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Ramada International and LRAWorldwide Quality Assurance Program Underway
NEW YORK, New York; June 6, 2000 - Ramada International and LRAWorldwide, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm specializing in Quality Assurance, have launched Ramada International's first formal and extensive Quality Assurance Program, called EXCEED. Each of Ramada International's 27 hotels in 15 countries worldwide will undergo this two-day inspection.
"This is a fully integrated Quality Assurance program that includes: clearly defined standards, guest feedback, objective outside observers and training," said Reas Kondraschow, senior vice president and managing director of Ramada International.
EXCEED, which stands for Exceptional Cleanliness, Consistent Standards, Empathetic Service, Exceptional Asset Maintenance and Delivery, supports Ramada International's brand promise and positioning of providing guests with a good night's sleep, comfortable accommodations, exceptional cleanliness and warm and friendly service.
Quality Assurance inspectors will judge guest rooms, guest bathrooms, public spaces, meeting/banquet spaces, food and beverage service and the heart of the house for cleanliness, conditions and standards compliance.
"The program measures and reinforces 'zero defect' consistency in product and service delivery as well as intangibles like overall satisfaction, intent to return, feeling welcome, appreciated and secure", said Rob Rush, President, CEO and co-founder, LRAWorldwide.
"This program is unique in the industry because it evaluates hotel performance against system standards and will eventually include training programs on service improvement," said Mr. Kondraschow.
Inspections will conclude with wrap-up and exit conferences to provide property staff with important information and findings. Reports and data will be posted online on Ramada International's intranet site.
This will allow good ideas and best practices to be shared among all of the Ramada International hotels and will give the properties and staff credit for good work.
"Because we are primarily a franchisor, we want to set standards in controlling our product and enforcing the necessary investment and training at our hotels that ensures that these standards are consistently applied globally," according to Mr. Kondraschow.
Mr. Kondraschow added that Ramada International's service standards will continually evolve as guest needs change.
About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc. is a leading consulting, organizational development and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in "operationalizing the brand" - turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA's CEM practice areas include CEM Strategy Design, Standards Development & Content Management, Organizational Development & Training, Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific tactical client need.
LRA's clients include some of the world's leading companies and brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the PGA TOUR, Albertsons Supermarkets, the NBA and First Niagara Financial Group. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com
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