Ritz-Carlton Marketing Case Study

1. How does the Ritz-Carlton match up to competitive hotels? What are the key differences? The Ritz-Carlton doesn’t just “match-up” to its competitive hotels in its market, it actively exceeds the expectations of the guests in that competitive set. How does the Ritz do this? I think the 2 main steps the Ritz have taken to ensure their guest success has been taking care of their internal customers and by doing that they are taking care of their external customers, this makes for very happy guests. The second step is that they are empowering their staff to satisfy customers’ needs and make them loyal to the Ritz name. By using the credo, “We are Ladies and Gentleman Serving Ladies and Gentleman” It gives the staff a sense of pride in their presentation, themselves and who they work for. The Ritz-Carlton takes the time to ensure their staff is well trained and therefore reduces turnover, this helps the morale of the staff and offers opportunities for them to move up within the organization. The key differences are how you train and treat your staff as well as how they are empowered. By the Ritz-Carlton empowering their staff members to be on the lookout to create remarkable or “wow” moments for the guest, is one sure way to be on top of anticipating guest needs. Once one of these moments is created the guest has automatically become a walking billboard to promote the amazing deed the staff of the Ritz has performed and how they will refuse to stay anywhere else. Not all of their competitors have that going for them. 2. Discuss the importance of the “wow stories” in customer service for a luxury hotel like the Ritz-Carlton. The importance of the “wow stories” in customer service for a luxury hotel like the Ritz-Carlton is what differentiates itself from the competition. Ritz-Carlton for years has been practicing on anticipating customer needs, but something that many of us haven’t done is to intentionally listen to our customers wants.

Bibliography: Christopher W. Hart, P. (n.d.). Creating Competitive Advantage Through Mass Customization. Retrieved from Spiregroup.biz: http://www.spiregroup.biz/pdfs/06-04-07%20Creating%20Competitive%20Advantage%20through%20Mass%20Customization.pdf