Blackberry Farm: Humble, Genuine and Simple.
Last week, I had the honor of going to Blackberry Farm outside of Knoxville, Tennessee where I met with Brian Lee, the Director of Guest Relations. Blackberry Farm is a resort located on 9500 acres in the Smoky Mountains that represents sustainability at its finest. The Soil to Table philosophy is seen everywhere from the dairy, the winery, the organic garden, the sheep and cattle farm, chickens, etc. Can you imagine the vision and commitment that it takes to live that philosophy? Blackberry Farm has grown from 100 to 300 employees and 44 cottages/guest rooms to 63 cottages/guest rooms and from 1100 acres to 9500 acres since 1994.
I’ve never experienced such a commitment to excellence and the guest experience as I did at Blackberry Farm. It takes a very strong recruiting and training program to be able to run a business that has that high commitment to excellence and that is what Brian will be teaching in his breakout session at Serious Business. A couple of key points that I picked up on is: 1. Every decision is based on how it will affect the culture 2. To keep evolving as the guests evolve. Their philosophy on customer service is that it is Humble, Genuine, and Simple. Brian’s recruiting and training is a 9-step process that every prospective employee goes through once hired.
- Recruitment
- Interview
- Selection
- Orientation
- 1st day of work
- Training plan
- 45 day review
- 6 month review
- Annual review
I know that you are going to gain a lot of knowledge on recruiting the right people to support your vision and how to train them to deliver your commitment to excellence in Brian’s breakout session in January. Hope to see you there!
