#5: Setting the Table-Danny Meyer

Sunday BioHighlights ?? Perfect for those who love learning from the experiences of successful individuals.

Every Sunday, I'll share biographies I've read and the highlights that resonated with me. Your positive feedback on my previous biography-related posts inspired me to create this newsletter.

Any entrepreneur can learn from another entrepreneur. I am particularly inspired by restaurant owners. Danny Meyer, for example, operates at a world-class level. Beyond his legendary restaurants like Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern, he founded the world-famous burger joint, Shake Shack. One of the world's hardest jobs is to consistently make people happy by serving food. This book, in particular, should be read by all customer success leaders who are helping their clients every day.

My Top 10 Highlights

1. What mattered most to me was trying to provide maximum value in exchange not just for the guests’ money but also for their time. Anything that unnecessarily disrupts a guest’s time with his or her companions or disrupts the enjoyment of the meal undermines hospitality.
2. 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.
3. If a guest refused to sit at a particular table, I’d say, “Sure. Which table would you prefer?” Many didn’t know how to respond to this, because they’d been conditioned to expect, “Sorry. That’s the only table we have available.”
4. Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant as if it’s theirs. They can’t wait to share it with friends, and what they’re really sharing, beyond the culinary experience, is the experience of feeling important and loved.
5. I had already learned that the trick to delivering superior hospitality was to hire genuine, happy and optimistic people.
6. The only way a company can grow, stay true to its soul, and remain consistently successful is to attract, hire, and keep great people.
7. I also look for solo diners. From my own experiences dining alone, I know that solo diners have a straightforward agenda: to treat themselves to a gift of quality, contemplative time, and to do so at our restaurant. I consider that the ultimate compliment, and I’m also hoping that today’s solo diner will host tomorrow’s party of four.
8. What makes ours different and special?” is the question we ask and try to answer every day, and not just with food. It adds interest to your work, and it can give people a reason to do business with you, no matter what business you’re in.
9. Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.
10. Invest in your community, and the rising tide will lift all boats. Invest in your community. A business that understands how powerful it is to create wealth for the community stands a much higher chance of creating wealth for its own investors.

And remember, your comments and book recommendations are always welcome in the comments below.????????

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See you all next week, and happy reading! ??