Episode Description:

The hospitality industry epitomizes service. There is no other industry where exceeding expectations and creating incredible experiences is essential for the long-term success and viability of a business. In this episode we’ll explore ten things that I’ve learned from the hospitality industry – and I think all 10 can be applied to just about any business right away with not much effort!

Action you can take right now:

The goal of this podcast is to provide marketing and service insights, but also to provide actionable items that can occur right away without much thought. This episode explores an industry where customer service becomes everything  – here are a few things you can do right now to take action!

1. Take one thing off the list of 10 things we can learn and see if you can fit it anywhere into your business model.
2. Come up with something you can use to add VALUE to your customers. This episode explores what sets one room with a bed apart from another room with a bed. Why can one hotel charge $500 for virtually the same box with a bed that another hotel only charges $100 for? Can this relate to your own business? Is there something you can do to ‘dress-up’ your offering (nicer linens, in-room mini bar, bluetooth clock radio, Aeron office chair?). These are all elements of the ‘premium’ hotel experience, most of them have little additional cost associated with them – add something of VALUE that doesn’t have a huge expense.

After-Show Thoughts:

Coming back and listening to this episode brings to the forefront so many great experiences that remind exactly why I love to stay at nice hotels and eat at nice restaurants. It’s not because the food is mind-blowingly better or the bed 10x more comfortable (although sometimes this is the case), but it’s because of the EXPERIENCE. Again, experience becomes a common thread on this podcast. The customer experience is what builds the value of the customer relationship.

How are you building your customer’s experience? How does Disney add value to create an experience? Sometimes experience is built through absolute extravagance (i.e. think of the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas). There are plenty of beautiful hotels that don’t rely on extravagance or some incredibly scenic location,  but simply rely on an extraordinary sense of pampering and service.

This episode leaves me thinking how I can create a better experience for you in this podcast! What’s the small inexpensive thing I can do to add more value to this podcast? I know this is something that will get revisited down the line!

Transcript from Episode 14 of the Marketing and Service with Justin Varuzzo podcast:

What can we, as business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers learn from the hospitality industry today, we’re going to discuss 10 things that every business can learn from the finest in the hospitality and the street

That more come right up on the marketing and service.com podcast.

Hey Justin Varuzzo here from the marketing and service.com podcast. Thanks for listening today. I thought I’d do something a little bit fun, and I want to go through what I find the 10 key takeaways from the finest in the hospitality industry. And in this example, I am going to use a hotel, not just any hotel, but a hotel it’s very special for me. And generally in this podcast, I won’t get into

Brands. Uh , I will never do it in a negative way. Uh , and even in positive ways, I’m a bit apprehensive to , uh , call people out by name. But, but this one, I , I feel , uh , I really have to call out by name because they just provide an incredible level of service. Uh, and my wife and I have just always been extremely satisfied with every state we have ever had. And this would be the Lenox hotel in the city of Boston.

It’s nestled on the corner of Exeter and Boylston street, and is really in the absolute perfect location for exploring all that the back bay of Boston has to offer. Now, of course, I have no affiliation with the hotel. I’m not getting paid in any way to discuss this or talk about the hotel, but if you’re listening, Lennox , I would love to have the opportunity to do some promotion for you if it meant getting a few free nights.

Now I know in all seriousness, when you look at the hotel business , uh , you have hotels that are divided into different star level ratings, and these ratings are not necessarily consistent or managed by any one organization. Uh, but every booking site , uh, defines hotels. You know, two-star hotel three star hotel, four star hotel, five star hotel. You get the idea. Uh , sometimes there’s overlap sometimes there’s not, but generally speaking , uh, you know, your one star hotel is going to be a horrible rat-infested place that you would never want to stay. Uh , your two star hotel is really going to be the real bottom of the barrel franchise hotels with very little service, and you’d still probably , uh , be surprised to find a clean room and plenty of fresh towels. Uh , three-star hotels are what we’re , you know, most people are used to our holiday Inns and resident ins and comfort Inns and quality Inns and suites. And these hotels do a really good job of providing a, a tremendous value at an affordable price. And one thing that you’ll, you’ll learn as you stay at different types of hotels like this is , uh, interestingly, when you move from a holiday in , for example, to a four-star hotel, which would generally something like a Marriott or a Westin , you tend to actually lose some services and conveniences that you would expect for free at a three-star hotel. For example, at a three-star hotel, you’re , you’re likely to get free bottles of water in the lobby.

