Page 178 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 3: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

STRIKING GOLD

D How safe is it for staff to share operational problems and
mistakes, without the fear of consequences?

D What processes do you have in place to track breakdowns
and defects? Is it clear how defect monitoring cuts costs,
improves customer engagement, and saves staff time and
frustration involved in reworking regularly occurring break-
downs?

D How effectively does your leadership collect, compile, and
communicate quality performance data?

C Radar On/Antenna Up D

The Leadership Center at Ritz-Carlton has provided a course ti-
tled “Radar On/Antenna Up” both to their Ladies and Gentle-
men and to outside business leaders. Aspects of the course involve
vigilant use of all five senses to infer the needs and wants of a
customer. In some cases a person’s needs become clear through
listening, in other cases clarity emerges from casual inquiry, and
in yet others it comes from watching the actions of guests. In all
cases, attention is heightened when the observations are made
in the context of service professionals setting aside many of their
needs and instead placing themselves in the circumstance of the
person they are serving.
Mark Ferland, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton,
Orlando, Grande Lakes, understands: “This is not rocket sci-
ence. It is observation. You can’t minimize or overlook the im-
portance of observation because you can find out only so much
about the guests before they arrive. One of the keys to great ser-
vice is to find a way to not be obtrusive but be observant. It’s see-
ing what type of chocolates a person’s kids enjoy, or making sure

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