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

Joseph Michelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Set the "Gold Standard" for your industry.

• Define and Refine
• Empower Through Trust
• It's Not About You
• Deliver 'Wow!'
• Leave a Lasting Footprint

"Required reading for anyone who wants to learn how to create passionate employees and customers!" --Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and The One Minute Entrepreneur

“The Ritz Carlton is the best hotel chain in the world because of the unique experience it offers. This book shows you how to install the same customer-focused attitude toward service that makes a world leader." --Brian Tracy, author of The Way to Wealth

About the Author

Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., is an internationally sought-after speaker and business consultant whose clients include Bridgestone Firestone, Nokia, The Hartford Insurance Group, and UCLA Health System. The author of the bestselling The Starbucks Experience, he has appeared on The Glenn Beck Show and CNBC’s On the Money.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071548335
• ISBN-13: 978-0071548335
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.9 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Hospitality, Travel & Tourism
  • #12 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Customer Service
  • #26 in Books > Business & Investing > Biography & History > Company Profiles

More About the Author

Hello, I am an author, professional speaker and business consultant. My goal is to catch what is right in the world and playfully spark people and businesses to grow toward the extraordinary. In addition to writing books like The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, I provide free weekly podcasts at http://[e-mail]

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, if somewhat older book; recommended along with a newer "ritz management" book, May 15, 2010

By Ruth Librand

Format:Hardcover

Ruth Librand "Library Ruth"
(updated review 081912)

"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 are now also two newer books on practical applications of Ritz-Carlton customer service and management techniques that have come out, the most recent of which is High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service: Inspire Timeless Loyalty in the Demanding New World of Social Commerce This is one of the more up to date of the Ritz/hospitality/extraordinary service genre right now. It synthesizes a lot of key points of the author's work with the Ritz-Carlton, along with insights from Four Seasons, Apple, Google, and many others) in a way that has been updated for the era of social media.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book about how a great hotel does things that make you say, "Wow!" February 13, 2009

By Walter H. Bock VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It seems like everyone who's ever stayed at a Ritz Carlton has a story to tell. I guess we just tell them to each other because this is the first book I've ever seen about the marvelous organization that is the Ritz.

In The New Gold Standard, Joseph Michelli does an excellent job of describing why the Ritz is an icon for great service. He starts with the story of the Ritz, from Cesar to the present. Then he tells the purpose of the book.

"The New Gold Standard is primarily intended to help managers, owners, and leaders understand the driving principles, processes, and practices that have generated unusual staff loyalty, world-class customer engagement, and significant brand equity for Ritz Carlton."

He does that and more. Besides the view from the top, Michelli gives us the view from behind the counter and other places at the frontline. He structures the book by using five key principles that he thinks can guide any business that wants to deliver consistent, world-class service.

Principle One, Define and Refine is the foundation. You can't expect it if you can't articulate it. You can't expect it all the time unless you make it part of the culture.

This is not simply the "Credo Card." Many companies have something similar. It's working the card into discussions and instructions. It's sharing the card with guests.

It's the motto: "Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." There's an old-world quaintness about the language, but there's no mistaking the meaning. People who work for the Ritz are "ladies and gentlemen." Their guests are "ladies and gentlemen," too.

There's attention to shared standards. Those include the Three Steps of Service and the 20 Basics.

One thing that makes Ritz special is that the application of all of those principles and rules is not rigid at all. And Ritz is always seeking ways to do them better.

Principle Two: Empower Through Trust. Ritz understands what many companies seeking "talent" do not and what many management theorists do not. Empowerment starts with making sure the right people are on board. That means "Select don't Hire."

Then pay attention to training, both to impart skills and as the carrier of culture. There are rituals, like celebrating service anniversaries that encourage people to talk about their service and the company.

Trust is vital. Ritz understands that trust is a matter of making and keeping promises. They also understand that trust and respect go hand in hand. The result is one of the most engaged workforces on the planet. They know this because they measure it, professionally and often.

This all brings us to empowerment. In many companies that's the word they use when they want you to "take risks." Ritz Carlton allows any staff member to spend up to $2000 per guest per day if, in their judgment, it needs to be done.

That doesn't encourage people to "take risks." Instead it does a much more effective thing. It allows staff members to make judgments and act on them without risk.

That brings me to my Ritz story. I was finishing up a book at the time and I had a speaking engagement at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia.

I decided that I could stay on at the hotel through the weekend and get the necessary writing done. It was a great spot for that, except for one thing.

The desk in my room was at a height for writing by hand. When I put my laptop on it and sat in the non-adjustable chair, my shoulders started to cramp after an hour or so.

As I was going out for my afternoon walk, one of the staff asked me if everything was alright. In passing, I mentioned the stiff shoulders and went on my way.

When I got back to my room, about an hour later, the standard chair had been replaced with an adjustable desk chair. I was much more productive that weekend.

Principle Three is: It's Not about You. Peter Drucker suggested that the way to success was to "focus on contribution." The Ritz takes that farther. They try to build their business on contribution to others, including guests and each other.

Frontline workers are the key. They are the hotel to the guest. You may never meet the General Manager, but you will certainly deal with staff at the desk, at the doors, and in the halls. Ritz knows they're the key to a great guest experience

Quality programs have a place here. But listening is the most important thing. As theologian Paul Tillich advises us: "Listening is the first act of love."

Principle Four is Deliver 'Wow!' Just about every company on the planet says they want to do this. They want to create what Ken Blanchard calls "Raving Fans." So why do so few companies do it?

The answer is simple. The Ritz can do it because it's done all those other things. They're clear about what they want. They select people who will fit, then spend time training, inculcating culture and empowering those people. When it's time to "deliver Wow!" most of the heavy lifting is done. It's easy.

Other companies want to jump over all that selecting and training stuff. They're not sure they can trust their people to make decisions on their own, so they don't really empower them to do so. You're not going to get a lot of wows out of that.

Principle Five is: Leave a Lasting Footprint. Michelli titled the first chapter in this section: "Aspire, Achieve and Teach."

What he doesn't say explicitly, but what I saw from his examples in the book, is that the Ritz sees training and supervision as two parts of the same process. It's how staff members learn every day what's important and how to do it.

But Ritz goes beyond that to find ways to bring lessons learned into the mainstream. They also find ways to be a good citizen. And, unlike many of the Corporate Social Responsibility advocates, they understand that both profit and individual choice are necessary.

This book does a great job of giving you a ground level view of how a great service organization works. It's a wonderful how-to guide if you want to create a similar service culture in your company. It shows you how to do things that are simple but not easy, long lasting but not quick, to become an organization that customers tell Wow! stories about.

Here's the second half of mine. Later that year, after the book was done, I was asked to speak to a group that was meeting at the Ritz Carlton in Aspen.

When I checked in, the clerk greeted me by name. He asked if I had stayed at that property before. When I said that I had not, he gave me a brief orientation. He asked if I had any special requests. I said, "No." It was all very nice and very polite, but not different from other top line hotels I've stayed at.

Then I went to my room. There, in front of the desk, was an adjustable office chair. I thought, "Wow!"

This review first appeared on my Three Star Leadership Blog.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I Will Read This Book Again January 3, 2009

By Conor Cunneen

Format:Hardcover

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.