Page 157 - The New Gold Standard

Build a Business Focused on Others
men. It is enormously effective in identifying quality issues, and
its origins lead it to set up structures that many companies would
be well off to copy. I think that’s what puts Ritz-Carlton in a
league of its own.”
Building loyal and engaged customers starts with a culture
of listening. This culture of listening has resulted in global recog-
nition in customer service excellence through awards like the
J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2007 Japan Hotel Guest Satisfaction In-
dex Study. According to J.D. Power, “Ritz-Carlton ranks highest
for a second consecutive year. . . . Ritz-Carlton performs partic-
ularly well in six of the eight factors: guest room, hotel facilities,
staff, food and beverage, check-in/check-out, and hotel ser-
vices.” As it relates to an important factor in customer satisfac-
tion like the ease of the check-in/check-out process, Ricco de
Blank, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, reports on the im-
portance of listening and observing success: “Japan is the coun-
try of measurements. A country in which everything is driven
by improving quality processes. This helps us to improve every
day. Everything is measured. Check-in takes 2 minutes and 50
seconds on the average. We measured it over six months. Now I
want to improve that time to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. It’s bet-
ter for the guests and easier for our Ladies and Gentlemen, so I
am letting the employees tell me how we can do it.”
Simon Cooper emphasizes that successful business practices
are not the result of new initiatives or programs but a steadfast
commitment to the fundamental processes of listening and
measurement. “Leadership has to continually define the plat-
form on which this company’s success rests. The planks of our
platform include continual listening to our customers and to
our Ladies and Gentlemen, as well as living our values and driv-
ing quality processes. By doing this, we enjoy success not just
in the United States or Japan but also in places like Cancún
where we are the only hotel to win Mexico’s National Quality
Award or in Singapore where we’ve won the state Quality Award,
a huge achievement in a country very focused on quality. By

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