The Five Diamonds of Customer Service Leadership
Eventually, I saved enough to purchase a well-used
Triumph, my first
automobile! British-made sports cars are ill-suited for the harsh winters
of Cleveland, taking all my rudimentary mechanical skills and ingenuity to
keep it running. At one point, I had parts of the transmission scattered on
the garage floor, prompting my father to say: “That car will never run
again.”
Motivation indeed!! Three hours later it was back on the
road again.
Looking back on my teenager years, I have come to realize that mowing
lawns taught me the connection between work and reward. Keeping my
car running taught me the lessons of resourcefulness, anticipatory
maintenance, and the confidence that I could take on difficult and
daunting challenges.
Over the course of three decades I worked for savvy
organizations that
thrived in competitive situations; thinking smart and embracing change
as the business community was recognizing that customer service was
just as important as the product. In simple essence it was the Golden
Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Working for the
Marriott, Hilton and Carlson organizations was a series of remarkable
experiences, seeing how the best minds in the hospitality industry
worked through tough economic climates in a competitive industry where
supply typically exceeded demand.
At the Wentworth Mansion, the challenge was to use all my
experience to
move the operation toward its goal. I began to develop and implement
my Five Diamonds of Customer Service Leadership. It was clear to me
the greatest obstacle in our path to the Five Diamond goal was a
property-wide commitment to service that was consistent, sincere,
anticipatory and professional. It’s what sets a property apart from its
Four Diamond competition, and it is the defining aspect of a Five
Diamond operation.