The Ritz-Carlton Experience

One can not be a legend without a good story. Ritz-Carlton has over one hundred years of history behind it, countless awards, a corporate philosophy that inspires everyone and have thence received awards for being the gold standard of hospitality. The purpose of this post is to highlight the Ritz-Carlton's mission and try to explain how they have become a kind of legend in the hotel industry, and of course if we could use this in our project. I have chosen to focus on their golden standards while assuming that the reader has a picture of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain.

Ritz-Carlton is today a global company with 80 hotels in 26 different countries. How can it be that wherever their hotels are located, it is the same style and class one would expect as a customer? It seems as if all the 38,000 employees are working towards the same goals and have the same work ethic and vision.

 

It's such an obvious image Ritz-Carlton give out that even in fiction we can explain something using the name. "They'll never confuse this place with The Ritz, Julia thought." (Sidney Sheldon, 1995, Morning, Moon and Night. p.127) 

This post deals with the Ritz-Carlton's key points in their business and therefore also the answer to how the company has managed to become a legend in the industry. What is worth remembering is a special card called the Gold Standard card (also called The Credo card). The Credo card is a plastic card the size of a regular credit card, it's an important part of the uniform of the employees and consists of four parts: The Credo, The Employee Service, The Motto and The Three Steps of Service.

The Credo

In the most elegant form, the Ritz-Carlton defined the "ultimate guest experience" in three parts:

The Ritz-Carlton is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.

We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience.

The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.

 

Credo means "I believe." The Ritz-Carlton company wanted to in a simplified way explain to both old and new workers their mission. This simplified version of their mission was written in 1986 and is still in force today.

The Motto

At first glance, the motto "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" seem too old-fashioned and outdated. It also seems that it lacks fine-tuning to make it relevant to a modern workforce. Yet, it is wrapped in its formal written a clear understanding of the relationship between, and the implied respect for both the employee and the guest. 

The Three Step Service

The Ritz-Carlton management has included "The Three Step Service" on the Credo card. Some might see this as too basic for taking up so much space on the card. In reality, the simple aspects of the services are a key way to differentiate the Ritz-Carlton from its other competitors.
• A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest's name.
• Anticipation and fulfillment of each guest's needs.
• Provide a warm farewell, and use the guest's name.

Although this is an incredibly important theme in the service business, it can sometimes feel a bit exaggerated with all the information you can find about customer service. Most often, it is in the form of unattractive boasting about how your company excels in the subject or people with apparent comments tell you how to go about it. But something in these "Gold Standards" from the Ritz Carlton clearly works.
I do not think Wiklund must work their way up to creating their own Credo, or even being as elegant as a Ritz-Carlton hotel, I see this not as an opportunity or even our goal for this project. However, I feel that both companies can work towards the same goal, which is exceptional customer service.

Furthermore as our online survey showed, customers are overall happy with Wiklunds customer service. If it still needs improvement is hard to tell, but if it does, this is how I would do it.

Janina