My Key Take Aways from Industry Best Practices : The Ritz Carlton

Exceptional customer experience is the results of high vision engagement and empowerment

Key learnings that I have gathered :

Build an engaging foundation - vision and mission should be well- defined and thoroughly communicated and enliven throughout the whole organization. Regular reinforcements of organization values is necessary to build a consistent mind-set and individual dedication towards a common goal. Cultivate a more engaging commitment by everyone through involvement of every level when setting objectives and devising action plans. 

Instill mutual respect - happy employees makes happy customers. Employees treated internally with respect and honor will most often give that same treatment to customers and more committed to the business. Observe if mutual respect is being practiced within the organization among each level of employee and increase emotional attachment of employees by treating them like a customer. Personal experiences can nurture a more empathetic and personalized service more effectively. Impose activities that promote cross-departmental understanding to promote productivity of individual functions.

Empower key players with result-driven influence - the ability to take ownership and resolving customer expectations comes with having the full confidence of being well-equipped and authorized to make decisions. Analyze the level of decision making process in every customer touch point - determine the length of the process and who are involved. By ensuring that each employee are well trained and aware of the level of access or restrictions, employees will be more prone to take appropriate action and deliver desired results. Empowered employees often realize the importance of their roles to be more agile and they take ownership in ensuring a customer's satisfaction is restored and sustained. 

Hire for attitude, train for skills - find and hire individuals who already have strong customer service skills. Expectations toward brand vision and culture should be laid-out up-front to potential hires to ensure that they fully understand what is expected of them. Deploy continuous trainings, utilize innovative approaches and conduct specialized programs that focus on direct customer impact duties. Regular role playing and enforcement of organization values will serve as constant reminder of being a brand representative, while giving employees a chance to assess their own unique styles of working with the customer.