How to provide exceptional service

The best of the best customer service, says Damien O’Riordan, a 25-year veteran of the best in hospitality — The Ritz-Carlton — comes from a combination of constants.

Those constants are like a ladder: every rung needs to be there to make it all work in concert. The steps, says O’Riordan, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, since 2013, include:

• Aim high: In the easier-said-then-done department, if the hire is off, O’Riordan says, then so will the other steps toward top-notch customer service. The Sarasota property gets some 60 applicants for one position. It uses a recruitment firm to weed out candidates, then hotel managers do extensive interviews. O’Riordan says some of the interview is on experience, but the hotel also prioritizes soft skills, empathy and problem solvers. “We try to select the top 1% of service professionals,” says O’Riordan. “There’s one thing we can’t train people to do, and that’s to care.”