Last December I worked with a hotel leadership team in Dayton, OH. One of the discussions lead to identifying the obstacles that stood in the way of creating promoters of its hotel.

Consumer research firm Bain and Company defines promoters as those customers who are the least price-sensitive, have the highest repurchase rates, and are responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of positive word-of-mouth.

One of the executives, Ryan, mentioned that the frequency of problems experienced by hotel guests was an obstacle. In examining this further, it became clear that a contributing factor was the condition of the hotel’s guest rooms due to needed renovations that had been postponed due to the economy.

And they’re not alone. I’ve spoken with numerous hoteliers who are in the same position. They must now get by with a product that, in a more robust economy, likely would have been renovated by now. Because the product is worn, it contributes to the increase in reported problems experienced by hotel guests.

So what’s a hotel to do? Here’s an idea that I received from Horst Schulze, Founding President and Former COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., LLC. Mr. Schulze calls it the C.A.R.E. (Clean And Repair Everything) program:

Before the C.A.R.E. program, Ritz-Carlton hotels would take an entire floor of a hotel out of service once a year in order to deep-clean guest rooms. By doing so, its guest rooms would not deteriorate as quickly. At 75 percent occupancy, a typical Ritz-Carlton hotel room would last for five years.

Under the C.A.R.E. program, four rooms were taken out of service and deep cleaned every day. This meant the room was like new every three months. In a typical Ritz-Carlton hotel, a ten year-old room was newer and cleaner looking than a two year-old room in other hotels.

What effect did the C.A.R.E. program have on the frequency of problems experienced by its guests? The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., LLC is a two-time recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. During the last year Ritz-Carlton received the award, there was only one reported defect per 10,000 room nights sold!

What has your experience been? What are you doing to anticipate and reduce the problems experienced by your own customers?

Last night I pulled into the parking lot of my local Chick-fil-A and noticed an employee wearing a bright yellow Chick-fil-A raincoat and holding an over-sized black and white umbrella—as it was pouring outside. At first I thought he was leaving work and heading to his car but then I watched as he came alongside the driver’s door of a car that had just pulled to a stop in the parking lot. He proceeded to escort the driver and passenger through the rain to the restaurant entrance under cover of the umbrella.

I was amazed! Now, keep in mind that my expectations of Chick-fil-A customer service are pretty high to begin with. After all, they’re sort of the Nordstrom of quick service restaurants. If you have visited one of their restaurants in the past, then you know what I’m talking about—Chick-fil-A customer service is not typical of the fast food industry. Even so, I was amazed by this outstanding and unexpected act of service!

At a time when most operators in the restaurant industry are cutting back—and for good reasons: soaring food and energy costs; reduced sales due to consumers feeling the pinch of record gas prices; not to mention the recent increase in the federal minimum wage to $6.55 per hour—Chick-fil-A is raising the bar!

It reminds me of an interview I saw on CNN the other day. The story was about the massive decline in gaming revenues in Las Vegas as a result of the anemic economy. In the interview, one developer who is in the midst of building a multi-billion dollar casino was asked, “Aren’t you taking a big risk by developing a multi-billion dollar casino in this economy?” He responded that he was not thinking about the investment paying off next month or next year, but that he was in it for the longterm.

To me, that’s the same statement that Chick-fil-A made with the umbrella-holding employee escort. Good for you Chick-fil-A! Rain or shine, I’ll be back!