Only at GW

Managing the Customer Experience was (pardon the repetition) an amazing experience. Visiting any business, museum, restaurant, hotel or attraction will never be the same for me again.

This course taught me the importance of management putting themselves in the shoes of the customer in order to run a successful operation. So many businesses have flaws in their customer experience that are very easy to fix, be it better signage at a museum or refilling the water more frequently at a restaurant. However, management is not very likely to witness these failures because they do not experience the restaurant or museum like the customers do. For example, when I was a mystery shopper at Founding Farmers restaurant, I found many small details that negatively impact the customer experience. These were areas that could easily be fixed: have waiters introduce themselves, refill our waters, and tell us if a refill costs extra money. Mystery shopping can be a very simple way for business leaders to quickly find problem areas and refine their service processes.

Presenting our final project to NPS and Smithsonian officials was also an incredible and unique experience. Being an undergraduate at GW, I have never taken a class that has provided me with as much real life experience and skills as this course. Being able to learn the methods for measuring the customer experience, and then 24 hours later being immersed in some of the most popular visitor attractions in the world and evaluating their customer experiences, is something you cannot get at any other university. I was able to learn the skills necessary and then immediately apply them to real life situations, there by enhancing my learning experience.

--Zack

Team Silver's Title Slide