James Richter - Lifestyle Services Supervisor
GRIGIO Contemporary Living
Brand Champion Awards - Awarding individual team member's actions & how it delivers their organization's brand promise in an extraordinary way
"Your Wish. Our Pleasure."
That is the Brand Promise of GRIGIO Contemporary Living. What is 'Contemporary Living'? It is an innovation in multi-family housing that takes the best elements of: hotel, resort, country club, condo and apartment products and has created a new, luxury lifestyle living environment. Basically, it is the inversion of the 'co-tel' (a condo that is built within a luxury hotel or resort). GRIGIO, developed by Gray Development Group and managed by Gray Clow Residential, is a leased living environment that adds the amenities and most importantly, services, of a luxury hotel or resort.
Imagine - a condo type property in which everything can be maintained for you - including: housekeeping, turning down your bed with rose petals and even 'in-suite delivery' of your favorite snack and bottle of wine: Room service to your own home. Now that is luxury living.
Unlike the other current market offerings of million dollar for sale co-tels, Contemporary Living suites are available for rent - Making this luxurious lifestyle tangible to the upwardly mobile 'not-yet-millionaires, but working on it' consumers who are currently prioritizing their time and convenience as their most prized assets.
What does it take to make the brand promise of "Your Wish. Our Pleasure." true? A few things:
- Amenities: Does the physical space of the lifestyle community provide the basic, luxury amenities that I am wishing for? With a poolside cafe, full gym, Pilate's room, modern indoor and rooftop lounges as well as a convenience retail center with DVD 'rentals' (they are free) and wine shop...yes.
- Service Offerings: Are there basic personalized services offered that address my 4 star and diamond wishes? Yes - GRIGIO offers a myriad top requested services for their members. From delivered laundering and dry cleaning services, to housekeeping, to concierge services to arranging private parties and even in-suite spa services plus more.
- Great Orchestration: Are there brand team members who are prepared and desire to execute all of the other things I am wishing for that are not on the standardized menu as well as all of the details that accompany my requests?
- Trust: Fostered from a relationship of continual reliability on the part of the brand, why would I trust telling you, let alone ask you to try to create something I really wish for? Unless... I have a basic level of trust that you:
- Respect me as an individual and let me know I am important to you
- Care enough about me to listen to my desires attentively - with the same concentration as if it was your own wish
- Have the basic knowledge and expertise to deliver on what is being asked
- Have the professionalism to see my request through with meticulous detail until all aspects have been complete.
The individual responsible for the performance delivery of the Amenities, Services, Orchestration and Relationship of Trust for GRIGIO is Lifestyle Services Supervisor, James Richter.
Simply being responsible for the aforementioned does not make a brand champion. Every 4 or 5 star hotel has someone in a role similar to James with the task of overseeing the execution of personalized services to consumers. James' title, crafted specifically for him, is not what makes him a champion - It is how he earned the title that is important.
James was originally hired as part of the opening team for GRIGIO in the beginning of 2007 as a Maitre'd - the essential first impression and welcoming presence of the experience. A gentleman with a genuine demeanor and approachable kindness, James won over prospective consumers and journalists alike while introducing them to the unique offerings of the GRIGIO lifestyle experience.
Through the trials of opening a brand new property and dealing with the stress-charged challenges that are inevitable in the moving process for people, James continued to build valuable relationships with the current and prospective members of GRIGIO. And as a result, James gained their trust and confidence both in what they desired as well as their faith in James' ability to deliver it.
Now, almost 2 years later since the opening of GRIGIO, James has been entrusted with overseeing the specific, resort style requests of the GRIGIO members as well as coordinating special events such as:
- Sport tournaments for the members to socialize and have a little competitive fun with their neighbors
- Food and beverage themed events such as "A Night in Venice" - (They are, after all, a lake front property) with Italian food, wine and live music (James also happens to be a former wine sales rep - he knows his grapes)
- Complimentary relaxation evenings for the guests complete with chair massages
- Fund raising charity events to give back as a community to local neighboring charities
- Even Yappy Hour - socialization time for members who love their dogs
- Plus, countless private special events for individual members - from setting up the perfect romantic evening to arranging a flawless move-in.
In order for 'Your Wish. Our Pleasure.' to be a successful brand promise, GRIGIO must build a reputation of trust from its members that the GRIGIO team members will deliver on both: sincerely caring about their members' wishes and professionally following through to execute those wishes on a consistent basis.
Fortunately, for the GRIGIO brand, they hired James to champion their brand promise from the beginning to make that promise true and he has continued to find new ways to deliver value to its GRIGIO members.
Incidentally, I am not the only one impressed by the performance of GRIGIO. GRIGIO Tempe Town Lake won the National Apartment Association’s prestigious PARAGON 2008 Community of the Year Award. The NAA has in its federation nearly 200 state and local affiliates, comprised of more than 51,000 multifamily housing companies representing more than 6.3 million apartment homes throughout the United States and Canada. GRIGIO competed against 9 other property finalists (other Paragon award winners) from around the country for Community of the Year.
Congratulations to James for being a superb brand champion to GRIGIO's brand promise and to Gray Development Group and Gray Clow Residential for retaining and evolving James' role as a valuable asset to the GRIGIO brand. I look forward to seeing the next evolution in GRIGIO's execution of lifestyle experiences. --Dolores McKay, ZAG Group CVO
Champion Awards Guidelines:
- Each Friday beginning 8/8/08, an individual team member selected by ZAG Group and In the Puddin' will be selected and awarded 'Brand Champion'
- Brand Champions will be featured in 'In the Puddin', and receive an honorary certificate
- A Brand Champion's direct supervisor and corporate office will also be officially notified
- Each weekly Brand Champion is then eligible for the ZAG Grand Champion prize at the end of the year.
- On September 1, 2009 - the ZAG Grand Champion will be announced. More details on the prize coming soon, but will include: airfare, hotel room and a very cool experience (of course).
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