Ritz Is Positioned as a Differentiated Provider

Ritz is positioned as a differentiated provider in the hotel industry. The unique proposition that the Ritz offers is a luxury experience that entails every single aspect of the business. Not only are the facilities of the highest standard but so, too, are the customer service standards. This combination creates a guest experience that the Ritz aims to be superior even to other luxury hotels. The key point of differentiation is with the service, because the Ritz feels that is an area where they can excel.

In order to put these values into action, Ritz has an extensive training program, and it creates a culture and organizational structure that helps support the highest standards of customer service. The training program ensures that new hires understand the service levels that are demanded of the Ritz, which might be significantly higher than they are accustomed to. The training program also helps to build the organizational culture around service. There are a number of elements in the training program that emphasize culture -- the touch-feely elements that encourage new employees to embrace Ritz culture and the general who confirms what the mission of the company is and highlights that the culture of excellent service is not just about being nice, but that it serves a greater purpose in the scheme of the business.

Another critical element, though, lies with the organizational design. The employees are empowered to make decisions, and they are given discretion with respect to the added service they give the customers. By providing employees to go above and beyond, trust is created that makes the employees feel that they can pursue higher standards of service. That the organization is well-staffed is another structural factor, because having enough staff and enough management that nobody is overworked is a key success factor for achieving top service standards at a hotel.

If I ran a movie theater with a concierge desk and wanted to implement Ritz values, I would build the program in the same way. The organization's mission, structure, training and culture would all be designed to facilitate the delivery of excellent service. I would start by envisioning the theater as using service as its key competitive advantage -- Ritz takes this approach. I would then build that into the mission, and ensure all people in positions of leadership are oriented to the delivery of a high standard of service, including myself. A person at the concierge level would take the cues from the leadership of the organization, so setting a high at the leadership level is critical. In addition to making service a part of the culture, I would implement a training program. This program would then be enforced through a performance appraisal system that emphasized customer service objectives and oriented employee behaviors to those objectives. These are all things that Ritz does to ensure that service is the most important thing in the world to its employees.

Watching the concierge in action would be like watching Michelangelo painting a church ceiling. Every night would be a masterpiece. Basically, everything the concierge does will be fluid, perfect, and meet the needs of the customers, and it will look so easy that you might wonder why we're paying him so much to so such easy work. But the reality is that this effortlessness is supported by a lot of people working behind the scenes. The concierge is basically directing the difference resources at his or her disposal, including other service staff members, physical infrastructure like a coat closet and more. The organization might have already done the work with the taxi companies to ensure a good supply of cabs outside the theater, so that the concierge can find one with a snap of the finger, instead of waiting on hold to call a cab that will take twenty minutes to arrive. By providing the support the concierge needs to meet customer needs effortlessly, we can experience what looks like smooth, easy service but is actually the culmination of a lot of behind-the-scenes work to put the concierge in a position to succeed.