Page 72 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 1: DEFINE AND REFINE
This search for business relevance is on the mind of many
senior leaders today. Ed Zore, president and chief executive offi-
cer of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, notes
in a Harvard Business Review article, “Stay relevant. That’s the
name of the game, no matter what industry you’re in.” Ed goes
on to identify ways to determine if a business is evolving in the
direction of its customer’s needs: “You can see if you’re relevant
by how you are performing. . . . Another measure is: Are we
gaining or losing ground [on the competition]? . . . We also gauge
relevance by listening to our customers. . . . To stay relevant,
you’ve got to keep increasing the value you deliver to customers.”

STRIKING GOLD

D What are your sales numbers telling you about the rele-
vance of the products and services you offer to your cus-
tomers?

D Are you gaining or losing market share in relation to those
whom you view to be in direct competition for your cus-
tomers?
D Have you listened to your customers in a way that allows
you to innovate changes in your products or services that
increase their perceived value?

Setting the Scene

With a customer base that is increasingly diverse and seeking
memorable and unique experiences, Ritz-Carlton goes beyond
simply creating a sense of place. To fully maximize the memo-
rable and distinct aspects of their properties, management at
Ritz-Carlton incorporates a design concept called scenography.
In its most literal sense, scenography refers to the art of repre-
senting objects in perspective, especially as applied in the design

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