ST. PAUL, MN— Executives of midscale lodging chain AmericInn International LLC yesterday alerted a record number of 674 attendees at its annual convention here that the Chanhassen, MN-based franchisor would be making some breakaway moves to ensure the steadily growing brand continues to have momentum. That determination was evidenced in the tone of the three-day event, which is being hosted at the Crowne Plaza Riverfront and tandemed with a trade show of more than 120 booths—a record number—in the nearby Roy Wilkins Auditorium of the RiverCentre. In the past, the conference has been themed to the point of costumes, props and leggy showgirls; this year, it’s more about getting down to brass tacks and bracing for serious business against increasingly bullish competitors. Oddly enough, the weapon of choice for the 212-property brand will be an aggressive, all-out effort to—delight. Citing this year’s convention theme—“The Promise to Delight. The Power to Deliver.”— AmericInn CEO Arnold Angeloni told the owners and managers gathered: “I’m throwing out a challenge to you and a call to action. We must take our product to the next level. We must promise to delight each guest and we must empower our staff to deliver for every guest. By doing this every day, at every location, and for every guest, we can make a great brand even better, one that will make us proud and will generate the returns everyone wants.” The rallying cry builds on the limited-service chain’s efforts during the past year to become more customer centric. Currently, it is outperforming the segment average of 84 with a systemwide average customer satisfaction score of 87. “The goal is to become ‘world class,’ with chain average scores of 92 or higher,” said Angeloni. “Delighting” guests will evolve in a number of ways, not the least of which are expected to come at the property-level from owners, managers and staff members who have a “hospitality heart,” and go above and beyond—or are empowered to do so—when anticipating and meeting guests’ needs. The company also has added to its roster of Internet marketing partners. Hospitality eBusiness Strategies has been tasked with developing a new and improved AmericInn website and Z-Direct is wrangling an electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) system that will allow AmericInn to better mine customer information and better communicate with those guests based on such data. Initial electronic newsletters were sent to guests in March and April, said Angeloni, who added: “These eCRM mailings have already generated thousands of dollars of new revenue for our chain. These mailings are just the beginning of a major effort to build relationships with our guests, which will lead to revenue growth for AmericInn.” And not being overlooked in the chain’s competitive arsenal is its weapon of mass construction, its AmericInn SoundGuard system that uses solid masonry in new builds, and which is considered the brand’s differentiator and touted as such to both consumers and developers. “Our difference at AmericInn is ‘quiet’ and it’s not a marketing ploy; it’s built right into the walls of every one of our properties,” said Angeloni. “Quiet rooms are among the top five features travelers look for in a hotel and AmericInn room environments have been scientifically proven to be consistently quieter than our competitors.” The attribute is a key to the chain’s positioning as a haven for travelers, one where they may follow the chain’s mantra to relax, renew and recharge. The chain also is intent on giving guests more locations to do just that. Now in 22 states, the brand has 22 signed locations in the pipeline and is progressing with the dual-model prototype designed to enhance curb appeal that was introduced at last year’s convention. “We have set some pretty aggressive strategic goals for the pace of our chain’s development and I am personally on a mission to exceed those goals and grow the chain even further,” said J
Arnold Angeloni