"It is so much easier to be nice, to be respectful, to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and try to understand how you might help them before they ask for help, than it is to try to mend a broken customer relationship." - Mark Cuban, American businessman and owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: It is important for customer service professionals to express empathy—to see the customer’s perspective. The credo of The Ritz-Carlton states that we will fulfill "even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests." You can detect unexpressed needs by listening to your customer and also looking for clues. And if you empower your customer service agents, you give them the ability to not only recognize unexpressed needs, but to address them immediately. The Blog Post Inspired Thinking - Your Customers’ Shoes appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Dear Ritz-Carlton: What’s the difference between The Ritz-Carlton Service Values and The Ritz-Carlton service standards? Answer from Joseph Quitoni, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: The Ritz-Carlton service standards define not only what our guests are looking for, but also how service should be articulated in order to be maintained at the highest level. Service Values are a set of guidelines provided to the employees of The Ritz-Carlton—our Ladies and Gentlemen—that focus on the outcomes that are needed in an effort to produce legendary service for each and every one of our guests. Each of the 12 Service Values start with the letter "I" to demonstrate the personal power each employee has to bring them to life through our service interactions with guests. To view the difference through another lens, the service standards refer to the "what" while the Service Values refer to the "how" behind the legendary service of The Ritz-Carlton. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Service Values appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Problem resolution is an art that requires grace, finesse, patience and practice — and the single best way to help customers when they experience a problem is to ensure that the issue is taken care of by the first point of contact. Even when a customer is really upset, the best action you can take is to personally handle the problem for the customer. Customers do not want to repeat their tale of woe over and over. When this happens, the original problem becomes magnified and a customer’s frustration level grows as well. At The Ritz-Carlton, Service Value 6 states, "I own and immediately resolve guest problems." Our research indicates that the number of people it takes to resolve a problem directly affects the level of customer engagement. The more people that have to get involved, the lower the engagement score. According to a survey cited by LivePerson, "getting an issue resolved quickly was by far the most critical factor (82%)" for a positive customer experience and "having the issue resolved in a single interaction is key (56%)" as well. In the Guest Story below, the Front Desk Agent not only detects the guest’s problem, but takes ownership and goes above and beyond to resolve the issue for the guest. Guest Story of Customer Service Problem Resolution  A frequent business guest of The Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai arrived to check in late at night. The Front Desk Agent had engaged with the guest many times before during his past visits and noticed right away that the guest seemed anxious and distressed. In addition, the guest — who was always impeccably dressed in a business suit — was wearing very casual Hawaiian-style shorts. The Front Desk Agent engaged the guest in conversation to see if he might be able to uncover the reason behind the surprising change in the guest’s attire. The guest told the Front Desk Agent that the pants to his business suit had been ripped by a chair in the airport, and he had to purchase something else to wear from one of the tourist shops. The guest was distressed because he did not have another pair of pants to match his suit, and he had an important meeting the next day at 10 a.m. Hearing of the guest’s problem, the Front Desk Agent immediately decided to help the guest, and offered to have the pants repaired that night. The Front Desk Agent took the pants to the night shift Ladies and Gentlemen in housekeeping, but despite their efforts, the tear could not be mended due to its size. At this point, it was already 1:30 in the morning, and The Front Desk Agent knew the nearby mall would not open until 10 the next morning — the exact time the guest’s meeting was set to begin. Applying Discretionary Effort With Service Value 6 in mind, the Front Desk Agent wanted to see this through and resolve the problem for the guest. He took the pants home with him that night, and after only a few hours’ sleep, woke up early and headed to an area in Shanghai that housed several small fashion markets. In the early morning, he searched through the many stores until he found a pair of pants in the guest’s size that matched almost exactly. After making the purchase, The Front Desk Agent rushed back to The Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai and delivered the new pants to the guest in time for his meeting. The guest was very impressed that The Front Desk Agent had been able find a replacement for his clothing in just the space of a few nighttime hours. In a thank you letter to The Front Desk Agent, the guest said that this was his "most memorable experience in the global hospitality industry." This guest story shows that when you own and immediately resolve problems, you can transform a disappointing customer experience into a moment where you delight and amaze your customer. And when you successfully turn a problematic situation around, you increase your level of customer engagement. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Customer Service Problem Resolution appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

