In this recast episode of Hotel Moment, we revisit a compelling conversation between Karen Stephens and JC Thompson, Founder and CEO of Pursuance. Originally recorded after NAVIGATE Miami, the episode explores how personal relationships remain crucial in luxury hospitality, even as AI becomes more prevalent. Since this conversation, JC has launched Pursuance.co, where hoteliers can build their own revenue optimization and human intelligence workshops.

Together, they discuss:

JC is an expert in scaling businesses, having led operations strategy for three separate organizations which doubled revenue in a single year. Through Pursuance and the new Pursuance.co platform, he and his team help uncover the potential of individuals and organizations, design and implement guest journeys, lead revenue optimization initiatives, and coach leaders of the world's best operators in the luxury services & goods industries.

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[03:03] 26 clients a year - In defining his missions with founding Pursuance and what the essence of his company is, JC makes reference to other consultants working in this space who pride themselves on having different people engaging with the customer at different times. Having worked in this industry and as a coach for a long time, JC has had plenty of exposure to this way of working and wanted Pursuance to represent the opposite. Working with a select subset of clients is one way that JC could bring a greater emphasis on the building of fruitful personal relationships. With a commitment to only working with 26 clients a year, JC believes he can drive better results through the leveraging of those relationships.

[06:06] Coaching leadership - JC takes a particularly positive outlook when coaching and working with clients. He explains that in the 30 days following the onsite work they do, he is only looking for positives. Even if that positive is as small as “well done, you answered the phone”. The principle that JC jumps off from here is that people tend to be harder on themselves than you will be, so building confidence is a big part of that coaching. Another mistake he has noticed is trying to do too much too fast. By ensuring you don’t overcomplicate your coaching goals and focusing on one or two key initiatives, you can achieve much stronger results. And those initiatives should be driving sales, but they should also be things that make the agent feel more confident.

[12:18] Resisting giving advice - Coaching has changed while JC has been working in this space, and one of the key changes has been that coaches no longer give straightforward advice. Instead, it’s about taking a softer approach, telling stories that relate, and resisting offering blunt instructional coaching. This method allows people to take what they need from a lesson and apply it to their own situation in a way that is suitable. The other change according to JC has been greater accountability. For example, JC will always have prepared in advance and know what stories he’s going to impart, and the ultimate marker of this change is that he will never walk into a room and say, “Hey, what do you want to talk about today”.

00:00 - Intro 

03:03 - Pursuance and the importance of personal relationships 

05:06 - Pursuance coaching scope 

08:00 - AI versus guest's desire for human connection 

10:07 - Making data useful 

12:18 - Coaching leadership 

15:12 - Incentivizing creating emotional connections 

16:25 - Voice channel and digital transformation 

18:06- Consistency across channels 

21:14 - Advising on tech stacks 

25:15 - How coaching has changed 

27:30 - Outro