I ran into a hero of mine at LaGuardia airport a few weeks ago: famous restaurateur, Will Guidara.
The quote most associated with Will’s work is: “No matter what business you’re in, you can make the choice to be in the hospitality industry.”
Software companies are hospitality companies.
Consulting firms are hospitality companies.
Healthcare organizations are hospitality companies.
Internal operations teams are hospitality companies.
The product changes; the feeling you give your customer or client remains
I’ve really taken this insight to heart for my company, so when I clocked him walking by, I literally ran after him so I could tell him how much his book Unreasonable Hospitality (and the subsequent summit in Nashville) changed my life.
He was kind and funny, and joked that I’m not really a fan of his because I hadn’t bought the second book, The Unreasonable Hospitality Field Guide yet. (For the record, a friend immediately sent me a copy later that day when I told them this story).
I told him how much the customer journey map had impacted my work, and was delighted to find that they have a free download of it here. The concept is simple…investigate each touchpoint of your customer journey and score them on the customer experience today as green (hooray!), yellow (disturbing), red (appalling). Then, attack the yellows and reds.
After an introductory meeting with a local founder in Charleston, I dropped the book in his mailbox. I had a hunch he’d dig it. Turns out, he loved it and then shared it with his team to read as an office. Then, he hired me to help him bring the concepts in the book to life. I was fortunate enough to interview him at our first annual Wendy Road retreat about how the book inspired his vision and helped him build a culture of unreasonable hospitality in an unexpected field - financial services. Check out a clip here:
Gino Wickman’s book Traction says founders often find themselves asking, “Do you see what I’m saying?”
The real work of leadership is turning that question into a statement. Articulate the vision so clearly that everyone can see it.
That’s what I loved about Alex’s story. Unreasonable Hospitality gave him language for something he already felt intuitively. Once he could see the vision more clearly, he could help his team see it too, and only then could they begin building systems that brought it to life.
If we could consolidate all of Guidara’s teachings into an operating model it would look like:
Notice → Personalize → Surprise → Systematize
Notice what matters.
Personalize the response.
Create a memorable moment.
Turn the insight into a repeatable practice.
I’ll give you a recent example from my world:
I have a long time client and friend who talks about me and my company constantly. I call her the evangelist. She’s incredible. So, I thought about a special gift I could give her because she’s so generous and never asks for anything in return. She has a young daughter at home and life and work are just a lot right now. The answer? An Hermes scarf, with a bright bold color palette we knew she would look incredible in as this woman rocks a red lip, daily. I wanted this gift to make her feel special and seen.
She was over the moon about the gift but even better, sent me a text the next day with a picture of her wearing it and that her daughter asked her to wear it to her school and asked if she could have one just like it.
😃 The girl has taste.
So, we noticed what matters, we personalized the response, and created a memorable moment. Now, we can create this into a repeatable practice for others. The formula may be consistent, but the approach is 100% custom.
As our world becomes more and more centered around optimization and efficiency, I think the companies that will win will be hospitality-focused.
Why? Because we’re still human. And I don’t know a single human who wouldn’t be struck by just a little more hospitality in every interaction.