Valuetainment
“Make Me Feel Seen” - Ritz Carlton Founder DEFINES The Moment Customer Service Is Won Or Lost
21 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What does it mean to make customers feel seen and valued?
Now, listen, the guy that you went into your room who runs our cigar lounge now, his name is Mikel. I have to give him a shout out. Mikel was the general manager of an Italian restaurant here that I would go to three times a week.
I know.
I told you the story?
Yeah. No, no, no. You used to three days, but you ended up going five days.
Yes. But let me tell you what happened with him. Finally, one day, he wants to start his own thing. I said, why don't you come here and run this whole place? The feeling he gives you, Horst, He's able to make the customer feel like you're the only thing that exists in the world. It is such a valuable skill for a human being to have. It's such a valuable skill for a human being to have.
And I'm willing to pay premium for that. It's a very, very valuable thing for somebody. You work hard. You want to go to a place to be left alone. So where do you go to right now? Restaurant. Where do you go to right now where you feel like the service here is impeccable? What are some places you go today you like the service you get?
We have... Some small places not known in Atlanta. You see, I travel still 100 days a year. Really? I used to drive over 200 days a year. What happens when I arrive somewhere?
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Chapter 2: How does empathy play a role in customer service?
They pick you up at a limousine. They take you to a gourmet restaurant. I don't want to go to a gourmet restaurant when I come home with my wife. We stay home or we go to some similar spot. People know us there, and so you have the attention because they know you. And people say, we're glad you're here. And that's what you want. If that...
gentlemen in the Ritz here would have said to you, my gosh, please forgive me. I messed up.
I would have moved on. By the way, I would have moved on the moment. If he would have just came up and give me the attention and say, we messed up, he told me the truth, and if there was a valid reason why they moved the room, I would have had no problem.
What we certified earlier, we talked about it, every employee on problem resolution. We certified every employee, 24,000 employees around the world. And they said, the first thing is you listen to the complaint, you listen, then you show empathy, and then you apologize as if it was your own, but you own it, and then you make amends. And 50% is not an amend.
A situation like that, of course, we will not charge you. Of course, not we give you 50%, no, of course we will not charge you because we mess up.
Forgive me. Yeah, and that's what it was. By the way, the guy that helped us out, His name was Juan, very nice guy. He said, Patrick, I told him don't do it. The director of events was a guy named Chris. I won't say his last name. And then the other guy that called us the next day, the director of operations was a guy named Sam. And Jose was the GM.
And I think Jose is the one that sent the email for 50%. I was very turned off.
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Chapter 3: What are effective strategies for resolving customer complaints?
I was very turned off by that. I mean, 50%. I could care less about the money.
But it doesn't matter.
Who cares about the money? Again, that's the challenge, right? A brand, if the existing founder, driver, CEO doesn't run customer service properly, Starbucks hires a guy that comes to them It's a previous guy from Pepsi who used to be a consultant for some big consulting firm. They bring him in, 18 months, revenue drops. It's a messy of a culture. Then they bring a guy in, Brian Nickel.
Brian Nickel comes from Chipotle. He gets in. He changes the culture. Starbucks is back on the rise again. One great leader can change a company.
Of course. Because you as a leader, you establish culture. the philosophy comes from you because people immediately copy you and it goes all the way down. And if you do something negative, they think you want that. That's it. Or standards are gone. That's why I say that you don't compromise standards. You own the standards as a leader. You own the standards. But coming down all to a simple thing,
I cannot expect my thousands of Starbucks to each one be singly trained by me, but they all know, they all should know, here's the standard, we are here to care for people. They have to know that and they have to be reminded of that. We remind those 20 things. You cannot go to work. You will be reminded of one of them today. Today is number 12, tomorrow is 13, and 20 days, number 12 again.
I love that, the pointing finger. There's a bathroom, horse. You want to use the restroom? Right there, walk down here. And done it, done it. Four cars and you get lost. Yeah, versus somebody takes you there.
And then we taught them, of course, you take them there and you create a relationship.
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Chapter 4: How can leaders establish a culture of service excellence?
You say, have you tried our restaurant? Are you a hotel guest? Yes. Have you tried a restaurant? I hope you had a chance. If you're outside, but you, oh, you didn't, don't stand with that, but you should try the restaurant. Everybody likes it. So you have conversation and you're selling something at the same time.
You're selling something, yeah. What would you say is your biggest gift? Like, what's your superpower? Mine? Yeah, what's your superpower? Oh, relentless. Relentless. Yeah. Would your wife say the same thing about you?
Probably, yeah, probably. She would say you're relentless. Probably, but in the positive way, think about wife, think about marriage. It's the same thing. What is your high intent? When I got married, before I got married, I saw my wife, and there was so much love. I mean, come on. I mean, young man, you look, wow, wow, this beautiful, wonderful human being, and we're going to get married.
And then I thought, wait a minute, I know friends are getting divorced because they don't feel like it anymore. And then I established my high intent. I will be in love for the rest of my life. In that moment, and that is the model of leadership, have intent, purpose. But then you have to commit yourself to it, not have a pipe dream.
And then you have to initiate the things that make it happen and keep focus on it. And that's where people break down. They focus all of a sudden on an excuse.
What was your philosophy in raising kids?
Raising kids, two things we want to accomplish, my wife and I. Please forgive me, everybody. We want them to believe us.
Okay.
And we want them to understand the difference between wrong and right integrity, people with integrity. That's it? That's it.
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Chapter 5: What lessons can be learned from Starbucks' customer service challenges?
That's it. Those are the key things that we worked on, prayed for, and were successful.
Are they in the business you're in or no?
No, not at all.
Is it two girls or four girls?
Four girls.
Okay, I want to make sure I get that fact right because two places said two different things.
That's great. So even family, you have to have objectives. My objective was to be in love with my wife and I am in love with my wife. But I work on my mind even. When I drive into the driveway and the gate opens, I say, thank you, God, for my wonderful wife. I can't wait to take an arm now.
Affirmations.
You have to work on it. I mean, if you let... And I'm...
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Chapter 6: How does leadership influence company culture and customer experience?
And I said, here, this kid is teaching me how to communicate.
Good for her.
Wow. And I realized I didn't want to talk about it. What if I'm wrong?
Let's talk about it. Maybe you're right. Maybe you're right. You guys have been married now, what, 47 years?
47 years, yeah.
Unbelievable. Good for you. Oh, it's great. Good for you. Respect for doing that.
What a great thing.
Unbelievable.
I mean, look, what is this marriage? The only God-ordained union, the greatest union there is. Why wouldn't you work like crazy on it?
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