How ANY Industry will Benefit from MORE Hospitality

For a decade or more, this has been my go-to definition of hospitality:

Hospitality is the relationship between a host and a guest.

Short and sweet. Easy to remember. In my hotel circles, it was easy to show specific examples of that relationship in action. Front desk team member? Host. Person checking in? Guest. Perhaps the host is a housekeeping attendant, and the guest is the person for whom they were preparing a room. Shuttle driver at the airport? We could do this all day.

It’s an easy stretch, then, to show similar examples in restaurants: server/table, catering manager/bride. Throughout tourism we can see hundreds of examples of hosts and guests. There are tour guides and travelers, travel advisors and clients, cruise ship doctor and under-the-weather cruiser (admittedly, I am picturing the pilot episode of Dr. Odyssey as I type this!)

In all these examples, the host is providing a service for someone else (hopefully with a smile!) If you are someone who has worked in a “hospitality business” for some time, odds are that serving comes very naturally for you. And even if you don’t feel particularly passionate about service, if you landed in a hospitality, at some point you were taught the basics of this meaningful relationship: do unto others, or at the very least, try to keep a smile on your face when handing over that room key or delivering that re-fired steak.

Hospitality exists in all the spaces you would expect: hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, etc. And the basics of service are the dance we do to ensure that we honor the relationship between us and our guests. Wearing a smile, using the 10-5 rule, going beyond to secure a prime dinner reservation or to stock the perfect vintage champagne can elevate the guests’ experiences immeasurably. My fellow hospitality folk have hundreds of stories to share about the small moments. And how about the rest of you?

Well, Eleanor, you see, I don’t work in hospitality.

Hold on. Back up. Of course you do! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look. Here are just a few of the ways that hospitality shows up in other industries.

1.???? Retail cashier and customer

2.???? Vendor and purchasing manager

3.???? Elected official and constituent

4.???? Nurse and patient

5.???? Bill collector and customer

6.???? General contractor and subs

7.???? Fitness instructor and clients

8.???? School superintendent and teachers

9.???? Service technician and customer

10.? Guidance counselor and student

11.? Non-profit director and sponsors

12.? Attorney and client

13.? Managers and direct reports

I’ll stop at a baker’s dozen, but it would be very easy to continue. Hospitality exists in retail, in hospitals and health care, in senior living, in schools and education, in construction, in technology, and in government. Identify the hosts and the guests in any business or industry, and before you know it, hospitality is thriving, team members are thriving, guests are more loyal, and the bottom line is stronger everywhere.

It's pretty cool, right? How can YOU bring more hospitality into YOUR business? Here are five things you can start doing right now:

1.???? Teach your team members the 10-5 rule. In hospitality, our guideline is that we smile at a guest when we are within 10 feet of them, and we speak to a guest when we are within 5 feet of them. If you replace the word “guest” with “person,” pretty soon you will have people smiling all over the place – at guests, at clients, and even at each other!

2.???? Sweep away the cobwebs. Throughout hotels and restaurants and casinos and cruise ships, someone is responsible for dusting the light fixtures in the corridors and wiping away the finger (and nose) prints from glass surfaces. Being mindful of your curb appeal and public areas will ensure that your spaces are sparkling clean, safe and welcoming for all.

3.???? Smile like you are on stage. You don’t have to sing or dance, but you do need to smile and speak confidently. And you need to have that smile turned up well before you are face to face with a guest, client, or coworker. Smiling should be your default facial expression, especially in a role where you are greeting people and giving information.

4.???? Personalize it. Iconic hospitality companies like Ritz Carlton and The Four Seasons prove repeatedly that they are dialed in on personalizing every guest experience (and to be fair, both of these brands have created amazing customer relationship tools to make this easier). At the bare minimum, get in the habit of using peoples’ names in every conversation. “Hello, Bob.” “Thank you, Mary.” “How can I help you today, Ms. Sargent?”

5.???? Ask more questions. Get to know the people you interact with. To truly be in service of someone else, you need to understand what their expectations are, so become a gatherer of information. Look at your business’s on-line reviews daily (respond to both good and bad). Ask for feedback in the moment. When there’s a glitch, or you uncover dissatisfaction, you’ll be better equipped to respond because there will be fewer surprises.

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Which one will you try first? Take it from me, The Hospitality Navigator, any industry can benefit from MORE hospitality. If you are interested in learning more about how to bring more hospitality to YOUR business, I can work with you to audit your efforts and create a game plan for success! https://www.eleanorerickson.com