Page 166 - The New Gold Standard

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Empathy

They may forget what you said, but they will
never forget how you made them feel.

CARL W. BUECHNER

We can conclude our discussion of the science
of service of Ritz-Carlton this way: Anticipat-
|ing the customer’s unstated needs is the goal of
every employee, and each fulfillment of a need should
be as individual as the customer. Consider my experi-
ence when attempting to set up an interview with Mark
Ferland, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Orlando,
Grande Lakes. I contacted Mark via e-mail late one af-
ternoon asking if there was any possibility that I could
interview him the next day since I was going to be in the
Orlando area. Knowing that my request came on short
notice, I wanted to give Mark the largest window pos-
sible so that he might be able to fit me into his sched-
ule. To that end, I advised him that I had rebooked my
flight out of San Francisco, taking the red-eye into Or-
lando, and that I could meet him any time after 7:00 the
next morning.
He could have easily fulfilled my need with an e-mail
response like, “I can adjust my schedule; how does 11:30
a.m. sound? I’ll meet you at the hotel.” But Mark’s

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