IACC Accreditation Adds Up to Value and Customer Satisfaction

Article published by Hotel Business Review and HotelExecutive.com
by Dianne Pepe, Director of Group Sales, Millennium Broadway Hotel


Do we make too much of accreditation? Based on TV advertising and grocery store labels, it seems like everything is “certified” something. What does a “certified pre-owned” automobile mean anyway? That it’s guaranteed to be used? Seems like that would be pretty obvious from checking the mileage.

But if almost everything we buy or use comes with some kind of accreditation or claim to be special, how do you separate the valuable from the frivolous? (Did you know there’s a website for useless and meaningless
certifications; you can become a certified small talk conversationalist or ham sandwich maker.)

The serious answer to what makes an accreditation valuable, at least in our business, is customer satisfaction; to be more specific, an ability to surprise and reward customers by exceeding their expectations. At the Millennium Broadway Hotel New York, an accreditation we value highly is the International Association of Conference Centers, or IACC.

Since 1981, IACC has encouraged hotels and conference centers to meet a strict and demanding set of quality standards for facilities and service in order to earn the association’s accreditation. What we find at the Millennium Broadway Hotel New York – and I’m sure it’s true for the other approximately 300 IACC members around the world – is that this certification, symbolizing the standards that we are required to meet, helps drive business, including new and diversified business, and promotes customer trust and loyalty. It does so because the product that IACC membership demands is understood by meeting planners and the end user, meeting attendees, as delivering outstanding value. More on that in a minute.


Link to complete article HERE.