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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | 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: - Understanding the ever-evolving needs of customers
- Empowering employees by treating them with the utmost respect
- Anticipating customers' unexpressed needs and concerns
- Developing and conducting an unsurpassed training regimen
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. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Joseph Michelli | | Hardcover: | 224 pages | | Publisher: | McGraw-Hill | | Publication Date: | June 13, 2008 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0071548335 | | Product Length: | 8.75 inches | | Product Width: | 5.63 inches | | Product Height: | 1.06 inches | | Product Weight: | 1.08 pounds | | Package Length: | 8.6 inches | | Package Width: | 5.6 inches | | Package Height: | 1.1 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.35 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 26 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 26 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 A great, if somewhat older book; recommended along with a newer "ritz management" book May 15, 2010
By Ruth Librand
"Library Ruth"
"New Gold Standard" is a super, if slightly older, book on a really important subject: The Ritz-Carlton is one of the organizations whose methodology has truly transformed our understanding of what customer service quality and consistency can be.
I recommend "The New Gold Standard, especially if you're in the hotel business; Michelli, who also wrote The Starbucks Experience, is a consultant who did a great job writing it. I don't agree with the catty comments on this page that its writing style is sleep-inducing, etc. -- I guess they're complaining because it's written in an academic style and is maybe overly deferential to the owners of the Ritz (hey, it is an "official" history). Nonetheless, in my opinion it is still full of many well organized details and a helpful book for anyone in hospitality. Some of the strong points in particular are the historical overview and the interviews Michelli includes.
(One note to be aware of: There's now also a newer book on practical applications of Ritz-Carlton customer service and management techniques that's just come out this May; I really enjoyed it a lot. I got a lot out of this newer book ("Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit"); it's by the founder of the Ritz Carlton Leadership Center along with Horst Schulze, the Founding President of The Ritz. They collaborate with an entrepreneur/systems expert from *outside* of the hospitality industry; this allows them to cover management issues in a lot of depth and in fields that are often far removed from just hotel-industry topics. Here's the link: Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Truly a great book for understanding the ultimate delivery of service Jan 30, 2011
By Richard Day
This book is a must read for anyone involved in the delivery of service, in particular, hospitality entities. This premise is not rocket science, yet, so few organizations do this well. This book chronicles how Ritz Carlton built its brand, not so much on facilities per se, but, the exceptional and consistent delivery of service. It starts by explaining that you first have to invest in your people. Everything begins there. A must read for the hospitality industry.
7 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 I Will Read This Book Again Jan 03, 2009
By Conor Cunneen
"SHEIFGAB author - Conor Cunneen"
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.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
IBM Competitive Edge Book Club Selects Book in Q3 2008 Mar 25, 2010
By Brien Convery
The IBM Competitive Edge Book Club is open to all Sales professionals at IBM. "The New Gold Standard" was our Q3 2008 book club selection. Overall feedback from the members was good. In the feedback from the members, we ask them the question - "What will you do differently in your job since your study of this book?" Some of the replies directly from the members included:
- "I will try to apply the concepts around exceptional customer service. Delivering 'wow' means extending our thought process beyond delivering just what is the basics and looking to over-deliver to our clients every day."
- "Focus on instilling and maintaining a service culture within my organization"
- "IBM has its own "ladies and gentlemen" - particularly pertaining to "dedicated to our client's success". What we can do better is help each other reinforce this with our local teams on a daily basis."
- "The book has given me good ideas for how to take customer service to the next level in our business. Some of the concepts and ideas in the book will help me when dealing with, or, selling to customers."
- "I think the book applies itself very well to anyone that deals with customers."
Thank you to Dr. Joseph Michelli for being apart of the IBM Competitive Edge Book Club experience and for writing a book that is interesting to read. The book drives home the importance of providing great customer service while balancing and recognizing those internally that create that experience for your clients/ customers.
Best Regards,
Brien Convery
IBM Global Workforce Partner and Competitive Edge Book Club Leader
17 of 26 found the following review helpful:
How to establish and then sustain a culture of superior service Jul 15, 2008
By Robert Morris
As a frequent guest of Ritz-Carlton throughout much of my life, I can personally attest to the validity of its reputation for superior guest service in all respects. In fact, such service is consistently of such a high quality that guests take it for granted. Founder César Ritz observed long ago that "people like to be served, but invisibly." I agree while presuming to suggest that the "Ritz-Carlton experience" becomes visible whenever I stay elsewhere.
