Page 215 - The New Gold Standard

Turn Wow into Action
By taking the time to learn what customers value and desire,
you can create Wow moments not only for them but for their
family and friends. This ripple effect of extraordinary service
moves broadly and swiftly through social networks, as individu-
als tell their version of Wow stories to individuals in their peer
group, and those individuals retell them to others they know.

C Mystique D

Beyond guest engagement, Ritz-Carlton challenges the Ladies
and Gentlemen to build strong memories and create Ritz-Carl-
ton guests for life. Diverse, sometimes epic, Wow stories are pre-
sented to demonstrate unique ways to dazzle and amaze. At The
Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, for example, Saad Khatib, assistant man-
ager of the Arabic restaurant Amaseena, was conversing with
guests at the general manager’s resort cocktail reception. He no-
ticed a gentleman’s attention turned toward the champagne on
the roaming tray. Saad took the opportunity to pour two glasses
for the gentleman and his guest and introduced himself. He
learned that the couple planned to dine in Ritz-Carlton’s Italian
restaurant Splendido the following evening. As the reception
came to an end, he wished them an exceptional stay and prom-
ised to go down to Splendido to see how their dining experience
was going. The next evening, Saad passed by Splendido and
found out that the guests had been unable to go all the way
down to the sandy beach to enjoy the sunset because the wife’s
wheelchair made the descent inaccessible.
Empathizing with and anticipating the guest’s wishes and
needs, Saad came to work early the next day and teamed with
Raveendran Thundil, the carpenter supervisor from the engi-
neering division, to organize wooden boards, which they ex-
tended from the end of the paved pathway down to the shore.
So that the couple could experience a true Arabic evening, Saad
placed an Arabic carpet on the sand, with low Arabic seating on
top and surrounded the area with tiki torches. When the setup

195