There’s probably some water in your room available to you. Uh , suddenly you move up to a four-star hotel where you’re now paying double the price and the bottle of water that’s in your room. Now costs $8 for that bottle, the free wifi you had at holiday Inn. Yeah, you’re probably not going to get it at one of the luxury hotels without paying a premium, or you’ll have to sign up for a membership program. And maybe you will get a very slow level of internet access if it’s important to you for free. But if you want anything premium, you’re going to pay more on the surface. That doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense, but I’ve really been blessed with the opportunity to do a lot of travel. And I’ve had the opportunity to stay in a lot of different hotels. And , uh , at every start level rating, I once had my car breakdown and had to stay at a truck stop hotel, which was absolutely a one-star experience and something I would never, ever want to do again. But I’ve also had the opportunity to stay at hotels like a Mandarin or the Intercontinental. These are four or five star hotels, and there is a very distinct difference on the quality of the rooms, the behavior of the people and the way you’re treated. When you move into these four and five star hotels.

Now I want to jump back. The Lenox hotel in Boston is , uh, is , uh , generally considered a four star hotel . So it’s certainly not the most opulent hotel I’ve ever seen or stayed in, but it is a very charming hotel and they do a great job. That rooms are big and clean with beautiful views of Boylston street. Some of the rooms have wood-burning fireplace is the staff is incredible and it really makes for a complete package that is a very charming and enjoyable experience. Now you could also find this same type of experience at a small bed and breakfast in Vermont, somewhere.

And , and again, the entire experience is just completely different at a small, in than a large corporate hotel or even a high-end boutique hotel like the Lenox . So I’m not necessarily saying that one is ultimately better than the other. Uh , it all depends on what you do, how long you’re staying, how many people you’re staying with. This is a big family vacation, and you’re on the road traveling across the country, then a holiday. It might just suit you find a red roof in might be a great option. A , is this a romantic getaway for the weekend in a , in a nice peak fall season travel. And then yeah, now that bed and breakfast in Vermont might just be the most special, perfect place you could imagine.

But by using the Lennox as an example, there are 10 things that I think every business owner, marketer, sales, staff, customer service, anyone who’s involved with the journey of a customer with a business should really think about these 10 things and think about how they can translate to your business or your industry, because they’re really, really interesting things. Number one on my list is the welcome. And what I mean by the welcome is literally the first thing that someone says to you when you arrive at the hotel.

So in most businesses, retail service base, it’s usually, hi, my name is how may I help you today, or thanks for stopping in. Is there anything I can help you with today? These are kind of the generic warm welcomes that we would expect. I have , which shockingly, even that is sometimes seems like a lot to ask for these days when , uh , my wife and I, the first time we went to Lennox , we were approached by the doorman who opened our car door in front of the hotel. And he simply said, welcome home. My wife was just beyond herself and thought that that was just the nicest, most warm welcome you could ever have welcome home. It does feel like home. We love Boston. We’re we’re new Yorkers and we love New York. We live in New York, but we absolutely love Boston. And we do consider it our home away from home. Welcome home.

It’s it’s such a unique, welcome message that you don’t hear a lot. And it was, it , it really kind of took me to , as a marketer, welcome home. It’s just, it’s such a simple little thing, but it was unique and it was powerful. And it had an everlasting impact on my wife who tells that story to anyone who she ever comes across when we’re talking about the Lenox hotel in Boston. So I guess the first thing in this example that we should try to translate this to is our welcome message in whatever our businesses, how do you greet a customer? How do you greet a client? Is it just hi, nice to see you. My name is, is there something a little bit more than that is it may be a cheesy thing. I remember when I worked at a health food store, we would answer the phone where the customer is always right. And at the time I thought that was nice. It was more than what other people are doing now. I think it’s a little, a little cheesy. I don’t know if that that organization still does that, but , uh, it, it should give you pause to really think about how do you greet your customers.

How do you greet a client? How do you greet a prospective client? How do you greet an existing client or customer a repeat customer, your best customer? Is there something that you can do to just tweak it a little bit? That person could have just said welcome to the Lenox hotel, but it was very different to say welcome home. So keep that in mind and think about if there’s something you can do to just give a tiny little twist on your welcome message in your business, to make people feel more welcomed and more appreciated. Number two, on my list, this, this has become my favorite thing over the past few years, when you go to the larger franchise four-star and five-star hotels, almost all of them have a signature scent. When you walk into the lobby of the hotel, there is a very wonderful and pleasing and distinct smell that is consistent for the brand.

They are literally marketing their brand through smell. Now, one of our absolute favorite parts of going the Lenox after that incredibly warm greeting is walking into the lobby and taking a deep breath and smelling the hints of green tea and lemon grass, which is the signature scent that pumps through that hotel lobby. And here’s why I’ve been such a proponent of scent marketing the past few years.

