My Week as a Room-Service Waiter at the Ritz – Customer Service that Puts the “Ritz” in Ritzy

The phrase the customer is never wrong, has been attributed to Cesar Ritz, the founder of the Ritz-Carlton empire. Needless to say, the man knew from customer swear out. How does this luxury hotel keep its customers contentand coming cover charge?Paul Hemp, a senior editor at Harvard Business Review, stepped into the shoes of a Ritz-Carlton room- religious service waiter to find out. One observation Empowering your employees to declare oneself top-notch customer service is not enough. You must also inspire them to exercise that power. by Paul HempReflecting on the experienceOne element of the Ritz-Carlton training is a follow-up school term, known as Day 21. It typically takes vex close three weeks after the initial orientation. The aim is to review the Gold Standards after new employees have had a knock to put them into practice. Though I didnt work the full twenty-one days, I sit in on the half-day session (which, amidst the frenzy of the hotels early months, actually takes place on the 49th day after our orientation). Training director Tim Kirkpatrick starts with another mock lineup.He discusses the new-employee job certification test that de classment managers should have administered. He announces a new customer recognition hotline, which employees can use to call in guest preferences. And he unveils an updated version of the companys principles, now in the form of a 3-dimensional pyramid. This supplements the existing Gold Standards with an additional category of s tear down key success factors. however for staff to delight customers, managers must do more(prenominal) than grant their employees the liberty to do what is necessary they must motivate employees to exercise that freedom. Paul Hemp Employees are asked about their experiences on the job. Erin Garrity, the new front-desk clerk from Johnson & Wales, is disappointed she has been assigned the long shift but looks on the bright side. I get to see a lot of celebrities at that time, she says. Her goal for the year is to be named one of the hotels appoint five-star employees, and she intends to continue being the friendliest person I can be. John Rolfs reinforces his message from orientation that our sole job is to make guests feel good so they get on back.The hotels 320 employees have countless interactions with guests, he says, and it takes just one interaction to make a guest feel badly. If youre thinking about doing your job well, trying to witness and master your day-to-day routines but not thinking about how guests feel, theyll have a difficult time forgiving you. Theyll probably forgive us if the air-conditioning fails. But they wont forgive us for failing to make them feel goodbecause thats why they selected Ritz-Carlton. Tims final announcement concerns the results of the first monthly Gallup survey of Ritz-Carlton guests, released to managers earlier that day.The Ritz-Carlton/Boston third estate leads the companys hotels in overall customer satisfac tion. There is a stunned silenceafter all, this is a new hotel still smoothing out the rough spotsfollowed by loud applause. As I leave the hotel and walk across the Boston Common in the gathering dusk, I reflect on what Ive learned about teaching and motivating employees to provide truly memorable service. One thing seems clear. Great customer service should be based on dynamic principles kind of than a rigid formula.You dont demand that employees say, Certainly, my pleasure, until it feels right to them. You dont mindlessly assume every guest wants to be pampered some people just want to eat their dinners. I also ponder Ritz-Carltons efforts to win the hearts and minds of its employees by, for example, making them feel part of a proud heritage. A recent study of hotel workers by researchers at Cornells enlighten of Hotel Administration found that, while job satisfaction plays a major role in employee retention, it isnt the key factor in a hotels ability to provide excellent cust omer service.Rather, it is employees emotional commitmentwhich is achieved in part through symbols and rituals that enhance employees sense of identity with the companythat contributes most to superior performance. Ritz Carlton certainly has an unco rich tradition to draw on in creating that feeling of identity. But every company, even a two-year-old startup, has traditions and even legends that can be tapped to help march on employee commitment. Great customer service should be based on dynamic principles rather than a rigid formula. Paul Hemp That kind of commitment serves as a driver of excellent customer service only when employees are empowered to take initiative. And that sort of empowerment has no potency unless employees are do to seize it. I am haunted by my failure to point out the confusing bin numbers on the hotel wine list, which led my guest to mistakenly order that half-bottle of burgundy. Certainly, I was encouraged during my time at the hotel to point out problem s that needed fixing. Why didnt I follow through in this teddy? Im not sure.But for staff to delight customers, managers must do more than grant their employees the freedom to do what is necessary they must motivate employees to exercise that freedom. Doing that depends in part on the kinds of people you hire. Ritz-Carlton has an elaborate system for assessing in job scenes the qualities the company believes are crucial to its success. One night while I was working at the hotel, I went through the basic interview to see how Id do. I was fairly confident I was just the sort of caring, conscientious person the Ritz was looking for.In fact, though, even after fudging my answers to a few questions, I got only ten points out of a possible fifteen in the composite hospitality assessment. Tim said that wasnt badthough, honestly, wed shoot for someone with a twelve. I later discovered that I fell short in my response to a question asking me to pertain an instance when I took care of som eone else. I said Id often provided emotional support to my sister during tough times. But the company was looking for something more than this, an extraordinary example of caring. Helping your sister? You better, Tim said with a laugh.Now, if youd moved out of your house for a month and let her move in, that would be different. Since instituting its candidate assessment system in 1991, Ritz Carlton says it has reduced its annual turnover rate from 55%, roughly the industry average, to 28%. Certainly, a genuine concern for the benefit of guests is key to providing superior customer service. But that isnt enough to truly anticipate customer needs. Another component of the Ritz Carltons hospitality assessment is empathybeing able to reckon guests emotional responses to their experience in the hotel.I am reminded of Steves care in preparing the champagne setting for the newlyweds that night and how he thought back to his grandparents wedding seventy-five geezerhood before. To truly achieve empathy, however, I wonder if you need to jettison at least some of your personal perspective. One of John Rolfss comments during the Day 21 sessionabout the dangers of employees focusing solely on the successful fulfillment of their dutiesresonated with my experience as a waiter.If youre constantly assessing how well youre doing in your jobeven in your genuine efforts to satisfy guestsyou, not the guest, become the point of reference. Your self-consciousness, natural though it may be, distracts you from providing superior service. Its getting dark. And this train of thought risks hurtling far beyond the working demands of a frenetic evening of room service. But, when you get down to it, my musings dont seem all that far from the Ritz-Carlton philosophy.Companies dedicated to providing what might be called extreme customer service may need to recognize thatlike great military, government, or religious serviceit is, in the end, a truly selfless endeavor. They may need to l ay out such practices as the formal inculcation of a customer-centered credo. They might even consider providing workers with a weeklong immersion in the experience of being a customer Whatever the means, the aim would be getting employees to leave their egos at the door and adopt the mind-set of the people theyre serving.