Page 33 - The New Gold Standard

The Ritz-Carlton Experience
experience “is like a Lexus—they set the standard in their indus-
try. But through their volunteer efforts with us, I would say the
experience is very personal, very real, and colorful, but above all
else respectful and gracious, even to the point of their Ladies and
Gentlemen thanking us for providing them with the opportu-
nity to participate in volunteer service.”
Ritz-Carlton General Manager Tony Mira describes the Ritz-
Carlton experience as “a Wow experience, like no other. It’s one
that you walk in and you know, whether you’re a guest or an em-
ployee, that you are going to be treated like nowhere else in our
industry. It’s taking the genuine care and comfort of our guests
to the highest level. That, to me, is the Ritz-Carlton experience.”
Maybe the best way to demonstrate the unique value propo-
sition achieved by Ritz-Carlton is to offer an example from a
family that happened upon empowered Ritz-Carlton staff. Na-
talie Salazar, age 12, was a champion figure skater who began
noticing pain in her legs while preparing for a regional competi-
tion as a step toward the Olympics. While originally thinking it
was joint inflammation, the condition was ultimately diagnosed
as a type of cancer known as osteosarcoma. Her chemotherapy
treatments were unsuccessful, and at age 13, Natalie was told she
was going to die. Her biggest regret was that she would never be
able to go to her high school prom. Natalie’s eighth grade teacher,
Mrs. Lewis, attended the same church as Laura Gutierrez, area
director of human resources at The Ritz-Carlton, Dearborn,
where Natalie’s story was told. Laura and the Ladies and Gen-
tlemen at Ritz-Carlton rushed into action. Laura described Na-
talie’s special night:
“We hosted Natalie’s Prom in our ballroom, and it was at-
tended by 18 classmates and 7 of her championship ice skating
team members. Our audiovisual technician was the disk jockey,
our IT technician was the photographer, our banquet director pro-
vided security, and everyone pitched in to make this an extra spe-
cial event. Our convention service team put pin lights up and laid
a dance floor, and our business center put together a PowerPoint

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