I was hoping “Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect” was a book about extreme customer service. Such as “The connected company” or “The human experience”.
Restaurants are fascinating
It is not. It is more. I am fascinated by the restaurant sector. Particularly after reading books such as “Work Clean” and “Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating”. It is the only industry where ongoing, constant innovation is combined with instant, consistent delivery. Day in,day out.
The experience economy on steroids
The author called it the hospitality economy, but it is just a subset of the experience economy, which is the title of the book every CEO should read. You can find my blog about the book here. An extreme version for the reasons I have stated above
Creating magic
The title is what got me: Unreasonable hospitality. Far beyond customer service. Service is black and white; hospitality is colour. Chefs at the finest restaurants in the world have long been celebrated for being unreasonable about the food they serve. The author believes this idea can result in a seismic shift if it extends beyond restaurants. Making magic in a world that could use more of it. Playing frozen music. It is simple, people will forget what you do; they’ll forget what you said. But they’ll never forget how you made them feel. The “P” of feeling or emotion.
Topics in the book
The book covers belonging, culture, employees first, authenticity, the power of the genuine welcome, intention, eye for detail, going above and beyond, delivering happiness, grace, energy, enthusiasm, use of language, making the charitable assumption, extreme ownership, autonomy, creativity, the balance between control and creativity, the rule of 95/5 (spend the last 5% “foolishly,”, the last 5% has an outsize impact on the guest experience), team building, communication, generosity, recruitment, choreography, tapping into passion, experimentation, teaching, excellence (the culmination of thousands of details executed perfectly), going beyond the last mile, vulnerability, a sense of family, persistence, balance, earning informality, being present, vulnerability, constant improvisation, being more thoughtful and more.
Nothing to do with restaurants
The above shows that the book is more about culture and leadership and actually very little about restaurants and hospitality. The lessons are universal. The book reminds me of “Fusion” and “The geek way”. Restaurant geeks this time.
Lovemark
In restaurants—and in all customer-service professions—the goal is to genuinely connect with people, surprise and exceed expectations. So they invested in becoming fanatic and the best in beer, coffee, tea, wine, cocktails, water, china, glass, and silver, music, personalisation, history, storytelling, design (they had their own Dreamweaver studio to create personalised tables), gifting and magic. Creating a sense of abundance, creating a genuine relationship, creating a magnitude of enchantment. Creating an experience clients couldn’t have anywhere else. Ultimately, they achieved what they wanted. Becoming the most delicious and gracious restaurant in the world. Creating a lovemark
UMOT
Combine this book also with “X: The Experience When Business Meets Design”. Ultimately, it is all about the ultimate moment of truth.
