Dear Ritz-Carlton: How do you keep customer service personalized when customers want to use mobile apps and other technology? Can technology enhance customer service? Answer from Jeff Hargett, Senior Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: "There’s an app for that!" In August 2013, a mobile testing service, StarDust, released a study showing on average, 2,371 new apps are published every day. Technology is helping us be more self-sufficient while speeding up our lives with quicker ways to get work done. It is also squeezing out the one thing that is the core of service: our humanity. Excellent service comes from people, not technology. The warmth and sincerity of a genuine smile can only come from the heart of another human being. With that said, we do need to embrace technology because it is necessary to remain relevant and engaged. Product and Process, or as we call them, "The Systems Behind the Smiles," create the platform for training our Ladies and Gentlemen. We must stay up-to-date on the latest technology, and in 2014, The Ritz-Carlton rolled out an app that successfully married technology with the luxury experience. The mobile app provides a convenience, but it is the enlightened leadership and engaged employees that create the outcome. In other words, what really matters is how we deliver excellent service alongside the most current technological advances. Genuine care and comfort can’t be downloaded on your smartphone but only uploaded from my heart to yours. ∞ On Monday, April 13, 2015, The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center presents "Your Journey to Service Excellence," The Ritz-Carlton approach to legendary service, employee engagement and a customer-centric culture. This special Symposium takes place at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Learn more about the keynote speaker, the presentation speakers, and the members of The Ritz-Carlton Executive Panel. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Does Technology Enhance Customer Service? appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

 What a weekend! On Sunday, Bradley Wiggins raced through the streets of Paris to become the first British winner of the Tour de France. Team Sky and Wiggins also sealed an historic fourth Champs Elysees stage win for Mark Cavendish, thr 23rd Tour stage victory of his career. We’re sure these results will give Team GB athletes and the rest of the country a huge boost ahead of the Olympics, which are now just days away. Although this is very exciting, it does come with its own problems, too. It is not hard to notice that London has already started to swell in size. Even walking down the streets there seems to be more people about and that’s before you even get into a train or tube station. With an estimated 11 million visitors planning to head to the capital at some point during the next month, it’s going to get busier. So the questions is, will you be braving the M4 each morning or will the trip from your bed to the sofa be as treacherous as your commute gets? Will you be squeezing yourself onto a packed Northern line train to get to that client meeting or will this finally be the month you get your boss using video conferencing? Either way, we really hope everyone manages to enjoy the games, but just in case you haven’t had a chance to get fully prepared yet, here is our guide to surviving the next four weeks: If you can’t view the embedded guide below, you can download it here: Citrix Olympics Survival Guide Citrix Olympic Survival Guide For Small Businesses from GoToMeeting You can also follow our updates and tweet us any questions that you have at @GoToMeetingUK.   Photo credit: Andy Wilkes

