As the owner of a survey company that helps senior living communities make improvements designed to delight and retain their residents and employees, I am always looking for customer service best practice models inside and outside the senior living industry to share with my clients. The one that always stands out in my mind as phenomenally successful comes from the hospitality industry. The Ritz-Carlton legendary model of customer service. Although the Ritz-Carlton model has many aspects that make it great, from the way they hire employees to how they empower staff members to deliver “wow” service to their guests, what I like most for its simple elegance is what this hotel empire refers to as their three steps of service.

RITZ-CARLTON THREE STEPS OF SERVICE:

1. A warm sincere greeting. Use the guest’s name.
2. Anticipation and fulfillment of each guest’s needs.
3. A fond farewell. Give a warm goodbye and use the guest’s name.

Step 2 is so powerful it deserves its own space, so we’ll address that one in an upcoming post. Let’s focus on steps 1 and 3. Imagine you’ve lost your physical independence, are confined to a wheelchair, and have moved to a group care setting. All day long people you may or may not know fly in and out of your day providing some type of service for you. Now imagine some of these folks aren’t making eye contact with you, aren’t smiling, and aren’t saying hello or acknowledging you by name. How would that make you feel? Not good I’m assuming. Now Imagine the opposite. A warm smile, eyes meet, a friendly “Good Morning, Mrs. Carlson. How are you this morning?”, and on the way out the door “I’ll see you again at lunchtime, Mrs. Carlson. Enjoy your breakfast.”

If I could guarantee you that your resident satisfaction, retention, and occupancy levels would increase just by having your staff members extend a warm smile and personal greeting to your residents as they encounter them throughout the day, would you make it a priority in your community? It seems like such a small gesture, but as you can imagine it’s the kind of thing that goes a long way in building a sense of caring and community. It’s also the kind of thing that builds resident loyalty, positive word of mouth, and…you guessed it…fewer move outs and more move ins.

A 2010 study found that 79% of Ritz-Carlton customers are engaged – that is, they demonstrate high loyalty, retention, effort, advocacy, and passion for Ritz-Carlton. Take a guess what factor was cited as one of the key catalysts to customer engagement.

EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEE EFFORT.

Employees who go above and beyond their required duties show the kind of effort that engages customers and leads to repeated business, or in the case of senior living, high resident retention, referrals, and ultimately occupancy. The point is it doesn’t have to be hard. A warm smile and sincere greeting from you and your staff members will go along with your residents and will set the stage for new employee expectations.

If you already have a solid customer service component built into your employee training program then you are ahead of the curve compared to many others in the industry. If not, I recommend you try it. And let me know how it goes!

Do you have an amazing customer service story you would like to share?  We would love to hear it!  Please comment below or send it to me at lynn@sensightsurveys.com.