"When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible." — Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: At the Ritz-Carlton we pride ourselves on delivering a personalized experience to each guest. The ability to provide world-class service comes from our engaged culture, and we do it because our Ladies and Gentlemen are passionate about serving our guests. As we grow and add new guests to our family and new team members to serve them, it’s important we share our commitment, common purpose and culture with all of them. We accomplish this by hiring the right people with the right mindset and encouraging our leaders to lead by example. This is how we create The Ritz-Carlton mystique and guests for life.   The Blog Post Inspired Thinking - Common Purpose appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Dear Ritz-Carlton: The Ritz-Carlton Credo says "genuine" care but how do you encourage employees to make genuine connections with guests? Answer from Jennifer Blackmon, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: When you consider what it means to deliver genuine service, a natural smile that comes from within is the first thing we might think of and the first thing we might notice in a service moment. Exceptional service cannot be faked, trained, manipulated or cajoled. Exceptional service comes from the heart and is felt through the kindness of others. Not everyone has a real desire to serve others, but if you are willing to use that as a metric for hiring, then training and the opportunity to serve others simply becomes the platform for what already lies within. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Genuine Service appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

    This customer service infographic, "10 Word Choices That Improve Customer Service" is based on a previous blog post. If you would like a printable pdf of this infographic, please email us. The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Customer Service Infographic appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

"In fact, I believe the first companies that make an effort to develop an authentic, transparent, and meaningful social contract with their fans and customers will turn out to be the ones that are the most successful in the future. While brands that refuse to make the effort will lose stature and customer loyalty." — Simon Mainwaring, branding consultant and social media specialist The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: Social media can be a powerful extension of your brand. However, having a social media presence is not enough. As Mr. Mainwaring points out, you want to create "an authentic, transparent, and meaningful social contract." The Ritz-Carlton approach to social media is to interact in meaningful ways with our communities; developing deeper connections with them and enabling conversation even when they are not physically staying with us. The interactions across each of the 12 social channels on which we have a presence are a natural extension of the way we interact with our guests in hotels. Social media provides the opportunity to not only connect but engage with past, present, and future customers. In July, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. was ranked number one for social media engagement in the hotel industry by Engagement Labs. Learn more about The Ritz-Carlton approach and strategies for social media.   The Blog Post Inspired Thinking - Social Media appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Dear Ritz-Carlton: Does The Ritz-Carlton measure employee engagement? Answer from Diana Oreck, Vice President at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: The Ritz-Carlton officially measures employee engagement once a year through the Annual Employee Engagement survey. We take this measurement extremely seriously because there are significant benefits in having an engaged workforce. Engaged employees: • Increase their individual productivity • Increase engagement among their colleagues • Stay longer with their company • Receive higher customer/patient satisfaction scores • Spread pride and joy in the workplace • Are the best source of new employee referrals • Have better safety records and fewer accidents on the job Author Martha I. Finney says, "Trivialize employee engagement, and you’re going to be playing the hell edition of Twister!" There is truth in that. We know that disengaged employees can be very dangerous. Often, these employees are very vocal. Best case scenario, they destroy customer relationships. Worst case scenario, they sabotage your company and your leadership. You are wise to rehabilitate disengaged employees ASAP. If that is not possible, you might be wise to unleash their talents elsewhere. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Measure Employee Engagement appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

