In talking with an executive at the Ritz-Carlton, she said that this service hospitality company is all about the creation of a positive experience so customers have a story to tell their friends/family. Their success is measured: Ritz-Carlton has won the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award twice; turnover is 25% below industry; Gallup metrics are tracked daily on an app, and the company provides philanthropy through its “community footprints.”
Their Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center has ten key lessons:
- Align back to your organization culture every day
- Credo Card is part of their uniform, as it establishes “true North”
- Same around the world, yet interpreted/translated for country differences to make it authentic so that it fits in culturally
- Always repeat > consistency > trust
- Charity starts at home
- We are ladies & gentlemen serving ladies & gentlemen
- Practice kindness/respect on staff every day; this does not turn on/off
- Senior leadership cannot abdicate their responsibility in driving culture and service strategy
- Once a leader, “optics” come into play
- Leaders inspire employees to bring their passion to work every day and to volunteer their best
- Act as an owner
- Function (clean toilet) vs. Purpose (create home away from home)
- Don’t worry be happy
- Who wants to work with miserable Mable? Most want positive Paul!
- 12% more productive, 4x longer retention
- Can’t be on auto-pilot
- Radar on/antenna up/pick up on clues
- Don’t “give a bottle of wine to the AA president” or “send a FedEx to DHL client”
- Culture is not enough: there needs to be systems behind the smiles
- Employee, customer, financials
- Profit is oxygen for a company!
- BIV (Mistakes, Rework, Breakdowns, Inefficiencies, Variations)…discuss rather than blame
- Feedback is a gift… no room for defensiveness in business
- Q-TIP: Quit Taking It Personally
- You need emotional intelligence
- Self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, motivation/work ethic, social skills
- Passion does pay
How do you create a positive customer experience?
