Books : The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

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by: Joseph Michelli

: The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.4092
EAN: 9780071548335
ISBN: 0071548335
Label: McGraw-Hill
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: June 13, 2008
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Sales Rank: 17569
Studio: McGraw-Hill



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Discover the secrets of world-class leadership!

. .

When it comes to refined service and exquisite hospitality, one name stands high above the rest: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. With ceaseless attention to every luxurious detail, the company has set the bar for creating memorable customer experiences in world-class settings. Now, for the first time, the leadership secrets behind the company's extraordinary success are revealed.

. .

The New Gold Standard takes you on an exclusive tour behind the scenes of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Granted unprecedented access to the company's executives, staff, and its award-winning Leadership Center training facilities, bestselling author Joseph Michelli explored every level of leadership within the organization. He emerged with the key principles leaders at any company can use to provide a customer experience unlike any other, such as:

. . . .

Sharing engaging stories from the company's employees--from the corporate office and hotels around the globe--Michelli describes the innovative methods the company uses to create peerless guest experiences and explains how it constantly hones and improves them.

. .

The New Gold Standard weaves practical how-to advice, proven leadership tools, and the wisdom of experts to help you create and embed superior customer-service principles, processes, and practices in your own organization..



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel
A very quick read and a good guide for anyone in a service-providing business. It helps you look at more than just HOW you deliver the service to understand WHY.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - I Will Read This Book Again
I have to say that parts of this book were so cloying and some of the anecdotes so over the top that I felt like throwing it away, except ... except for the fact that the Ritz-Carlton is one magnificent Brand founded on a great product.

As I continued to read, I began to appreciate why the Ritz-Carlton is so successful. The stories of over the top customer service and attention are so common, the attention to detail is so ... well ... detailed: these are the reasons why the hotel chain has become in the author's words - The New Gold Standard.

In this well researched book, Michelli identifies five key principles that ensure success for this great hotel chain and which of course everyone can learn from. There is nothing new about the five principles, but very few companies implement them properly

The principles are:
1) Define and refine
a. Communicating Core Identity and Culture
b. Be Relevant
2) Empower through Trust
a. Select - Don't hire
b. It's a matter of Trust
3) It's not about You
a. Build a business focused on Others
b. Support Frontline Empathy
4) Deliver Wow!
a. Wow: The Ultimate Guest Experience
b. Turning Wow into Action
5) Leave a Lasting Footprint
a. Aspire, Achieve, Teach
b. Sustainability and Stewardship

In writing book reviews, I don't normally re-run the basic contents page but in this case it is appropriate, because any one of the principles outlined above will help you grow your business. The challenge of course is how to do it. If there is one key lesson I take from the book it is - Reinforcement: Reinforcement of values, Reinforcement of culture and practices.

The hotel chain is constantly reinforcing its culture and ideals with its employees - "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen." Sure this might seem twee, corny, outdated but the chain appreciates that to maintain its success it must also "Be Relevant." Thus it has successfully targeted key demographics such as "Discerning Affluents," many of whom might not dress or act in the same manner as the "Classic Status Seekers" which was the core market for the Ritz-Carlton.

Michelli apparently had great access to company strategy. He highlights research conducted which found that four factors account for 85% of overall guest satisfaction. These are
1) Sense of well being
2) Anticipation of guest needs
3) Room condition and
4) Room assignment.

These four predictors - `drivers of engagement' - are reinforced through approximately 250 hours of training annually for each hourly employee including 15 minutes for daily briefing.

Bottom line: Some of the customer service anecdotes must have developed legs in the telling, but the fact is these anecdotes are part of the culture which is continuously reinforcing itself while also developing. This book will not change your culture overnight, but implementation of some key aspects will change your chances of business success over a period of time.

I've keyed into my database to read it again in 4 months time. That's the best testimonial I can give.




Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Gold Standard Is a mid level book
There is so much that is obvious and redundant in this book. Nevertheless, every company needs to consider the core message: How do you make the customer experience exceed expectations? What are the fundamental deliverables of those expectations.
Customer Satisfaction is only the beginning.
Winning companies need to build a real time nervous system that engages customers and potential customers (i.e. your marketplace and competitor customers, as well as your employees at all levels.
The nervous system measures and engages everyone in GREAT experiences, how to build them and what do they mean to the end user?
People link not to KNOWLEDGE, BUT EMOTIONS. This is the core that my company has discovered.
Martin Hoffmitz BehaviorWorx Inc.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The New Gold Standard
This book is about the much acclaimed detailed, tightly structured training program that the Ritz Carlton Company has originated. The program is not only utilized to engage their employees all over the world to offer the very best, thoughtful service possible, but it is also to engage the customers that frequent their properties to the degree that they become life-long advocates for the Ritz. James A. Michelli, the author, relates his information in an interesting way and additionally, uses the Ritz' various training modes as examples for usage by other types of businesses. The book expounds upon the five leadership principles for creating a legendary customer experience, courtesy of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. This is definitely a "must read" for those interested in the hospitality industry.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The New Gold Standard
Excellent Book. The approach is simple and makes a lot os sense. Wish more businesses took this approach. I recommended this book to many of my clients. Dr. Joe Michelli did an excellent job. He understands business and has a great way of presenting his material

Jerry Rouleau
J. Rouleau & Associates, LLC & BuilderRadio.com

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