Aug
29
Hospitalitarianism
I'm really enjoying Danny Meyer's Setting the Table. Danny is one of the great restauranteurs in NY and he shares his views on "enlightened hospitality", along with a great deal of wisdom and some great foodie stories in his book.
One of my favorite ideas is Danny's take on "hospitalitarianism", the art of hospitality. He says: "Understanding the distinction between service and hospitality has been at the foundation of our success. Service is the technical delivery of a product. Hospitality is how the delivery of that product makes its recipient feel. Service is a monologue - we decide how we want to do things and set our own standards for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a dialogue. To be on a guest's side requires listening to that person with every sense, and following up with a thoughtful, gracious, appropriate response. It takes both great service and great hospitality to rise to the top."
What an intriguing thought. Whereas most every company is focused on Customer Service, how many are focused on Customer Hospitality? How many work as an agent of the customer, not just as a gatekeeper for their product?
Are you working on the details of execution - getting the right product to the right place at the right time at the right price? Or are you adding to your service the element of hospitality (I think of it as experience)? And what is your competition doing?
Advantage comes in marrying service with hospitality. After all, which would you rather have - technically perfect delivery or an extraordinary, personal experience?
August 31st, 2007 at 9:44 am
[...] This blog is an incredible resource that enhances my mindset and approach in working to maximize organizational performance with clients. Here is an example from a recent post titled, “Hospitalitarianism“. [...]
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Absolutely. I see many similarities between a great production company and a great restaurant - extra details, garnishes and seamless service. If I wasn’t in the film game, I would love to run the front of the house at my own restaurant.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Love this. The implications for this really go far beyond the ideas of customer service. For instance, the case might be made that the ad industry has long been focused on delivering ideas as a service and only recently opened up for true dialog/hospitality infused with a brand experience. Or another line of thought would be that the Internet has forced information hospitality as it is a more conversant media and even forced TV to listen albeit minimally with the invention of “back and forward buttons”(DVR). Any campaigns out there you can think of that constantly listen vs. try to deliver exactly what they think you want to hear?
September 11th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I remember working for infiniti and having the discussion that while Lexus owned the concept of service, we should become ambassadors for hospitality. I recall putting together a report on the world’s best “hospitality” offerings. Sadly, I don’t think that vision ever came to fruition. I wonder who else could take up the mantle and own the concept of “hospitality” in industries that perhaps don’t initially appear to lend themselves as obviously to that notion, but ultimately do. I’m thinking of fast food chains, retail shops, automotive (still open), coffee hauses (is Starbucks already there?). Others?