Working in customer service may not always seem like a privilege. Customers can be unkind, irritable and even angry. However, when you are an empowered customer service agent who is told to surprise and delight customers, your role takes on new meaning. You are allowed and encouraged to express creativity and initiative. But more than that, you can look for ways to bring extra joy to people. You become a sort of fairy godmother for your customers because you can make wishes come true. What a privilege! Your job is no longer just checking people in or dusting a room. Your job is to make genuine connections with customers and create lasting memories. The following excerpt from a guest letter is one example of what happens when empowered employees transform customer service into genuine caring and giving. Thank You Letter from Guest "I am a working mother of two little boys, and in September 2012, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was quite a shock, but I had a successful surgery and started chemotherapy. When I thought my chemo was going to be complete, I decided the best way to celebrate was a girls’ night at The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, with my best friend. I called the reservations line and the woman on the phone asked if it was a special occasion. I told her not really, just a girls’ weekend to celebrate the end of my chemotherapy sessions. I never gave that call another thought. "Last Saturday when we checked in, we were greeted by [a woman from Guest Relations], who introduced herself and congratulated me. I truly had no idea why she was congratulating me! My friend and I were handed a glass of champagne and a gentleman took our bags. I did notice that [the Front Desk Agent] and the rest of the staff were all wearing the signature pink breast cancer awareness ribbons, but I assumed there was something else going on in the hotel. I would never dream they were wearing the ribbons for me!! "Upon entering our guest room, I noticed a wrapped package on the bed. I opened it and it was a compilation of 56 different hand-written notes from the staff/employees, all put in a frame. These notes were all to encourage me during my cancer journey. I was shocked and touched. "I know The Ritz-Carlton has built its brand on customer service, but to me, that gift was more than just customer service … that was family. I am not a prominent citizen. I am not famous. I will probably not meet most of the folks that took the time to write a note to me. Your staff truly had nothing to gain by going so far above and beyond for me, making the experience all the more special. I will always treasure that gift, and my weekend at The Ritz-Carlton! "Thank you for instilling a culture of kindness and personal touch at your hotel." The Privilege of Serving The motto of The Ritz-Carlton — "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" — ensures that all customers (and employees) are treated with dignity, grace and courtesy. When organizations put customers first and empower employees to follow through with this priority — customer service becomes a privilege and results in cherished and lasting memories for all. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post The Privilege of Customer Service appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Ever since I read Anne-Marie Slaughter’s controversial article "Why Women Still Can’t Have It All" in The Atlantic, I’ve been thinking about what having it all really means. For me, having it all has evolved throughout my career. When I was starting out in the business world after graduate school, having it all meant working 60-hour work weeks, laser-focused on advancing my career to the stage where I could make a real difference for an organization. With no family at that time, my job was my only priority. I was moving up the ranks of my company with a role that meant something - in my eyes, I had it all. Over the next dozen or so years, I got married, had two wonderful daughters and found a senior role at Citrix as the VP and GM of Access and Cloud Services. My priorities changed, and with them, my version of having it all. Delivering an inspirational presentation at the annual sales conference was just as important as watching my daughter’s lacrosse game.  It wasn’t easy, but I knew what having it all meant to me, so I adapted to achieve it. Nowadays, I get up at 4:30 AM every morning to sneak in a workout and some morning emails before my husband and kids leave bed. By 7:00 AM, I’m back in mom-mode making sure the kids have breakfast, packing their lunches and getting them out the door for school. If I need to slip out in the middle of the day for a parent-teacher conference, I make sure to block out my calendar and let my teams know when I’ll be out and when I’ll be back online. Having it all takes work, and there are 3 main factors that make it possible for me: A supportive husband and family who recognize the demands of a high-pressure role A flexible employer who allows me to work where and when I need to, providing the work gets done (my job is never 9 to 5) A set of tools that allow me to untether myself from the office and collaborate effectively with my teams - wherever they are Having it all is a journey, and it’s a journey that requires compromise. Sometimes having it all is a 60-hour work week; other times it’s being there with your family for the moments that matter. You have to recognize what matters most and tailor your life accordingly. Take my sister-in-law for example. She was a senior expat executive at a Fortune 100 company, and when her children were teenagers, she left her job. For her, having it all then was staying at home and being a full-time mom during her children’s most formative years. After 3 years of being a stay-at-home mom, her kids left for college and she re-entered the workforce. At one time in her life, having it all was a full-time job, and at another, it was being a full-time mom. Having it all isn’t a one-size-fits-all notion, and it’s not just about balancing your work and life - it’s the evolution of work and life. For me, having it all is working at a great company, raising my wonderful children and having my supportive husband by my side.   Photo credit: The Atlantic

"Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business." — Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: Our hearts beat faster and our palms get a little sweaty as we step up to greet the customer who wants to "speak to the manager, now!" How would that conversation change if we introduced ourselves with: "I understand you have a matter to bring to our attention, and I want to thank you"? As a leader, we should approach our customers as partners who help us constantly improve, and we should appreciate the gift of feedback. The Ritz-Carlton leaders view critical guest comments as a necessity in order to remain the top luxury hotel brand. When a guest hands us an opportunity, every Lady and Gentleman is empowered to rebuild the trust with our guest and show them why they chose to stay with us. ∞ The Blog Post Inspired Thinking: Gift of Feedback appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

