Montana Superhost Program
A Statewide Customer Service Training Program
Welcome!
View the 2012 Schedule
Imagine every resident and employee in Montana being able to
- Explain the economic impact of tourism in Montana
- Connect with customers and build a positive reputation
- Demonstrate the skills of an effective travel counselor
- Identify resources available in your community
- Employ skills for tactful and effective communication with challenging customers and co-workers and
- Continually take personal steps to make a difference
The Montana Office of Tourism and Montana Superhost have the vision of making this vision reality!
In the long term, Montana's tourism success will be judged not only by the number of guests who visit the state but also by the quality of their stay and the number of times they return. Montana has an outstanding reputation for friendly people and is fortunate to have a comprehensive customer service training program in place. The Montana Department of Commerce through the MT Office of Tourism contracts with Flathead Valley Community College for professional trainers to provide Montana Superhost customer service training throughout Montana.
The Montana Superhost program is designed to create an awareness and understanding of Montana's travel industry and to enhance the level of customer service provided by the industry. Ultimately, the program strives to encourage the state's visitors to stay longer, to tell their friends about the positive experiences they found here and the great people they meet, and to make plans to return to the state year after year. The Montana Superhost program stands ready to lead the way in educating Montana communities and businesses about the importance and economic impact of Montana's tourism industry.
To find out more about your Montana Superhost training options, please visit our Training Services tab.
Training Services
Service Supervisor – Advanced Topic Webinars
Montana Superhost offers training to Montana supervisors and frontline employees year round and, most recently, right at your business computer! Watch the left side of your screen at this site for upcoming webinars. In the meantime, we have been receiving enthusiastic feedback on these webinars and have a couple of the recordings available.
Each webinar is one hour in length. The content is directed toward owners, supervisors and managers but much of it is applicable to everyone. We encourage you to show this at a team meeting or to direct other staff to watch it individually. Please click the following links to access the recorded webinar and/or download the supplemental materials. (Please note: you may be required to download a codec for the video to display properly. A link for the download will be provided if necessary.)
Pocket Change: Are You Worth a Penny? – Recording from April 25, 2012
Presenter: Mark Willmarth - Vision Quest, Inc.
The copper content in pennies "born" before 1982 makes them worth more than a penny! Are you worth more than your face value? Do you make others feel more valuable than their face value? In our fast-paced world we often forget about the importance of fostering our relationships and showing appreciation. Build a foundation for future, more difficult conversations. You as a supervisor have the greatest impact on your employees' satisfaction levels. Learn a few simple tools to make you more mindful of how you perceive the world, the things for which you are most grateful, and the power of appreciation in your role.
Communication in Generations – Webinar Recording from December 8, 2011
Each generation has its own, unique, communication preferences. This can create management conflicts, misunderstandings between coworkers, and challenges with customer service. After a brief overview of the different generations, this webinar will review the various communication styles of each generation. We will consider how these styles impact interactions for managers, coworkers, and customers. The webinar and handouts will provide specific suggestions for using this information to create a more positive workplace and more effective customer service.
This webinar is one hour in length and received very enthusiastic feedback from the live participants! The content is directed toward owners, supervisors and managers but is applicable to everyone. We encourage you to show this at a team meeting or to direct other staff to watch it individually. Please click the following links to access the recorded webinar and/or download two versions of the handouts that supplement the recording.
“Lost and Found in Montana”
Customer service training delivered to your community.
Lost and Found in Montana is designed to create an awareness and understanding of Montana's travel industry, including "geo-travelers" and to enhance the level of customer service provided by that industry. All of us who meet and serve Montana's visitors can help them find what they are searching for, and not get lost along the way. Learn how with Lost and Found in Montana. View the 2012 Schedule.
After this training experience, you will be able to:
- Explain your connection to Montana tourism
- Understand geo-travelers and our role in their visitor experience
- Describe the uniqueness of Montana communities
- Understand the different generations at work
- Know where to access a wealth of traveler information
- Handle visitor and customer service challenges with confidence
This interactive training will include a geo-tourism map scavenger hunt, time to consider your natural talents, tips to establish a connection with your customers, and an activity to distinguish your business from the others visitors choose from. All participants are encouraged to bring brochures or flyers or information to share about area businesses or attractions and will receive a certificate of completion.
This is our signature, 3-hour live training taking place on location in Montana communities with all materials provided. There is not a better way to learn. And, we have a brief timeslot reserved for your representative to talk about specific community-based highlights to educate participants. All training, travel and materials are covered for $350 per session.
The organization sponsoring or hosting the seminar is asked to provide the seminar location and assist with marketing the seminar to their community and region as well as help provide the audio/visual needs of the Montana Superhost trainer. For each Montana Superhost seminar, a minimum of 15 registered participants is required.
- You can sponsor a seminar open to the community for up to 30 people for $350 and offer it free of charge to participants who attend.
- As a seminar host, you can schedule a session to come to your community for $350 and then charge up to $25 per person to cover the cost and provide refreshments for participants attending.
- For $5 per student, we will bring the session to your local high school for our next generation of service providers.
Each Montana Superhost Seminar also offers an opportunity for the local chamber, convention and visitors bureau, tourism region or other tourism promotion organization to provide a 15 minute overview of things to do, see, places to go and people to ask in your community.
To find out more information or request this training for your community,
please download this scheduling form and contact the certified trainer assigned to your tourism region (Contact Us tab).
We have identified 40 communities that will be offered these in-person training sessions free of charge. These communities have been targeted due to their ongoing partnership with Superhost in the past – having a strong combination of number of years coordinating training, number of sessions offered, and average participants per session. Our certified trainers will be making the offer to these targeted communities in trade for providing a meeting room, assistance with marketing the session, providing a night of lodging if needed due to travel distance, our trainers will.
Online, Downloadable, Computer based-training of the “Passport to Service” customer service training.
Do you have employees who start later than the rest of your staff? Do you sometimes have turnover during the season and would like the new person to receive training? This online, computer-based training program is available to you and your staff 24/7, free of charge. Please click on the orange “Passport to Service” logo on the left side of your page to begin this online, computer-based training.
Service Supervisor – Advanced Topic Webinars.
For those of you who have experienced our signature program, maybe even more than once, Montana Superhost trainers will present two webinars for you to participate in right at your business computer – tentatively “Keys to Conflict Management” and “Managing Generations”, free of charge. Please watch for more details to come.
Certified Communities & Businesses
Certified Communities
In order to become a Montana Superhost certified community, local groups or organizations must develop and initiate a plan to provide ongoing Montana Superhost customer service training, provide staffing for a local visitor center and develop tourism materials that list events, attractions and visitor services available in the area. Each certified Montana Superhost community receives "Montana Superhost Visitor Friendly" highway signs to welcome visitors and direct them to the local visitor information center.
Businesses
In order to become a Montana Superhost business, at least half of a business' current manageers and employees need to have participated in a Montana Superhost seminar within the previous year. Certified Montana Superhost businesses receive a Montana Superhost window/door sign.
Contact Us
Jodi Smith, Statewide CoordinatorPhone: 406-756-3374
Mail: Montana Superhost 777 Grandview Drive Kalispell, MT 59901 |
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Certified TrainersBecky Henne-Gold West & Southern Russell Countries (406) 465-0147 or bhenne0524@aol.com
Lisa Jones-Glacier & Northern Russell Countries (406)261-9020 or lisa@ljcomm.com
Nancy Walker-Custer, Missouri River & Yellowstone Countries (406) 671-6948 or walker@mcn.net
Montana Office of TourismPhone: (406) 841-2870
Scheduling form for in person session
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