Nobody does it. It’s so prevalent in the hotel industry, but can you think of other stores outside of hospitality where there’s a distinct scent? That’s literally pumped through the building. You just don’t see anyone doing it. It’s not expensive. It’s not a big deal. Can partner with a variety of companies that I’ve worked with. Yeah . With different scents and the scent machines, and literally a couple hundred bucks. You’re set for a few years between the scent itself and the machine that pumps it out. Now this wouldn’t apply if you have a, a private office, but if you’re seeing clients and you have customers coming to a location, whether it’s a retail store, whether it’s an office office, whether you provide professional services where you constant , we have clients coming into your building, make it smell good, make the welcoming more than just a emotional, make it more than a physical aspect by making the office look nice.

The customer looks around and says, oh, this is clean, neat, trendy looking place that I think will do good for me, but take it to the next level and give them the scent. It’s yet another sensory response of the human body. It says not only is this building neat and clean and beautiful, but it smells absolutely incredible in here. If this is something you’re even remotely interested, just, just Google scent marketing. And there’s a lot of great information out there about how organizations use sense to help with their branding. And it it’s, it’s a unique idea. And it’s, it’s, it’s something that, again, as a small business, it’s just something really easy to do.

It’s really unique and nobody else is doing it. So it will be even more appreciated. Now, scent marketing, keep that in the back of your mind. I love it. I love scent marketing. It’s incredible. So let’s move on to number three in my list, number three is a free B’s or gifts. Uh , so in the case of the Lennox , uh , you go in your room and we were given a nice little cute Teddy bear, even though we have no kids , uh, if we did, I’m sure they would love this Teddy bear was, it was a very cute Teddy bear. Uh , yeah . And , and as we go into the room, there are Lindt chocolates on it . The bed, there are luxury toiletries in the bathroom, which happened to match the scent and the branding of the lobby, which is you’re really enforcing the brand through scent, which is just a fantastic way to do it. But these little freebies, they’re just nice. And, and again, my wife really appreciated. She still has that Teddy bear. It was just cool. It was a nice little Teddy bear. It was nothing special. I’m sure it’s not something that costs them more than a few dollars, but to her, it made the world of difference.

The Lindt chocolates, again, not a big deal. No , there’s plenty of hotels. That’ll leave a snacker chocolate on the , but they do it because it’s nice. It’s a nice thing. It makes people feel good. So think about this, translate this to your business or your industry. Is there a, is there something you can give out and I’m not talking about a pen or a laser pointer or one of these, you know , typical, goofy branding things, but just something that’s really genuine and unique and would, would be really helpful for someone and make them happy and something that’s inexpensive, something that’s , you don’t have to feel bad about giving away, you know, is there a little toy or something you can give to children who come in or clients that have children? I

s there a, if you’re an environment where you may see clients with their pets, bring some, some doggy treats or some cat treats something where you can , uh , give a treat to their pet. This is something that people really appreciate . It . Hats are genuine family members and they are loved and adored and pet owners want their pets to be as happy as they are. If you take care of their pet, they will be beyond appreciative for your effort. So again, just think about, is there a freebie or is there a gift or there’s something nice that you can give to prospective clients or prospective customers, current customers , uh , long-standing customers, just something that’s just a nice little freebie. Keep that in the back of your mind. Number four, when I stay at nicer hotels, I find that all my needs are catered to, without any hassle or aggravation whatsoever, really simple things.

If I forget a toothbrush and I call the front desk, someone brings the toothbrush to me. If that same situation happens, a lot of hotels have toothbrushes available in the lobby. And they’ll say, yeah, great. We have a toothbrush down here in the lobby. You can feel free to come down and get it. And it’s probably free, or maybe they charge a couple bucks for it, but it’s not the same as someone saying, let me bring that right to your room immediately and send someone up.

And this is one of those little things that again, is the difference between a three star hotel and a four-star hotel or a $60 a night stay and a $350 a night stay. Now, again, this is one of these little things that , how do we translate this to other businesses and other industries? I mean , uh , first thing I think of is a grocery industry offering to take someone’s product. If you’re in retail, can I take this out to the car for you? That’s just a very small thing. Again, you’re helping them. It shouldn’t put you in too much of an inconvenience, but it’s a huge convenience for the customer. And it’s something that can help you set yourself apart from your competitors or from other businesses in your space. And it’s easy to do, and it really doesn’t cost anything.

Now, of course, again, there’s so many variables here. I know this doesn’t work for everybody, but if you have something you can do to make a customer’s life easier in any way whatsoever, it could be the simplest thing, just coming to them instead of having them come to you. If that makes sense. And if they will find that convenient, do it make it convenient, cater to all of their needs without hassle or aggravation, and they will reward you and appreciate you more than you can imagine.

