As JMA’s client base includes a number of industry-leading companies in the hospitality sector, in both my professional capacity, and as a more-than-willing customer outside office hours, I find myself forever passing judgement on the guest experience of eateries and hotels around the world.
In an era of inflation, rising costs and a consumer slowdown, I have sympathy with operators, particularly smaller independents, for whom turning a profit has seldom been so challenging. That said, there’s a gulf between the minority who stand out for the right reasons, and the majority who somehow miss the mark. Perhaps this is why I find myself feeling increasingly bowled over by great hospitality – and depressed by so-so experiences?
Below, I try to explain why, distinguish between service and hospitality, examine why hospitality is so hard to get right, and suggest why I believe it’s so vital.
Service vs Hospitality
Hospitality maestro Danny Meyer, in his book Setting the Table, differentiates between service and hospitality (and I paraphrase slightly):
“Service is the technical delivery of a product. It can go above and beyond by being even faster than expected, or even hotter or fresher than a guest hopes.”
“Hospitality is how the delivery of that product makes the guest feel. Presenting an order on time to a guest is service, but presenting that order with enthusiasm, a smile and a sincere interest in the order being exactly how the customer wanted it – that’s an emotional connection letting them know you have their best interest in mind.”
The Japanese culture of omotenashi, meanwhile, which can be translated as ‘looking after guests to the ultimate degree’, has to do with hospitality being a virtue of the individual delivering it, not about the expectation of the person being served.
Expectations
Expectations are critical. There are times when all I expect is a good product – a cup of coffee, for instance – delivered with efficient service. Standing in line at 5:30 am as the first customer of the day at a coffee shop in a major US city a few weeks ago, my jet-lagged body was crying out for an espresso. Imagine how my heart sank when the smiling, headset-wearing server told me that he’d “be right with me” – only to serve the drive-thru line for the next three minutes.
There are other times when I’m looking for more – in a relaxed, hopefully comfortable setting, typically in the evening, usually with company – when the product, which, even though it needs to be up to scratch, is actually secondary to (and any flaws in it can be made up for by) a great hospitality experience.
To meet or exceed expectations of hospitality and/or service, the establishment needs to be clear on whether the guest is looking for (and it can provide) something more product-led and transactional, or experience-led and convivial.
The Challenges of Hospitality
If we accept Meyer’s view that hospitality is how it makes a guest feel, it’s actually a complex exchange:
First, expectations of what great hospitality looks like are hugely culturally relative: Southern US hospitality, the many variations of Asian hospitality, and the hospitality provided by a British pub, for example, are wildly different expressions of it.
Second, the perception of good hospitality has as much to do with a guest’s mood and needs at a particular moment in time, as about what’s provided and how.
What Is True Hospitality?
All things being equal, true hospitality is a guest trusting their server (and, by extension, the establishment behind it) is focused primarily on their comfort and happiness. This requires tuning in to a guest’s (more often than not a stranger’s) mood and needs, actively listening to them – and then providing a tailored response with the appropriate tone, style and pace, potentially going ‘off script’ to do so.
In my experience, true hospitality (as opposed to the more perfunctory service, however technically perfect), is more common in independent establishments than chains, but I’ve frequently experienced its warmth at the world’s largest hotel brands.
Why Is Hospitality So Rare?...
Great hospitality is so rare, firstly because the expectations and mood of the guest can make it so hard to get right!
Second, it’s so rare because it demands a well-drilled back-of-house operation, and a committed team of like-minded servers who park their egos at the door, genuinely care about guests’ needs, forge instant connections, positively embrace the hard work it demands – and see hospitality as One of Life’s Good Things. This is hard to achieve.
… And So Important?
I believe hospitality is important for guests because work, travel and life in general can be stressful, and staying at or eating somewhere should not just alleviate stress, but also enhance their mood and wellbeing. This is, of course, is why people have regular haunts, because they know they can be assured of a warm welcome from familiar faces.
Second, the hospitality industry is important as it not only provides people (particularly young people) with gainful employment, great life skills and a sense of belonging, it’s an important pillar in most economies.
Finally, without wishing to overreach, I’d argue that hospitality is important for society as a whole. In an increasingly atomised world in which loneliness is on the rise and many people live a large portion of their lives online and, even when offline, disconnected from others, the warmth of mi casa es tu casa is a balm that forges human connection and community.