By the end of 2012, the number of mobile devices will exceed the world’s population of almost 7 billion people, says TechCrunch.com. We know everyone’s mobile, everyone’s wireless and everyone’s device is different. From smartphones to tablets and laptops, mobile devices have simply become a pervasive business necessity. They are the tools we can’t live without. My first thought is: who is going to support all these mobile devices? OK, IT managers, directors and VPs. Probably someone from your team. So today, I dedicate this post to you and all the tech wizards whose job it is to keep mobile devices up and running. Mobile Device Support is something you probably perform on a daily basis, and Citrix understands that all too well. We face those same challenges. That’s why we recently introduced the ability to provide support to iPad and iPhone users and their mobile devices. Yes, your technicians can conduct secure chat sessions, update profiles and configure device settings directly from the GoToAssist Remote Support web UI, system tray or from an iPad or Android device. GoToAssist, the market leader in remote support, delivers cloud-based tools to help IT professionals support people and machines. The GoToAssist Remote Support service newest feature, Mobile Device Support for iOS, enables IT pros to proactively assist end users on iOS devices via mobile optimized chat. Technicians can also share profiles that they have created with the iPhone Configuration Utility to troubleshoot problems and set business policies. Mobile Device Support for iOS capabilities: End-user web chat optimized for receiving support on a mobile device. IT can share device configuration profiles directly with end users. Integrates with iPhone configuration utility. IT admins can specify each shared configuration profile’s "time to live." Profiles can be shared directly via mobile chat. GoToAssist’s mobile optimized chat combined with the ability to share profiles enhances IT’s ability to support iOS devices and improves end-user satisfaction. And don’t forget, your technicians also have the ability to deliver support from anywhere using an iPad or Android mobile device. This is great for the support from use case, where techs can instantly connect to computers and solve clients’ technical issues directly from their mobile device (yes, it’s free). Access unattended machines and provide advanced remote support with a paid subscription. Not a current subscriber of GoToAssist Remote Support and IT Monitoring? Try it out today - FREE for 30 days.  

Dear Ritz-Carlton: Does employee empowerment impact employee engagement? Answer from Jennifer Blackmon, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: There is an unlimited amount of dialogue available today surrounding the concept of empowerment and how that can lead to an engaged workforce. Unfortunately, many organizations that are marking that off their checklist are still missing the mark. The real meaning of empowerment, at least from an employee perspective, is freedom. To truly be empowered means that you are free: free to make decisions to the best of your ability in the moment and regardless of cost — and you don’t need to check with anyone first. Free to take care of a customer’s needs without any hassles or policy binders restricting a successful outcome for you or for them. Free to look for ways to emotionally connect with a customer that is supported and encouraged through time and resources. Empowerment can be a driving force on the path to employee engagement but it must be given fully — no questions asked. ∞ On Monday, April 13, 2015, The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center presents "Your Journey to Service Excellence," The Ritz-Carlton approach to legendary service, employee engagement and a customer-centric culture. This special Symposium takes place at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Learn more about the keynote speaker, the presentation speakers, and the members of The Ritz-Carlton Executive Panel. The Blog Post Dear Ritz-Carlton: Employee Empowerment and Engagement appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Olympics 2012 is an opportunity for businesses to think long-term and establish more productive working practices. We’ve had the record-breaking rain, the teething problems, even the odd fiasco - but really, what British event would be complete without them? The fact is, London is now well and truly raring to go for the Olympics. Even the sun has come to the party. But let’s not jinx it by talking about it too much.  If you’re a business owner in the capital, it’s likely you’ll have considered how the Olympics is going to affect you. This may be a daunting prospect, but it’s also a brilliant opportunity to establish new, more productive working practices. Think long-term Being stuck in a traffic jam or elbow-to-elbow on a delayed train is no way to carry on business as usual. By getting a remote working solution in place an organisation can call on those resources immediately in the event of unforeseen circumstances, knowing that they work in practice. Whether it’s attending a virtual meeting, training session or accessing vital files securely, a remote working solution can ensure continuity and a ‘business as usual’ approach is maintained, even if you or your staff can’t physically make it into the office. Get the business onboard It’s not too late to implement an operational change such as remote working. There will be new systems and new ways of working to get used to and this may seem challenging. However, if ever there was a time to reduce business travel time and cost, and improve work-life balance, it’s now. You can make the transition to new solutions and strategies smoother by implementing them step by step. Plan out a strategy that takes account of likely workforce interruptions, emphasise the benefits to staff and the business, and you’ll take control of what in the past may have been an unpredictable situation.  Get specialist support So you’re ready to go. Even so, it can be hard to know where to start. Fortunately there are specialist providers out there who are able to offer support throughout the transition. By using bespoke hosted solutions, easy-to-use technologies can be put in place rapidly with best practice in mind. These solutions also tend to be very cost-effective as there is little up-front investment and you only pay for what you require. Good luck! We’re offering GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting free for the duration of the Games. Visit gotomeeting.co.uk or gotomypc.co.uk and enter the code GOTOGOLD. Plus, we’ve put together a guide for surviving the Olympics, available here (PDF). Photo credit: siddienam

