Hospitality and the Comforts of Home, with Company

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Comments

[Joanna Young]

Hi Rosa

Thanks for these thoughts. One thing you always do on this blog is make us feel at home - it's good to read about how you apply these principles in a 'service' setting too.

One of the things that struck me about the dialogue point is that it immediately points you to the two people who are part of the equation: not just the customer, and not just the service provider but the relationship between the two.

It is when the 'host' provides something of themselves - an insight into their character, their lives, their homes - or does something in which they personally take great pride - the food they cook, the place they take you to - that we get that sense of 'connection', of feeling at home, that lies at the heart of hospitality.

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

So true Joanna. Just as my mom knew that we had a kind of "insider's advantage" in our home to be shared, we always have some kind of expertise to be given to our customers in the service setting. When it becomes personal and the connection is made it transcends good service and becomes sincere, gracious hospitality.

And it doesn't take much. So I really have to wonder why we don't all experience it more often ... the lack of exceptional service is such a curious dilemma; we all want it and crave it, it's relatively easy to give, and yet it still happens so rarely. It saddens me.

[Joanna Young]

Rosa, I wonder if it is something to do with the speed that we all go at? Does good hospitality require us to go that little bit slower? I'm just wondering what some of the blockages are - since, as you say, it's something we crave and yet don't experience too often.

I realise 'slow service' might not be a strong selling point! But there might be lessons from the slow food movement for example that could transfer here.

So much to learn!

Joanna

[Wally Bock]

My mother taught me that no matter who you meet, you and they have something in common. She thought that if you found that, it was the place to begin to talk and that if you were the host, it was your job to find it.

My father was a pastor and his parish when I was in high school was near the UN. So we often had parties at the house that included people from different countries as well is businesspeople, politicians and the like. Before each party my mother would go over the guest list with my sister and me, identifying what each of us had in common with each guest so that we could be gracious hosts.

[Joanna Young]

Wally, that was very good teaching from your mother. I've tried this a couple of times in training situations and looking for the connection is a great way to establish rapport, fast. I can see how it would work in the context of hospitality too.

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

I think you make a great point about the speed and frenzy of our lives Joanna; when we have a lot to do we look for shortcuts, and before you know it, those shortcuts taken under pressure create some new habits that really shouldn't be our normal m.o. - especially when caring for guests and customers.

Thank you for joining the conversation Wally, and I agree with Joanna - you received great teaching from your parents! I especially love how your mom gave you a kind of "pre-shift" fully respecting that children CAN be seen AND heard when they understand how to be respectful and share hosting duties.

Back to the work world, it reminds me of my time as a Director of Catering & Conference Services for the Hyatt Corporation. We would produce resumes on visiting groups for all our employees so they would have profile information they could connect to: We shared things like the group's affiliation, home state, professional pursuits, and if they were strictly on business or were bringing family with them to combine their stay with vacation time. We took such care to be comprehensive with these profiles, and it was frustrating when managers at the operational level would ignore all the information and lead blindly, also denying their staff of the potential hosting advantages had they received some tips on how to connect with the individual guest in a meaningful way.