Page 196 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 4: DELIVER WOW!
Derek Flint, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing,
Financial Street, suggests that staff members are able to atten-
tively connect with customers when leadership helps them dis-
tinguish between their purpose and their function.“For example,
the purpose of a front desk person is not to check someone in.
The purpose is to create an exceptional experience for our guests
during that check-in. The front desk staff member needs to be
more than just proficient in the job function. We can teach func-
tional aspects of a job; what we can’t teach is how to fulfill a
larger purpose.”
Artful attentiveness fits the purpose of delivering Wow
experiences—and so does focused vision. One guest commented
that he and his wife were wowed by a staff member who ob-
served a subtle choice that his wife had made when she “was eat-
ing a peanut butter cookie in the Club Lounge but left it because
she had hoped it was chocolate chip. When the waitperson
cleared the plate, she noticed the leftover cookie and asked if we
liked it. I informed her that my wife was actually in the mood
for a chocolate-chip cookie. The waitperson apologized, and
only moments later a freshly baked chocolate-chip cookie was
handed to my wife without her even asking for it. That is ser-
vice—reading a customer’s desires. While the resort is expensive,
things as simple as a magically appearing chocolate-chip cookie
gave us our money’s worth.” Hearing clues about birthdays or
special activities and watching for uneaten cookies allow for un-
stated wishes to be creatively fulfilled.

C Communicate, Communicate, D
and Communicate More

Much of the surprise element in customer service at Ritz-Carlton
comes from the constant sharing of information among staff
members. However, Melody Treece Vargas, a retail professional
and guide to About.com’s retail industry site, warns, “Con-
sumers are becoming more privacy and security savvy. They are

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