WOW Stories! How to make a touch point a meaningful moment

WHAT IT IS?

Nowadays hospitality industry is a high competitive field, where most hotels sell similar services and experiences. Hotels are not only competing with other hotels in the same destination. In fact, due to globalization and the digitalization, they are also competing with other destinations creating an even more adverse business scenario. In this competitive scenario is challenging for companies operating in the sector to set themselves apart from their main competitors.

For this reason, many hotels in the world are trying to find new marketing strategies to distinguish from their rivals.
A nice marketing strategy but also cute touchpoint with the guest is represented by the “WoW Stories” symbol of The Ritz-Carlton experience worldwide.
Wow Stories range from small personal moments to complex and involved displays of caring. As long as the intention is genuine and the action instills pride, employees are empowered by the company to create these memorable moments. And that’s exactly what they are: memorable. For example:

A couple traveled to Seoul, Korea to adopt the newest member of their family… After the couple completed the adoption, they brought their new son with them to the hotel. The Guest Relations Agent heard the mother speaking to her son one morning and realized that they were having trouble communicating because the mother knew very little Korean. The Guest Relations Agent helped the mother by translating several common English baby words into Korean. This enabled the mother to quickly and easily communicate with her son when he was hungry or tired… They expressed their thanks, saying that they would leave the hotel with many happy memories of their new family.

The ultimate goal is to provide amazing customer service.

Ritz-Carlton yacht collection staff preparing typical Hamburg food for a guest who have been living 20 years far from home


This nice and genuine gesture of customer care that Ritz Carlton encourages its employees to do is a perfect example of Personalized Service. Through these small touchpoints the company is able to create meaningful experiences for its guests, ensuring on one side guest loyalty and a learning opportunity for the whole team worlwide.

Yes, worldwide! because Wow story are not only lived and enjoyed by the guest and the employees in that moment, but also shared through the intranet and read by all the associates around the world during their daily line up, allowing all employees to learn the company’s best practices around the world.

Hand-drawn postcards from Barcelona

WHY IT´S COOL?

  • Personalized service
  • Meaningful experience
  • Customer Care
  • Creates life long relationship with the guest

WHY IT HAS FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL?

This touchpoint has future growth potential since it is a way to create lifelong guests who will definitely choose the hotel chain for their stays all around the world whenever possible.

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  1. How cool is this "Seed"?

    Does it have future growth potential?

    I find this touch point very original. We are used to thinking about material factors, and we don’t consider that many people’s (including me) good memories for a hotel are so related to how they feel there.
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  2. How cool is this "Seed"?

    Does it have future growth potential?

    Mattia. Welcome. And well-done. You really hit an emotional-intelligent Touch Point (from the Ritz’s Golden Standard book 🙂 Good understanding and good beginning! Room for improvement: yes! There is something wrong with the design, maybe you uploaded not 100% okay – but that’s not a real point. A bit more succinct writing can be done. Good use of bold. Pics are not too much in synch with your story – but I fully recognize that zooming in on the Korean baby is too much asked for, even impossible. Look forward to see you in class. CR
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  3. How cool is this "Seed"?

    Does it have future growth potential?

    I love how The Ritz-Carlton’s “Wow Stories” concept offers a personalized, human touch that can really set them apart. It’s these memorable moments that create a lasting impact and keep guests coming back. It’s inspiring to see how creativity and empathy can be turned into powerful marketing strategies!
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  4. How cool is this "Seed"?

    Does it have future growth potential?

    Hi Mattia! Ritz-Carlton’s “Wow Stories” creates lasting and meaningful guest experiences for sure, which sets a high bar for customer service in the hospitality industry. The idea that these small, yet impactful moments not only foster guest loyalty but also serve as learning tools for staff worldwide is amazing, The practice of creating memorable touchpoints or memories like those at Ritz-Carlton is indeed noteworthy, but it is not entirely unique in the hospitality industry; many luxury hotels and chains strive to create personalized and impactful guest experiences as a way to foster loyalty and differentiate themselves. However, the systematic way Ritz-Carlton captures and shares these experiences across its network to continuously improve service might set it apart. Great writing!!!
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  5. How cool is this "Seed"?

    Does it have future growth potential?

    Good night, Mattia!
    I really love your idea! I also work for Marriott, specifically at the W Barcelona. We have a similar concept to the Ritz-Carlton, but we call it “Wow Moments.” I mentioned these little surprises for our guests in my post as well. I shared an example in my post about what we did for Bizarrap last year.
    In my supervisory role, I always emphasize to my team the importance of brainstorming ways to delight our guests. The key is to actively listen to them and then surprise them with the perfect choice.
    While I truly enjoy providing this personalized customer service, I must admit that it can be challenging to plan something special for guests during busy times, like the summer season. As I like to say, hotels don’t just sell rooms anymore; they sell experiences! This is a fantastic way to create lasting memories and impact our guests’ emotions.
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  6. From my point of view, this topic is fantastic. I consider very helpful this extra customer service point at any hotel to make the difference. Even more it cames from countries with a particular culture.
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