In these uncertain times, meeting planners place their highest premium on service.

We all recognize great customer service when we see it—and when we don’t. In our daily lives we may overlook bad service when the transaction is small, the location convenient, or the bargain simply too good to pass up.

But for meeting professionals planning an important gathering at a hotel or resort, gambling on unreliable service may pose too much risk. After all, reputations and successful outcomes are on the line. Any benefit gained from risking poor service rarely outweighs the efficiencies, group satisfaction, and peace of mind that come with exceptional support and personal attention from a property’s staff.

The event management company J. Spargo & Associates recently surveyed meeting pro­fessionals planning to attend Chicago’s Ninth Annual Affordable Meetings Mid-America Conference and Exhibition put on by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International in April. Nearly all the respondents—85 percent—cited customer service as the No. 1 most important factor influencing their venue decisions.

“Traditionally, people might think of event sites as desirable due to price and location,” says James Houran, president of 20/20 Assessment, the company that analyzed the Spargo study. “The fact is that now we’re talking about customers looking for high value. They’ll sacrifice a little on price and location, as long as they get high value for themselves and the attendees. That’s remarkable.”

His review of the findings indicates that planners are unwilling to sacrifice reliable support. “Customer service is being emphasized now more than ever,” he says.

Bonnie Campbell, manager of trade shows and events for Boston Scientific, finds herself in complete agreement with those who consider customer service the most important factor in site selection.

Her site visits of two high-end properties for a 75-person President’s Club gathering serve as a case in point. She awarded the business to the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore in Santa Barbara, California, over a similarly prestigious property, largely for the level of service she received early on. “When I went on the site visit,” she says, “they knew exactly what meeting rooms and areas of the property were going to be appropriate for our events. They worked with me as far as special considerations and were very willing to adopt a new plan based on my needs.”

Unlike the other hotel she visited, the Four Seasons personnel knew the capacity and square footage of each meeting room and the square footage of each accommodation right off the bat. “There was absolutely no hesitation at all,” Campbell says. “They were very well informed about every intricacy of their property.”

Her instincts paid off. Several attendees told Campbell it was the most beautiful hotel they had ever been to. “Many of them said it was the best vacation they ever had in their lives,” she says. “They talked about the accommodations, how beautiful and clean, and the level of service they received from the staff, how attentive—even the turndown service at night.”

Campbell says that excellent customer service inspires a sense of confidence that is invaluable to her.

“Planners are so busy,” she says. “We have so much on our minds. So to have an item in our list of 75—even if it’s only one—that we know is taken care of 100 percent by the hotel, that to me is golden.”

At Four Seasons, she says, “They have a way of understanding your program, as much or more than you do.” As a result, she frequently relies on the brand for her high-level events.

So how do brands like Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton earn and maintain their reputations for exemplary customer service?

“It’s part of the DNA of Ritz-Carlton,” says Chris Gabaldon, vice president of sales for Ritz-Carlton. “When the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company came about, our service philosophy was one of the first documents produced.” Today all employees carry a wallet-sized card that includes the Ritz-Carlton motto: We Are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen.

To maintain the standards, the company holds daily briefings among the staff.

“Every day 38,000 ladies and gentlemen worldwide attend a lineup,” Gabaldon says. “We review a number of things, including one of our service values. Then someone brings it to life with a customer example. This takes place at the beginning of every housekeeping shift, every restaurant shift, every sales day. You’ll see employees doing it beside the pool, in the spa, or wherever they may be.”

Careful hiring practices also help the company maintain its reputation. The thorough procedures target not only experience and technical proficiency, but also a service-oriented mindset and disposition. “We go to great lengths and pretty great expense to make sure we get people who are predisposed to delivering these types of services,” Gabaldon says.

Once an employee comes on board, his or her satisfaction ranks as a priority to management on par with customer satisfaction. “If our employees feel passionate, a part of—or that they are—the brand, they tend to be happier and more productive,” Gabaldon says. “In turn, they tend to deliver far superior customer service.”

Like Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is deeply rooted in a service culture. The company’s guiding principle? The Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.

For Megan Wissert, director of catering and conference services at Wyoming’s Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, this means personalizing each planner’s experience. Site visits, for example, may include a centerpiece with the company’s logo and chocolate truffles, food and wine tastings with scorecards, and other above-and-beyond touches.

Wissert’s daily dealings with meeting professionals give her confidence she knows what they look for.

“They want us to ensure that when they get here,” she says, “they don’t have to worry about anything. They want to know that anything they throw our way, we’ll take care of and make happen.”

Moreover, in this economy, she says, planners are not necessarily traveling with a large team. “Most are traveling with just one or two people and then outsourcing the events to the destination management companies or staff we have on-site.”

While such practices may save on the time and expense of pulling personnel away from the planner’s corporate office, they can be risky without a hospitality partner that excels in meeting logistics. Fortunately, Four Seasons does.

Not surprisingly, Wissert’s attention to service inspires loyalty and repeat business from the professionals she serves. She reaches out to planners even long after an event is over, sending cards for birthdays or other special occasions, for example. Once while on vacation in California, she even made a point of visiting a client’s favorite winery to buy her some logoed wine glasses.

When guests return, the staff stays ahead of the game by drawing on their documentation of guest preferences. Wissert gives the example of a client who likes a particular chai tea. “It’s not one we always carry here at the hotel,” she says. “So whenever she comes back, we make sure we have it in-house, and she has a cup first thing in the morning when she’s there at her registration desk.”

Wissert knows these touches make an impact. “Things like that they talk about—to their coworkers, even other properties they visit. Our name comes up.”

A quick read of Google’s online meetings community, MeCo, and its threads lamenting unanswered RFPs, unreturned phone calls, and the general lack of TLC makes it clear that poor service occurs with some frequency in the hospitality sector, particularly as some hotels are cutting staff in response to reduced revenue.

But one thing is certain. Those hotels that get it, get it. Neither Four Seasons nor Ritz-Carlton is making cuts to staff that may impact a group’s stay. “If we move away from our service standard, we put our brand at risk,” Ritz-Carlton’s Gabaldon explains. “In fact, our customer satisfaction scores have actually risen since the middle of last year.”

The benefits are equally rewarding for those other brands and independent hotels continuing to practice warm, attentive hospitality on a daily basis. Good service ensures not only successful events for customers; it builds loyalty for the hotel, encourages repeat business, and generates positive referrals for future revenue growth. Every hotel and resort with superior service holds the competitive advantage. And, in today’s economy, that’s…golden.