You Can Become the Ritz-Carlton of Builders

You Can Become the Ritz-Carlton of Builders
By Bruce Seigel, Keynote Address Custom Builder Symposium
Aug 3, 2005, 14:43

Bruce Seigel, Area Director of Marketing for The Ritz-Carlton Georgia Properties, gave the keynote address at the 2004 Custom Builder Symposium. Seigel offers these practical service-focused business strategies. To become a top notch service provider, he says "You have to be relentless about service commitment, you have to do it every day".

"Uphold the motto — We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. When people are about to spend $3-$4 million to build a home, how do you present yourself?"
"Select, don’t simply hire, employees. We maximize talent in our company, because our employees are the ones who will deliver excellence. To make the first cut, candidates must smile and maintain good eye contact during the interview. If they can’t do that with an interviewer, how will they do that with our guests? We look for empathy."
"Give guests a warm, sincere greeting. Ritz-Carlton employees are trained to use guests’ names whenever they can. Encourage your employees to do this, too."
"Anticipate and comply with guests’ needs."
"Note guests’ preferences. You can do this by making note of the types of beverages your customers like and having them available in the office. Then they’ll know you know them."
"Note and track the source of guest complaints. Unless you do this in your company, complaints and errors will occur again and again."
"Never pass the buck on complaints or problems. At the Ritz-Carlton, whoever receives a complaint from a guest “owns” that complaint. It’s the employee’s responsibility to resolve it to the guest’s satisfaction, - and to record the problem and the solution."
"Escort guests instead of giving them directions to another part of the hotel. When you take your customers somewhere, that demonstrates care and concern. If someone needs to look at freezers, take them to your appliance supplier’s showroom instead of giving them directions across town. "
"Watch your nomenclature when communicating with guests. The term ‘no problem’ has become an insincere, meaningless phrase. When your salespeople use the term ‘no problem’ with customers, it translates into ‘no profit.’ As with everything else you do, train your employees to use language that sets you apart from other builders."
"Give guests a fond farewell. Walk your customers out to the car. A memorable farewell when they leave your office is an extra touch that sets you apart from other builders."
"Survey guests after their stay. The Ritz-Carlton has a 92% customer satisfaction rating and strives for 96%."

To view all the complete speech go to the website: http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2004-12-06/Business+Management/