Evaluating ROH: Return on Hugs

In the US, there seems to be some sort of secret professional code that divides our two worlds of home and work. At home, you hug, you're real, you laugh and joke, and your family is there for you. At work, you shake hands, you make deals, and you can cut a vendor or fire an employee to do what's right for the business. There is a clear separation between work and home.

But I didn't grow up that way. My father is what I describe as "a classic international businessman." He was on the road probably 300 days a year traveling globally, and when he was home, often he would have an international work colleague with him. The colleague would stay in the guest room of our modest suburban home (in our old house, they had to borrow my bathroom as it was just a 2-bath house!). Mom would make dinner, or they'd bring home Chinese take-out, and she'd make breakfast each morning. There were late-night conversations on the back porch, hugs when greeting and saying goodbye, casual, comfortable chit chats on the floor of the living room. My parents always made our home their home. Then, when we traveled around LatAm, Europe and Asia, we stayed in their homes with their families, and they treated us the same way. The way I was brought up, business was home.

I think the one thing I regret most about my childhood is not keeping all of those business cards of people my dad met around the world and introduced me to. It took me years to learn the value of a network, and even longer to figure out and understand how genuine business relationships should work. At last, I feel like I can look back at the way business used to be done and understand why we have unconsciously set up our Haute businesses the way we have. People ask what our secret sauce is... well I'll tell you right here on LinkedIn: It's making people comfortable. It's a warm welcome, whether it's to our event, to our office, or to our venue. It's a welcome hug and the offer of something to drink. It's open stance at networking events so anyone who needs a conversation to join feels welcome to join ours. It's comfort.

In today's world, we are more digitally connected and humanly disconnected than ever before, and even researchers are taking note and publishing studies on the value of hugs. True human-to-human connection through actual hugs is scientifically proven to provide health benefits. And our co-founder Nicole Osibodu just published an article on why we hug, and how you can live The Hug Life with us.

But did you know that companies with a hug mentality actually win and keep more business? Is that true? I don't know. I actually looked all over the internet for proof of that, and all I could find is this amazing book by Jack Mitchell called Hug Your Customers, which is lovely, but not helpful in the statistics realm. But listen, if hugs are good enough for Justin Trudeau, then they've gotta have real value, right?

If there's anyone reading this post who loves statistics, I challenge you to do a study on how many deals you close when you hug your prospects versus shake hands, and how often you hug your current customers compared to your at-risk accounts. For me, there is a marked difference between the vendors we work with that we really feel have a personal connection with us, and the ones that are purely transactional.

As for us, we will continue to provide a warm, welcoming environment for them to meet, share, and learn. We will continue to help our guests connect with the people and businesses that can help them - and maybe at some point, we'll be in the running to help them, too, but if not, at least we made a new friend!

So that's it. That's one of our core KPIs to figure out how to measure this year. ROH: Return on Hugs.

It's a thing. Tell a friend. Then hug them.

P.S. if you are anti-hug, this gentlemen is a master at hug avoidance - I highly recommend these techniques!

P.P.S. come join the #HugLife revolution at Haute House @ Sundance and at SXSW. Message me for an invitation, or join our mailing list to learn about upcoming events.