Print This Article			Print All Articles			Email the Editor

You Can Become the Ritz-Carlton of Builders

You can earn the Ritz-Carlton’s type of brand loyalty, too — whether you build entry-level or high-end homes.

Try the following customer service-focused business strategies described by Bruce Siegel, area director of marketing for The Ritz-Carlton Georgia properties. Siegel gave the keynote address at the 2004 Custom Builder Symposium last month in Indian Wells, CA.

To become known as the builder to call for top-notch service and a dependable product, “you have to be relentless about service commitment, you have to do it every day,” says Siegel.

Some of the Ritz-Carlton’s key success factors include:

• Uphold the motto — We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. “When people are about to spend $3-$4 million to build a home, how do you present yourself?” Siegel says.
• Select, don’t simply hire, employees. “We maximize talent in our company, because our employees are the ones who will deliver excellence,” Siegel says. To make the first cut, candidates must smile and maintain good eye contact during the interview. “If they can’t do that with an interviewer, how will they do that with our guests?” Siegel says. “We look for empathy.”
• Give guests a warm, sincere greeting. Ritz-Carlton employees are trained to use guests’ names whenever they can. Encourage your employees to do this, too.
• Anticipate and comply with guests’ needs.
• Note guests’ preferences. You can do this by making note of the types of beverages your customers like (excluding alcohol, of course) and having them available in the office. “Then they’ll know you know them,” Siegel says.
• Note and track the source of guest complaints. “Unless you do this in your company, complaints and errors will occur again and again,” Siegel points out.
• Never pass the buck on complaints or problems. At the Ritz-Carlton, whoever receives a complaint from a guest “owns” that complaint. It’s the employee’s responsibility to resolve it to the guest’s satisfaction, Siegel says — and to record the problem and the solution.
• Escort guests instead of giving them directions to another part of the hotel. “When you take your customers somewhere, that demonstrates care and concern,” Siegel explains. “If someone needs to look at freezers, take them to your appliance supplier’s showroom instead of giving them directions across town.”
• Watch your nomenclature when communicating with guests. “The term ‘no problem’ has become an insincere, meaningless phrase,” says Siegel. “When your salespeople use the term ‘no problem’ with customers, it translates into ‘no profit.’ ” As with everything else you do, train your employees to use language that sets you apart from other builders.
• Give guests a fond farewell. “Walk your customers out to the car,” Siegel suggests. “A memorable farewell when they leave your office is an extra touch that sets you apart from other builders.”
• Survey guests after their stay. The Ritz-Carlton has a 92% customer satisfaction rating and strives for 96%.

Putting its customers first is one way the Ritz-Carlton justifies its expensive room rates. “Giving more and charging more is part of our philosophy,” says Siegel. And it works. As the company has discovered, when customers are satisfied, they stay with you longer and spend more.

Mark your calendar for the 2005 Custom Builder Symposium, which will take place Nov. 11-13 in New Orleans. For more details, e-mail the NAHB Business Management Department, or call 800-368-5242 x8388.

go to top