do you think of that?

Yeah, it made me laugh.

And I actually wonder like how many bags of chips they actually put in the room, but it's certainly something.

I think what strikes out from this particular excerpt is the fact that unless you try, you're never going to know.

And I think it's something that is very interesting to try, take ownership, take decisions.

And at the end of the day, you can only learn from it.

So in this particular instance, is ability after that to laugh about it and everything.

I think that's all about who we are.

I can just imagine the guest face when they got in the room.

Why the hell I have?

Yes.

Well, that's the end of our episode.

Thanks to all three of you, and especially to Rob for agreeing to share his day with us.

See you all in a future episode of À la Germain.