Ritz Carlton CRM programme

Ritz-Carltons Hotel's CRM programme has an outstanding reputation within the hospitality industry and is presented as best practice example in many publications of academic literature. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a combination of people, processes and technology that seeks to understand a company's customers. It is an integrated approach to managing relationships by focusing on customer retention and relationship development. Although a large portion of CRM is technology, viewing CRM as a technology-only solution is likely to fail. A successful CRM implementation requires an integrated and balanced approach to technology, process, and people.

For Ritz-Carlton Hotels, excellent service has long been a competitive advantage. To extend that advantage by automating the customer service process, the company in 1998 implemented a customer relationship management program called CLASS --"Customer Loyalty Anticipation and Satisfaction System". Currently, much of the information that is fed into CLASS is gleaned in a low-tech but reliable way. A "guest preference pad" is part of each employee's uniform. Any guest preferences are noted on the pad and routed to the guest recognition office. Employees can also call a hotline to share the information. The company vision, however, is that all employees throughout the hotels will soon be able to access CLASS directly. The company is now investigating the benefits of using portable technology, such as handheld devices, to assist in widening staff access to the database. The company recognizes that the most important component of the CRM system is Ritz Carlton's employees and the process built around them. They supply the initial information that is added to the system as well as carry out the services detailed within the system. If the employees didn't put the information to real, concrete use the system would be worthless.

http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/News/Daily-News/For-Ritz-Carlton,-It-All-Begins-with-Customer-Knowledge-47424.aspx

http://gmj.gallup.com/content/112906/How-RitzCarlton-Manages-Mystique.aspx