What we have in this volume is a rigorous and comprehensive examination of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company that, to the best of my knowledge, has not previously been provided. Joseph Michelli seems to have had almost unlimited access to its senior corporate executives, hotel managers and staff members ("the heart of the house"), and of special interest to me, its Leadership Center headed by Diana Oreck, vice president of global learning. Michelli observes that "From my perspective, the Ritz-Carlton [customer] experience is reflected in leadership committed to unrelenting quality, respect for all of the company's staff encounters, and oddly enough, also a great spirit of candor." Individual initiative is not only encouraged but indeed expected at all levels and in all areas in fulfillment of The Motto, "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen."
As I read this book, I was reminded of what retired CEO Herb Kelleher says when anyone asks him to explain Southwest Airlines' competitive advantage: "The intangibles are far more important than the tangibles in the competitive world because, obviously, you can replicate the tangibles. You can get the same airplane. You can get the same ticket counters. You can get the same computers. But the hardest thing for a competitor to match is your culture and the spirit of your people and their focus on customer service because that isn't something you can do overnight and it isn't something you can do without a great deal of attention every day in a thousand different ways. That is why I say that our employees are our competitive protection." He could have just as easily been explaining Ritz-Carlton's advantage in another highly competitive industry in which others also have excellent locations, superb facilities, state-of-the-art technologies, haute cuisine, etc.
The framework of Michelli's narrative is based on Ritz-Carlton's five principles that any organization (regardless of its size or nature) can establish and then sustain, creating a "gold standard" of its own: define core values and refine by leveraging continuous improvement; empower people with authority as well as responsibility through trust in their ability and eagerness to live The Motto; "It's not about you" (i.e. focus on serving associates as well as guests); deliver WOW! (i.e. a "thrilling customer interaction," especially when problems develop unexpectedly, as they i vitably do); and "leave a lasting footprint," an enduring legacy of great service for generations to come. Michelli explains with meticulous care how any other organization can to create its own "gold standard." Consider this statement by Ed Staros, co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company:
"We have not created the ultimate experience. It's still out there. It's that magic carrot we keep trying to approach. If you can come to work every single day focusing on how much better you can be today than you were yesterday, you will draw nearer to that carrot. You might never touch it, but you'll get one step closer."
Throughout the Ritz-Carlton organization, top to bottom, perfect service is a never-ending journey of continuous improvement rather than an ultimate destination. Michelli inserts dozens of real-world incidents throughout his narrative that illustrate that this journey proceeds one guest at a time.
For example, because members of the Ritz-Carlton staff are fully empowered, the Ladies and Gentlemen in Dearborn learned that a 13-year old champion figure skater, Natalie Salazar, had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma and her chemotherapy treatments proved unsuccessful. She was told by her doctors that she was going to die. Her biggest regret was that she would never be able to go to her high school prom. Technically, she was not a guest. However, according Laura Guitierrez, area director human resources, here's what happened. "We hosted Natalie's Prom in our ballroom, and it was attended by 18 classmates and 7 of her championship ice skating team members. Our audiovisual technician was the disc jockey, our IT technician was the photographer, our banquet director provided security, and everyone pitched in to make this an extras special event." Prince Charming guided her down the red carpet to her favorite song, "Sweet Escapes," and the room was fully decorated with photos of Natalie and her classmates from kindergarten to eighth grade. She danced every dance and ate her favorite foods. She died on September 20, 2007. The seamstress at Ritz-Carlton who made her prom dress also made the dress in which she was buried later. Michelli suggests that "While many other companies support members of their community, the Ritz-Carlton culture of service routinely delivers caring such as that provided to Natalie's family." And this is but one of several dozen real-world situations that Michelli cites, not an isolated incident or rare example.
Fortunately, thanks to Joseph Michelli's exceptionally informative as well as eloquent book, other organizations can now learn about the unique culture of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and then apply (with appropriate modification) the core principles that continue to serve as that culture's foundation. And thanks to the Leadership Center, their leaders can gain a broader and deeper understanding of how service excellence and the quality of their own commitment to it can achieve a substantial ROI, not only in terms of dollars but also in terms of the lives that are enriched within their own organization as well as the lives of those whom they are privileged to serve.
See all 26 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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