Over the years, the Ritz-Carlton brand has become renowned as the premier choice for luxury accommodations. Maintaining that reputation requires more than just a great social media campaign, although luxury influencers have certainly played a role.
It’s one of the few brands whose ubiquity has led to its name becoming a household expression. ‘Staying at The Ritz’ became synonymous with luxury. Meanwhile, any substandard experience often came to be referred to as the polar opposite.
In the following sections, we examine how The Ritz evolved into its current form and discuss some of the core principles in public relations that are integral to its success.
The result is a unique blend of time-honored service and quality, amplified by the virality of social media and a modern ethos that empowers employees to create exceptional guest experiences.
PR/Quality Alignment
In order for The Ritz to ‘work’ as a complete package, the building, interior, cleanliness, quality of service and food must all align with the company’s image as a luxury brand. These aspects must be dialed in sufficiently to justify the price point, which typically starts at around $1,000 per night.
In an environment where most things are immaculate, imperfections tend to stand out. To put it another way, bad food and extravagant decor don’t go well together. The alignment and consistency of 360-degree quality is a customer expectation, and the consistency of this throughout the experience leads to greater brand loyalty, whether for business trips, family vacations or corporate events.
How Company Culture Contributes to PR
The Ritz’s brand is tied to this mantra: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”
This establishes a standard for treating people within the company, as well as for guests. While some brands in other service categories mention internal culture, few emphasize it as deliberately or consistently as The Ritz-Carlton.
There is also something to be said about how the treatment of staff carries over into their interactions with a guest. This essentially posits that good service is better when it’s sincere than when it comes with a forced smile. A culture that respects itself internally and takes pride in what it does also contributes to the dignity of the workforce.
Training, Customer Experience and PR
Aside from being a reason for customers to interact with a brand they can feel good about, strong company culture helps improve employee retention. Low employee retention is a significant expense and can lead to more frequent negative customer experiences due to the high turnover of newer, untrained staff.
While it may not be immediately apparent that staff training is relevant to PR, one can certainly envision how inadequate staff training can and does lead to PR disasters. This is another sense in which an organization needs to be internally aligned in numerous ways with the image it wants to present to its customers, the overall quality of service, and its online presence.
These days, customers tend to take out their phones to record as soon as something terrible is happening. The result is that uniquely bad experiences are far more likely to be amplified and potentially cause damage to a brand’s reputation.
At The Ritz-Carlton, maintaining a ‘Gold Standard’ means new employees are assigned coaches and required to complete 200 hours of training. Within 21 days of being hired, they must also pass an internal certification test for their role. Training instills standards and processes for approaching service that go above and beyond what would often be expected in a normal environment. Employees also require approximately 100 hours of on-the-job training. Online training is also provided. Documentation helps reduce ambiguity when it comes to expectations.
As for new hotel locations, The Ritz typically spends approximately a year on staff training before a location opens, during which it flies in expert coaching staff to lead the training.
Service Solutions for PR Success
Personalization is another key benefit of staying at The Ritz.
Based on data gathered on customers regarding personal details and preferences, staff members may already know what customers want before they walk through the door.
This may result in minor differences, such as a suite’s furniture arrangement, fridge stocking, customized greetings, or considerations for birthdays or anniversaries. It would also include special considerations for people with disabilities or individuals with food allergies, etc. The experience of having such details remembered over time and across locations helps deepen the guest’s relationship with the brand.
The ‘$2,000’ Rule
The Ritz is also famous for its ‘$2,000 rule,’ which states that hotel staff are permitted to spend up to $2,000 on any particular guest for any reason without prior approval, in order to enhance their experience.
The $2,000 comps are not necessarily entirely altruistic. In some cases, it seems that the brand has selected individuals for handouts who are either particularly wealthy or who could have influence on a decision that could impact their revenue later.
In one case, a waiter decided to comp a guest’s drinks for the evening. As a result, the guest changed the venue of choice for his convention from a competitor to The Ritz, which likely generated at least low six figures in new business for the company.
The Value of Empowerment
Staff empowerment allows them to make decisions independently. It means that from time to time, guests can expect to be delighted with significant discounts or have special dispensations.
In one rather famous instance, a guest was overheard at dinner saying that he wished his wife, who used a wheelchair, could get down to the beach. The next day, the staff surprised them with a ramp they had built to a tent on the beach for dinner. Exceptional experiences like this can build the type of brand loyalty that is very hard for competitors to disrupt.
Moments like these are what create lasting memories—and, ultimately, PR opportunities. They serve as the social media counterbalance to the risk of negative experiences.
Ritz PR Successes
The best stories a brand can tell about itself to future and prospective customers are those involving successful interactions with past clients.
Numerous studies have linked the visualization of positive consumer experiences with the expectations of consumers who are unfamiliar with a brand.
Positive customer stories also spread online organically. This dynamic provides great rewards for brands that deliver on their promises.
Reach out to UPRAISE for more info about how to amplify and reveal the best aspects of your brand to your target audience. We offer a range of services that can rapidly increase your qualified leads.
