JACK NADERKHANI
Managing Director

With a keen sense of observation and a talent for breakthrough innovation honed over his more than 30 years in the hospitality industry, Jack Naderkhani believes that no situation is impossible. That positive outlook was the catalyst for the creation of The Mithra Group, Naderkhani’s new business venture designed to transform and enhance such service-oriented businesses as hotels, hospitals, retail outlets and banks, among others, by showing clients how to achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Prior to founding The Mithra Group, Naderkhani served as the General Manager of the Forbes Five Star/AAA Five Diamond Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel for close to 20 years. During his tenure, Naderkhani instituted revolutionary ideas that soon became de rigueur in the luxury marketplace. The hotel was consistently recognized for its outstanding service and facilities and appeared on numerous Best Of lists, including Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, CNN, Forbes and Michelin. Naderkhani also traveled extensively for Raffles, assisting on new site selections and training local management and staff.

After leaving the hotel in 2009, the respected visionary traveled the globe, meeting with experts in global hospitality. What he saw and experienced led this industry innovator to devise a broader vision of how to combine global standards of excellence with local culture to enhance the client experience. Today, Naderkhani is utilizing that vision to help business owners improve their company’s efficiency, communication practices, customer service... and grow their bottom line.

A graduate of Cornell University’s prestigious General Manager Program, Naderkhani has repeatedly appeared in the Hotelier’s Who’s Who. He sits on the Advisory Board for the Executive Hotel Management Program at UCLA and has served on the Board of Directors and as a Vice President of the City of Beverly Hills Visitor’s Bureau.

A long-time Southern California resident, Naderkhani directs The Mithra Group from the company’s main offices in Beverly Hills.

A childhood fishing trip with his father made a long-lasting impression on The Mithra Group Founder/Managing Director, Jack Naderkhani. Pointing to the fish in the stream, his father noted how some were just going with the current and others were swimming upstream. He told his son it was important to be strong enough to not just go with the flow; striving to be different would set him apart. The lesson stuck.

Today, after a 30-year career as a hospitality industry leader, Naderkhani is helping others follow his long-standing mantra through The Mithra Group. By applying the service-oriented principals he perfected during nearly two decades as General Manager of Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills – one of a handful of hotels in North America to consistently earn the dual honors of Forbes (formerly Mobil Travel Guide) Five Star and AAA Five Diamond Awards – Naderkhani and his firm are creating personalized solutions for customer-oriented businesses like health-care providers, banks, hotels, restaurants, retail outlets and municipalities to achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction, streamline operations and increase revenues

Like the fish swimming upstream, successful businesses don’t just follow the others; they must be bold and intent on being the best by offering innovative, quality services that make them stand above the rest. The Mithra Group was created to help businesses accomplish and apply those standards of quality. Naderkhani recalls a business meeting with a potential client where he was quick to find flaws in the company’s $100-million four-star hotel project. Naderkhani told the hoteliers that their first misjudgment was not aspiring to five stars. After all, who wants to start off as second best? He also nixed a plan for installing very expensive custom-made furniture by pointing out two key factors: a weather-sensitive oceanside location near nightclubs and bars and the client’s plan to cater to a younger demographic. Naderkhani predicted the furniture would have a short life expectancy with these kinds of party-oriented clients and would not be worth the investment. The client wisely followed his recommendations!

Creating Service-Oriented Experiences
While the right business strategies must be tailor-made for each client, taking into account design, location and quality, Naderkhani believes that learning and applying the basic skills of social interaction and providing innovative substantial services – not gimmicks – are critical components to the success of any service-oriented business. By helping clients discover how to please their customers, The Mithra Group can raise the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, which leads to swift and positive results.

A memorable service-oriented experience can take many forms. The bank teller whose extra attention brought a smile to your child’s face. The guest valet stationed on your floor in the morning, waiting to deliver your luggage downstairs for check-out. The security officer at the mall who took the extra time to escort you to the store you were looking for. The nurse who sensed your anxiety and brought you a glass of juice. The Mithra Group emphasizes the importance of training employees to understand and practice consistent, pro-active service. Whether working with a hospital, bank, mall, restaurant or hotel, Naderkhani finds that positive customer-employee interactions consistently bolster customer loyalty and grow the bottom line. To ensure continued quality interactions, he suggests clients school their staff in the hospitality arts and that training be re-examined on a continuing basis.

Partners Not Employees
Over the course of his many years in the luxury hotel industry, Naderkhani always referred to his staff as partners, reminding them that what they do counts toward the success of the overall business operations. At a major hotel, a key motivator was providing all staff members – from the Kitchen Coordinator (dishwasher) to the Front Office Receptionist – with business cards, instantly empowering them by making them feel like a valued member of the organization. By instilling this sense of ownership and pride with a simple gesture, he found they took extra care in nurturing their one-on-one experiences with customers, as well as with the community.

Going Global
While developing his business plan for The Mithra Group, Naderkhani spent a year traveling, reconnecting with friends, colleagues and experts in a wide variety of hospitality-based businesses to gain a broader understanding of the different levels of operational efficiency and customer interaction in other parts of the world. He soon realized that whether in China, Thailand, Dubai, Singapore, Mexico or California, potential clients all have different blueprints for success in their minds based on local standards – the path to customer satisfaction is not “one size fits all,” as is the practice with large hotels and many global management companies. An Italian restaurant that works in Buenos Aires might not work at all in Beijing. Criteria for customer satisfaction at a hospital in Canada may be totally different than what patients expect at a health-care facility in the United States. Understanding what needs to be accomplished and a client’s philosophy and mentality as it relates to the local standards are essential before you can create a successful results-oriented plan. While integrating global principles into local markets can be accomplished, a big-picture understanding of both markets needs to be studied and determined.

Like Naderkhani’s fishing lesson, innovative global ideas may be what sets a company apart in the long run. Or, the solution may be as simple as staff training or a re-organization of the sales department. Standardization and oversized manuals are not the answers; instead, The Mithra Group works with clients to handpick the issues that need work. Once those areas have been identified, showing each individual client how to be different, achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction, increase revenues and stand apart from the competition are the ultimate goals of The Mithra Group.

Founded in 2010 by hospitality industry leader Jack Naderkhani, The Mithra Group provides the perfect alternative to lengthy and costly management contracts. Mithra works closely with a designated company liaison to discreetly evaluate such important elements of the business as operations, customer base, local competition, employee training, personnel strengths and weaknesses, technology applications, location and more. After a personal business assessment, The Mithra Group devises a strategy with short and long-term action plans to enhance efficiency, empower staff and elevate customer satisfaction, all with minimal impact on the company’s financial bottom line.

Based in Beverly Hills with offices opening in key international locations, The Mithra Group is positioned to work with clients from around the globe.