Ritz Carlton Hotels rank among the top "customer service" companies in the world. Their "Gold Standard" is highly praised, and is used as a "best practice" training model in many similar hotels. It is therefore, the benchmark is providing customer service in the lodging sector of our industry. We can learn much from the Ritz-Carlton Gold Standard and their exceptional customer service philosophy and orientation. "Putting on the Ritz" has always meant top-quality, the best of the best. In a recent independent survey, 99 percent of guests said they were satisfied with their Ritz-Carlton hotel experience and over 80 percent stated they extremely satisfied. The Ritz-Carlton focuses on taking care of their customers and employees and this creates an amazing standard of customer service. The key to impressive customer service is to create loyal customers. Loyal customers return again and again to spend there money and are less price sensitive. Satisfied customers might return, but are equally likely to go anywhere else and seek out the lowest price. In this context, it could be argued that satisfaction is near meaningless and only loyalty truly counts. Objectives Assess the effect a top-level Quality Service plan has on customer loyalty. Instructions Following the instructions below is the Gold Standard which can be found on the Ritz Carlton website. After reviewing, provide an analysis of the following statement: "Ritz Carlton Gold Standard: Why it should be the Benchmark for Hospitality Customer Service Teams Across the World" Within the body of the paper, research and touch upon where the general level of customer service is currently in our industry (can be in broad terms), where we need to go as an industry, and how various companies might learn from the Ritz Carlton Model. For example, how might a company go about implementing a "Gold Standard" plan to increase its level on quality customer service? You may give specific examples from your research, but if you do, be sure to site them in your bibliography. Personal opinion is also welcome.....be creative, but also validate your opinions through cited support or cited contrasting perspectives