Every Company Can Deliver Unreasonable Hospitality Service

Robert Schuller quote. What would you do if you knew you could not fail.

In Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara tells this funny customer experience story. One afternoon he was clearing the appetizer plates from a four-top of Europeans who were heading to the airport right after their meal.

Will overhead the guests enthusiastically recounting all of the four-star restaurants they had visited in New York, wrapping it up with this final meal at Eleven Madison Park. "The only thing we didn't eat was a street hot dog.", one of them said. Overhearing this comment was like one of those cartoony lightbulb moments for the co-owner Will.

Will immediately dropped off the plates and darted around the corner to the Sabrett's hot dog cart.

The real challenge was convincing Daniel, the chef, to plate a street hot dog. After all, this was four-star excellence, and New Yorkers referred to these hot dogs as dirty-water dogs. Nevertheless, Will's enthusiasm prevailed. The hot dog was divided into four servings, each topped off with the typical cart garnishes – mustard, ketchup, relish, and sauerkraut.

Before the guests were served their final course, Will confessed to them that he had been eavesdropping. He couldn't let them leave New York without experiencing the one thing they had missed. With that the servers presented each guest with their humble hot dog -- delivered with the four-star worthy flourish. The guests were dumbfounded, and each said it was the highlight of their trip to New York.

We're All in the Service Business

Regardless of what the final thing is we deliver to our customers, it's service that makes the relationship meaningful. It's how we make our customer feel that transforms the exchange from transactional to a deep, thoughtful, lasting connection.

There has never been a more important time to step off the overhyped productivity and efficiency treadmill. The more we value speed and repetition the more hyperfocused and robotic our thinking becomes. We lose sight of the unexpected human touches that come together for uniquely intentional moments.

The flip side of this failing is that we have unimaginable ways to be better humans. I had to stop writing because I found so many thoughts I wanted to share with you. Instead, here are just 9. I'll leave the rest to your imagination when you read this book yourself.

9 Inspired Ideas for Creating Unreasonable Experiences

Adopt the 95/5 rule. It's tempting to point to the bottom line and justify miserly customer experience investments. Instead commit to managing 95% of your business down to the penny. Then use that remaining 5% on something that seems frivolous. The return on that 5% is worth it.

Ask your customer what they don't want or like. Depending on the service you deliver, there are typically reliable, proven tactics that you know work every time. But we're not assembly line producers. We create unique customer-specific outcomes. What if you asked your customer what they don't like? Share an example of something that you strongly dislike. When you share your vulnerability, your customers are comfortable doing the same.

Encourage everyone on your team to lead. Instead of the typical company leader (you) steering the regular team meeting, give everyone their turn. Will it be as efficient as if you were moving things along? Maybe not, but you're building an invaluable foundation for your company. I wish I had thought of this now-obvious idea years ago.

Create a curious learning culture. Yes, I know I say this a lot because I believe it is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated cornerstone of a healthy strategic-minded company.

For example, Will Guidara started a weekly Happy Hour tradition where the sommelier shared his wine knowledge with the rest of the staff. Over time, this expanded into each team member having their knowledge-sharing turn. They chose a topic of interest to them – not always restaurant or food related – and presented what they learned to the team.

Not only did everyone learn something new, but they all developed their public speaking skills. Imagine how this competence and confidence contributed to teaching, explaining, and sharing knowledge with the customers they served.

Systematize the unexpected. It's all well and good to have a lot of one-off moments of graciousness. But what if those become everyday actions that no one has to think about. They simply happen with consistency.

Make a daily team meeting non-negotiable. Bringing everyone together for 30 minutes each morning instills a customer-thinking culture. When the leader shares a quick story about an unexpected customer experience they had the day before, everyone on the team is eager to bring their own story to the group.

When we were deep into software development, a 9:00 morning meeting was mandatory. It wasn't to be heavy-handed and controlling. Instead, it was the place where everyone shared where they were, what they needed to do next, and could confidently ask of help. The tripwires were quickly discovered, we stayed focused on who we were serving, and deliverables stayed on track.

Create a company ownership program. Give everyone in your company the opportunity to excel. Help them uncover that thing that lights them up and give them the runway to execute.

Discover the 1% opportunities. Start by breaking down all of the things you do today that contribute to your customer's experience with your company. Then imagine how you can improve each of these by 1%. When you put them all together, the result is significant and noticeable.

Create a culture of intention. It sounds like an obvious question, but it's one worth asking ourselves regularly. Why are we doing what we're doing? It's all too easy to watch the treadmill dashboard and forget who and why we're serving.

Wrapping It Up

What will you do to create your unique, standout hot dog moment for your customers?

Discover Practical Knowledge Sharing for Business & Technology Leaders

If you've ever searched for a place to connect with business leaders without the ads, sales pitches, and usual social media clutter, you know how hard that can be.

That's why we created Studio CXO. We're business leaders like you who know there can be a better way.

Explore Studio CXO Now

Free Cybersecurity Risk Appetite Assessment

Start with these 20 no-wrong-answer questions to guide your cybersecurity planning.

Free Cybersecurity Risk Tolerance Assessment

Discovering how much risk you're comfortable taking is smart strategic thinking.

Tags: Business Strategy

. . .

Linda Rolf is a lifelong curious learner who believes a knowledge-first approach builds valuable client relationships. She is fueled by discovering the unexpected connections among technology, data, information, people and process. For more than four decades, Linda and Quest Technology Group have been their clients' trusted advisor and strategic partner.

Linda believes that lasting value and trust are created through continuously listening, sharing knowledge freely, and delivering more than their clients even know they need. As the CIO of their first startup client said, "The value that Quest brings to Cotton States is far greater than the software they develop."