Excellence Wins: Why Nonprofits Should Think Like the Ritz-Carlton
Show Notes:
In this episode of 7-Figure Fundraising, host Trevor Bragdon, interviews Horst Schulze, the Co-founder and former President of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group and Founder and chairman of the Capella Hotel Group. Under his leadership, Ritz-Carlton was awarded the 1992 and 1999 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and was voted “best hotel company in the world” by many conventions and trade publications. His innovative principles have reshaped the concepts of excellence, service and competitive advantage. In 2019, Schulze released the book, Excellence Wins, which describes his leadership and approach to customer service.
Horst’s Story
Horst begins by describing how he started in the hotel industry and why he wrote the book, Excellence Wins. Horst grew up in a small village where there were no hotels. When he was 11, he informed his parents about his dream of working in the hotel industry. With the closest hotel 100 kilometers away, he left home to begin working at age 14. At this particular hotel, the maître’d taught him the lifelong lesson, to not just work, but to create excellence. This led to a life-altering story when a colleague received a promotion over him because the coworker had superior excellence. From that point on he focused on creating excellence in all that he did, and his career grew from there. Then, Horst went to hotel school, where he wrote a paper, Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen. The paper was about defining ourselves and creating excellence. At this point, settling for mediocrity was not an option for Horst and he wanted to lead others to do the same.
After talking about his background in the industry, Horst also talks about the topics and goals of his recently published book. He states the book was meant to be a collection of stories that is readable for the younger generation and contains lessons and convictions for a CEO as well. The messages are encouraging for the younger generations to strive for their goals and propels leaders to produce excellence in their own work.
Creating Excellence in Work and Personal Life
Next, Horst shares how he implemented excellence in his own life and walks the listener through how to do this on their own. Using his personal story as an example, he shows how to start with a detailed vision of what you want to become, both as an individual and an organization. To illustrate his practices, he recounts his work with the Ritz-Carlton. Horst joined and helped start Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group and was the visionary behind Ritz-Carlton’s first hotels. To accomplish this undertaking, Horst studied the customer and investors by forming focus groups. From there, he created twenty principles that make the company superior to its competition, and it was the employee’s requirement to fulfill those principles. Listening to customers and understanding customer satisfaction were very important to accomplish Horst’s vision for the Ritz-Carlton. In contrast, he shares his thoughts on the corporate world today and their difficulties in achieving long term goals of customer satisfaction. He believes if you continually measure customer satisfaction and their feedback then your goals will be reached.
Engaging Donors Through Great Customer Service
Wrapping up, Horst discusses nonprofits and the lack of donor renewal. He states that a nonprofit needs to seize every moment as an opportunity to convince their donors to continue their support. Through every interaction, it is the duty of every employee to convince the guest or donor to stay or donate. When a donation is made, this is the beginning of the nonprofit donor relationship, which should be nurtured and cared for. Unfortunately, nonprofits aren’t thinking about the personal connections they can create after a donation. Horst talks about what nonprofits can do to create a personal connection, such as sending multiple letters and phone calls of appreciation. He talks about the value in providing great service, which takes little expense for the nonprofit but has a big impact. Horst shares the story of a company who used money to create future opportunities, instead of focusing on ways to provide excellent customer service, something that needs to be avoided.
Horst ends his interview with Trevor by sharing how other organizations and employees can utilize his rules of customer service and excellence. He believes every customer should feel cared for through kind communication. Horst even shares the story of working with the Chick-fil-a president to incorporate the response “my pleasure” after a customer interaction. He also highlights how employees can quickly implement a posture of excellence and customer service within the organization. Employees are inspired when they are a part of their organization's mission of excellence. His final advice is to look at the process, hire carefully, and join employees to your company purpose. Be aligned with your employees and communicate your expectations.
Key Takeaways:
0:25 - Trevor Bragdon introduces Horst Schulze, the co-founder and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group and founder and chairman of the Capella Hotel Group.
1:28 - Horst shares how he started in the hotel industry and why he wrote the book, Excellence Wins.
4:50 - Horst discusses a paper he wrote while in school, Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen.
7:07 - He talks about the topics and goals of his recently published book.
8:20 - Horst shares how he implemented excellence in his own life and his experiences at the Ritz-Carlton.
14:45 - He shares his thoughts on customer expectations.
16:58 - Horst shares his thoughts on how the corporate world has created poor customer service.
19:15 - Horst discusses non-profits and the lack of donor renewal.
22:24 - Horst discusses how nonprofits can create excellence for their donors.
26:52 - He states where leaders have failed to implement excellence, and what they can do to improve customer service.
34:10- Horst talks about how to communicate with customers and his experience of improving Chick-fil-a's communication style.
36:10 - He states what organizations can do to create an environment of excellence and help employees join the mission of excellence.
To learn more about Horst Schulze, text “Horst” to 797979 for more information.
Also, read Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze.