One in nine jobs in the United States is supported by the travel and tourism industry. Translation? How operations provide hospitality is critical to why they will succeed. So how do we define hospitality?
Bobby Stuckey, the owner and master sommelier at Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, a restaurant that has received James Beard Foundation awards and has been nominated the past few years for the country’s most outstanding restaurant award, defines hospitality as being different than service. Service is something you do to someone, while hospitality is how you make someone feel. It’s a way of thinking that impacts someone the moment they walk through your door.
That being said, the best time to make a good impression with your customers is the moment they walk through the door. It could be a store-front greeter. It could be office staff at the front desk. It could be a hosting stand in your restaurant. It could be the reception area of a classic hotel or even a doctor’s office. No matter what you do, you only have one chance to make that first impression.
According to an article in the October 2017 edition of Lodging Magazine, the best way to assemble a front desk team is to provide them with the tools and training to deal with potential pitfalls in ways that would turn those negative guest experiences into positive ones.
No matter what you do in business or in life, we should take Bobby Stuckey’s advice. We should all try to bring a bit more hospitality to our day-to-day interactions.
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