Page 202 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 4: DELIVER WOW!
promptly removed the operator from the hotel’s list of activities
and credited us for one of the tickets since the hotel had booked
the tour for us. It’s simply amazing and memorable that they
would make right on the inconsideration of someone else.”
The steps involved in salvaging a bad experience (whether
it is caused by your business or not) are fairly simple; yet all too
often these steps are not followed:

1. Share a genuine and compassionate reaction to the
person’s distress.
2. Offer appropriate apologies.

3. Assure the person you will take care of the issue.

4. Individually, and through the resources of your team,
see that the problem is taken care of in a way that
meets the satisfaction of the customer and does not
recur.

5. Go one step further to demonstrate that you want to
try to compensate for the person’s loss or frustration.

C Bad News Lingers D

Although the Ritz-Carlton staff is acculturated to wow cus-
tomers even when faced with service and product breakdowns,
the process of service recovery does not always go flawlessly.
When problems are not resolved satisfactorily, they not only cre-
ate customer churn (for the engaged Ritz-Carlton customer, this
lifetime value can be in excess of $1 million) but they also pro-
duce people who are vocally negative about the brand. Even if
the problem area is rectified at a later time, the initial negative
impact can be lasting. For example, during a stay at The Ritz-
Carlton, Moscow, shortly after the hotel’s opening, Brayno S.
Braynov was upset about several problems. One of the two tele-
visions in his suite did not work, and he had difficulties with the
lock mechanism on one of the doors. Also, prior to his arrival, a

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