How the Ritz-Carlton Creates Extraordinary Customer Service

Even if you have never stayed at the Ritz, I’ll bet you’ve heard about their extraordinary customer service.

And it’s no accident that they are one of the premier hotels in the world.

I wanted to share with you from the book The Gold Standard: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company a few of the processes the employees and management went through to create an unforgettable hotel experience.

These standards work whether you are a large or small company.  A mortgage team. Or an individual loan officer.

Create Company Standards – Review how you plan to communicate with customers—in person, phone, email and social media.  An example would be “returning phone calls”.  Will it be by the end of the day?  Within 2 hours?  Will your primary communication be by text or email?  How you plan to communicate must be shared with your customers so they know what to expect.

How to Handle Problems – Who has the authority to handle minor, medium or major issues that come up every day?  What is the chain of command?  How long should it take to handle it?  For example:  will the loan officer have the authority to waive a closing fee if there is a screw up on the part of the company?  Employees – you should have some authority to act without management being involved.

Include Everyone in the Process – Even if you are an individual loan officer creating your own standards, be sure to relate them to the receptionist all the way up to management.

Standards Must Be Measured – Be very specific on each one of the loan process steps.  An example would be an after-the-closing customer survey.  The goal is to get 85% of your clients to complete a survey.  Who will request the survey?  What method will the client use to complete the survey?  What length of time will you give them to complete the survey? If not completed within that time frame, who will follow up?  And how will it be followed up?

Create Incentives & Expectations – Rewarding people that meet and exceed the standards does not have to be monetary.  It could be a gift card. A plaque. A spa visit.  Conversely, create consequences for those who do not meet the standards.

You are probably saying to yourself, dang, this is so overwhelming!  My answer is—just take it one step at a time.  Create one standard a month, practice and perfect it, then move on to the next one.

Before you know it, you’ll have your own set of customer service standards, so that your clients and real estate agents know what to expect from you each and every time.