Fostering Exceptional Minnesota Customer Service in Senior Long-Term Care

By: Paul Contris, president and founder of Mission Healthcare

The Ritz Carlton is known for its luxury hotels, fine amenities, and most importantly, its extraordinary service. It is no accident that its guest service is outstanding – the company relies on its extensive customer service program known as the “Gold Standards.”

Several years ago, Mission Healthcare met with a Ritz Carlton representative to learn more about its customer service program and find out how we could adapt its model to serve our Minnesota senior living residents.

Today, we have a program called Mission Memories that incorporates the core philosophies used by the Ritz Carlton to provide top-notch service. Our program is designed to motivate our associates to create a “Mission Memory” by following three simple steps:

Smile – Give a warm, sincere greeting to residents, visitors, families, and fellow associates.
Be thoughtful – Show respect and be willing to listen.
Take time for one another – Respond quickly to residents’ or associates’ needs and to solving problems.

All of our associates learn about Mission Memories and complete annual customer service trainings sessions. We even provide associates with small cards to remind them of these core basics, because a simple act of kindness is often all it takes to brighten someone’s day.

In order to motivate our associates to provide great care, we create environments where they are respected and appreciated for their work. When our associates feel rewarded and proud of their work, they in turn provide high-quality service to our residents.

Elder care benefits from well-supported caretakers

We also help support our associates’ career goals. When one of our certified nursing assistants aspired to become a registered nurse, Mission Healthcare helped pay his tuition as he went back to school. Today, we are proud to have him as our director of nursing at Bethel Care Center in St. Paul, Minn.

At Mission Healthcare, our associates are our most important resources in providing exceptional service to our residents. We continue to foster work environments that rely on trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment to maximize our associates’ talents and exceed our customers’ expectations.

This page is also available in PDF format: (By: Paul Contris)

For more information about Mission Healthcare, visit www.missionhealthcare.org.