250: The Secret to Scaling Service Culture Across 19 Resorts (pt 2 of 2)
How do you scale a world-class customer experience across 19 resort properties and 20,000 employees?
Summary:
This episode is part 2 of 2
In part two of this conversation, John DiJulius and Jess Shannon of Sandals Resorts International go deeper into what it really takes to sustain a customer experience transformation at scale. Jess shares how Sandals turned service standards into a company-wide service anthem competition, creating buy-in, emotional connection, and long-term recall across 19 resorts and 20,000 team members. They also unpack how leaders can start small, build momentum, gain executive buy-in, and prove ROI through experience initiatives. The episode closes with a powerful look at how Sandals cared for guests and team members after Hurricane Melissa, proving that employee experience is not a slogan. It is the foundation of customer experience.
Key Takeaways:
- Sustainable CX requires more than a launch. It requires reinforcement, visibility, and emotional connection.
- Sandals used a service anthem competition to make service standards memorable and engaging.
- Great CX transformation starts by fixing one small but high-impact pain point.
- Executive buy-in depends on speaking the language leaders care about most, whether that is finance, data, or outcomes.
- Communication is what keeps leaders bought in after the initial excitement wears off.
- Inclusive, crowdsourced ideas create better customer and employee experiences than siloed efforts.
- Employee experience and customer experience are inseparable.
- Sandals’ hurricane response showed that culture is revealed most clearly in crisis.
Notable Moments
The Service Anthem Idea
Sandals created a company-wide service anthem competition that turned service standards into something team members could sing, remember, and own.
Start Small
Jess shares why the first year’s mantra was “changing the world one check-in at a time” and why focused improvements build momentum faster than sweeping initiatives.
Winning Executive Buy-In
The conversation explores how CX leaders can better influence CEOs and senior leadership by framing experience work around the outcomes that matter most to them.
Crisis Reveals Culture
The story of Sandals’ response to Hurricane Melissa offers one of the clearest examples of how employee experience and customer experience work together in real life.
Links:
The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/
Company Service Aptitude Test: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/
Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors: tdg.click/claudia
Ask John! Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode: tdg.click/ask
Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/
Experience Revolution Membership: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/
Books: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/
Contacts: [email protected] , [email protected]
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Inside the membership you’ll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world.
Learn more at
https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/
Chapters:
00:00 Service DNA Launch and Operational Adjustments
00:55 The Importance of Service Recovery
01:53 Engaging Employees Through Competition
09:58 Building a Customer-Centric Culture
16:52 Response to Hurricane Melissa
26:42 CSR_ShowClose.mp3
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