In the last decade, there has been a greater focus and more scientific research on happiness. Happiness may seem like an intangible variable, but recent studies reveal why it’s important to cultivate joy—especially at work. It may seem challenging for organizations to create an environment where every employee is delighted and content. However, encouraging and fostering workplace happiness offers significant benefits: Happiness increases productivity. According to research from the University of Warwick, happiness made people around 12% more productive. Benefit for work: a more productive workforce Happiness leads to better health. Studies—such as this research from Laura Kubzansky, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health—show that happiness can reduce stress and consequently reduce the risk of disease. Benefit for work: fewer sick days Happy people are good team players. Research from GoodThink, Inc. shows that happy people experience 34% more positive social interactions. Benefit for work: more effective collaboration Happiness leads to retention. - iOpener Institute has been studying happiness since 2005, and its findings show that the happiest employees stay in their roles 4x longer. Benefit for work: higher retention Happiness improves the work atmosphere. A study conducted at Harvard University and the University of California shows that happiness is contagious. Therefore, happy employees are spreading joy at your workplace just by being happy. Benefit for work: increased employee engagement How to Encourage Workplace Happiness Creating workplace happiness is not a simple task. As any leader knows, what makes one employee happy often displeases another. Also, there is a difference between generating short-term happiness and long-term happiness. An event or party at work may produce some good will—but will the good will last beyond the festivities? Scientists have pinpointed three ways that organizations can stimulate lasting happiness. 1. Providing Employees with a Sense of Purpose. Employees who feel they are part of a larger purpose have greater satisfaction. Researchers from UCLA and University of North Carolina have found that a sense of purpose makes you happy and healthy, and the Delivering Happiness organization states that "Companies with a higher sense of purpose outperform others by 400%." The employees of The Ritz-Carlton understand that no matter their role—housekeeper, sales, front desk agent, chef—their higher purpose is to offer unique, memorable and personal experiences to our guests. The Ritz-Carlton has created a company culture that emphasizes and reinforces the organization’s collective purpose every day. 2. Giving Employees the Opportunity to Help Others When people have the chance to help out others, it increases their happiness. According to research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, "altruists in the workplace are more likely to help fellow employees, be more committed to their work and be less likely to quit." At The Ritz-Carlton, the spirit of giving is supported through lateral service. Service Value 7 is: "I create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met." Lateral service creates camaraderie and unity, and it allows employees to step away from their posts to help colleagues when needed. Many organizations are creating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to present occasions for employees to give back. Community Footprints®, the social and environmental responsibility program at The Ritz-Carlton, offers opportunities each month for the employees to help others. Hervé Humler, President and COO, notes: "At The Ritz-Carlton, our global company is aligned around the issues that are important to the communities where we operate. By mobilizing our resources and skill-based volunteer efforts, we strive to make a difference through child well-being; hunger and poverty relief; and environmental responsibility." 3. Instilling Gratitude in the Workplace Gratitude enriches your life in numerous ways from improved health to better relationships. According to research by Emmons and McCullough, practicing gratitude can also increase your happiness by 25%. The Ritz-Carlton nurtures an attitude of gratitude among employees by distributing First Class cards. "First Class" cards are handwritten "thank you" notes that employees give each other to express gratitude and recognize extra effort. Employees collect these cards throughout their careers and often display them in their workspace. Not only are the cards a visual reminder of feeling appreciated, but they help proliferate an atmosphere of gratitude and kindness. Many employees have a scrapbook containing every First Class card they have every received. Looking at it on difficult days is an instant "psychological pick me up." Workplace happiness relies on many variables but is achievable. When organizations make a commitment to happiness, then employees are at least given the resources—such as purpose, helping others and gratitude—to cultivate on-the-job enjoyment. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Promoting Workplace Happiness appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

"Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first." — Angela Ahrendts, American businesswoman and former CEO of Burberry The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: As a leader, it is your responsibility to cultivate the type of environment you want your customers to enjoy. The Ritz-Carlton believes our first class guest engagement begins with strong relationships with each employee. Employees are respectfully referred to as Ladies and Gentlemen. In our Employee Promise, we use words like Trust, Honesty, Respect, Integrity and Commitment. These words reinforce the foundation of the relationship The Ritz-Carlton builds with our Ladies and Gentlemen. When you build a genuine relationship with your employees first, it naturally turns into authentic engagement with your customers. The Blog Post Inspired Thinking - Employees First appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.