85% of workers are open to finding a new job—even when they are satisfied in their current position. In today’s competitive market, being a good manager and leading from the head is not enough. You need more than good business expertise and the right organizational structure to foster employee retention. You need managers who lead with the heart as well as with the head. Employees crave authentic connections to their leaders. When workers are able to trust their leaders and believe that their leaders care about them, then they feel a greater sense of loyalty—which increases retention. The Credo card of The Ritz-Carlton reminds employees—known as our Ladies and Gentlemen—to provide guests with genuine care and comfort. Leadership must extend this same genuine care and comfort to employees. When your employees feel supported, respected and appreciated, they are more likely to stay in their positions and represent your organization with pride. How can leaders reassure employees that their contributions are valued? One way is for leaders to step out of "autopilot mode." Managers need to move beyond just going through their daily routine and try to be in the moment. When they are in the moment and alert to employees’ needs, leaders have a much better chance of connecting with employees. Here are some practical steps leaders can take to cultivate employee loyalty: Listen (to groups and individuals) Now more than ever before, you need to wear the hat of Chief Listening Officer in your organization. You need to make sure you devote a few meetings each week to simply listening to staff, colleagues and customer comments. When you are in these meetings, you should be in the moment and show you are engaged through eye contact, nodding, and good body language. Be Visible It is tempting to gain extra time in the day by eating a quick lunch at your desk where you can return emails and phone calls. However, your peers are in the employee dining room wondering why you never join them for lunch. Make it a point to join your colleagues for lunch at least once a week. Or drop in on a departmental staff meeting. It’s not necessary to say anything; just your presence conveys that their work matters to you. Show Gratitude To an overworked employee, a word of thanks can make a huge impact. Recognition is always important, but especially when circumstances don’t allow you to reward them financially. Find a contribution that you particularly appreciate about an employee and explain why it matters to you. The more specific you can be the better. It makes your praise all the more believable and meaningful. Invest Be sure that your teams are engaged in meaningful work and that you have good development plans for them. If things slow down for your team, turn the employees loose on key projects that are coming down the pipeline for them in the future to help build their skills now. Showing a genuine interest in your employees’ professional development demonstrates your commitment to their long-term success. By acknowledging employees efforts and showing genuine care, leaders can increase employee engagement, inspire trust and create loyalty. The by-products of an engaged workforce include less absenteeism and greater employee retention. Employees who feel valued work harder and are more comfortable expressing initiative. When managers lead with both their heart and their head, they can bring out the best in their employees, who will share their best with their customers, and everyone will win. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post Connecting with Employees appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

It may be easier than you think to maintain "business as usual" despite hurdles such as the Olympics. From Danny Boyle’s inspiring opening ceremony staged by thousands of volunteers to the incredible feats performed by the world’s top athletes, it’s been an amazing first week for the Olympics. We should also congratulate London’s public transport services. According to news reports and our own observations, there has been less disruption to commuters than expected. I think this can be attributed, at least in part, to the number of businesses embracing flexible working, which has lessened congestion in the capital. The benefits certainly stack up. For example, according to an experiment carried out by O2 ahead of the Olympics, 88 per cent of employees were just as productive working remotely, with one-third even finishing more work than usual. These positive results are due to the right preparation and the right technology, which together enable businesses with remote staff to match, and even surpass, the productivity of office workers. Making it happen A common misconception is that implementing an effective flexible working solution is an intensive and costly process. In fact, it can be surprisingly easy, as well as affordable. Today’s remote working software is effective across a wide range of corporate and consumer devices. In many cases, this means that staff will be able to use their own devices, resulting in productivity boosts and cost savings for the business. And since the software is simple to install, apps can be loaded on select devices quickly and tailored to individual employee needs. Of course, another barrier to the spread of flexible working is the widely held belief that the practice is a "skiver’s paradise", as Boris Johnson put it. I have to respectfully disagree with the mayor of London. As more businesses experience the benefits highlighted by the O2 experiment, we’ll see flexible working become much more commonplace, in both the next few weeks and the foreseeable future. In addition to world-class facilities, urban regeneration and golden memories, the Games will leave a lasting legacy with flexible working. London Commuter Mood We’ve been monitoring the mood of London’s commuters on Twitter during our summer of sport, and it’s been a fascinating experiment so far. It remains to be seen whether the current low levels of disruption will continue. Follow @GoToMeetingUK for our daily #LoCoMo updates! Photo credit: pondspider.