Another example of this would be a very easy returns. Uh , we , we all know that Amazon makes returns super easy. This is kind of catering to those needs. They didn’t invent the idea of returns. People return stuff to mail, order catalogs all the time. You’d have to find a box. You’d have to pay for the postage. You’d have to bring it to the post office. You’d have to drop it off. You’d have to track it. You’d have to make sure they get it a week later. You’d have to call to confirm that you get your refund. And now we’re used to just having a package, come with a return label already in there. You slap it on the box. If it’s something gone back and ups will come to your house and pick it up for free, that’s a great example of translating, having all those needs catered to without hassle. S

o it’s the same thing. You’re simply offering a return policy, but now you’re removing all the hassle aggravation and inconvenience of that process. You’re taking it away from the customer and you’re burdening yourself with those aspects. And this is a way to win customer loyalty. Number five on my list is one thing that’s great about good hotels. Is that everything you need is there you, if you’re in a city or you’re traveling and you’re at a good hotel, there’s no reason to ever leave the hotel. You’ll find dining. You have your lodging. There’s probably a spa. There’s a bar. If you need snacks or vending , uh, you’ve got your TV, you’ve got internet. They usually provide an office space, as well as the one in your room. You might have a desk in a nice air on chair, but you might have an extended office that’s available in the lobby of the hotel with more computers and printers and everything you need to get through your day. There’s no reason to leave the hotel.

So how does this translate to other businesses and how does it translate to your business or your profession? Well, just think about it is, is there something that you offer, but the associated product that someone might need, you do not offer. And I know it sounds kind of silly, but I see this a lot where a company might offer a product or service. And then as soon as you get into this, you realize you need something else to make it work. And that’s not something they offer and they pawn you off to someone else. Then you find out there’s another thing that you need to make it work. And then you’re pawned off to someone else. And before you know, it, you’re dealing with four or five vendors.

Now, maybe everything works and it’s all easy to set it up. And , uh , at the end of the day, everything works together and it’s cohesive, but it would be so much easier if that one company you partnered with just did it all. Even big companies. For example, eBay, just as I record this podcast has started switching over to a native payment system for almost the entire life of eBay. They have relied on PayPal as the payment processor. They went as far as buying PayPal and then selling PayPal, but still needing PayPal. And on a side note, just a little cross promotion here, again , uh , just something I enjoy.

I have no official affiliation, but check out business wars. There’s a great, if you enjoy podcasts, there’s a really great episode, a season on eBay versus PayPal. But now eBay is trying to provide everything in one spot. We’ll take care of your shipping. We’ll take care of your payments. This is great. This is a good thing. It makes life easy. Just like at the hotel, everything you need is there. You should never have to leave the room. Your customers should never have to leave your company. They shouldn’t have to go somewhere else to get something to help make your product or service work better.

If something exists that makes your product or service better, and people are looking for it and buying it, you should be offering it and you should be the one selling it to them. So think about that. Are there things that you are driving customers elsewhere for? And is there opportunities for you to expand into something that is closely aligned with the product or service you already provide? So number six , uh , one thing that I I’ve really come to appreciate at nicer hotels is there’s staff that you don’t always come in contact with, or have interactions with.

For example, housekeeping in a hotel, you often won’t see you leave your room in the morning. You come back at night, the bed is made, the room is clean, but you’ve never interacted with these people. But in the few instances at nice hotels where I have had an interaction, the quality of service with a housekeeper for example, was just as good, just as positive. And just as welcoming as the interactions with the receptionist or the concierge or the doorman or anyone else who works in the hotel in the front lines.

And the one thing that I translate this over to in most businesses is there typically is not equitable customer service training amongst staff, especially staff that doesn’t generally interact with customers. And the problem here is that ultimately at some point there is going to be interactions between these people and customers. And they’re probably going to do something that is inappropriate or undermining, and certainly not intentional, but just because they’re not professionals. When it comes to dealing with people, someone who does it support that you have locked in the basement happens to come up and , and walks by a customer and is asked a question. He may be dismissive, or she may be busy or preoccupied with something else and blow the customer off or not really care. And it’s not their fault. They’re not, they’re not supposed to be interacting with the customer.

They were never trained, but maybe they should be. And maybe there should just be a basic level of training that all staff has about treating customers with respect. And this is something that the good hotels do from top to bottom, everyone in the hotel, people staying there with great respect and appreciation. And it’s something that every business should take into account. Would you trust any single person working in your organization to interact with a customer? Chances are the answer is no.

There’s probably a few people who work in your company that you wouldn’t really want talking to a customer, but take the time to do just some very basic training or at least tell them how not to talk to the customer and to refer them to someone else to avoid any uncomfortable situation.

So number seven on my list is virtually everyone in the hospitality business offers some type of loyalty program, a loyalty program or perks program , uh , something to keep you coming back, something to give you a goal to achieve. And the best ones are ones that kind of game-ify this process. And if you’re, you’re not familiar with that word, gamify basically means making a game out of something. I’ve the opportunity to deal with some businesses that have some great programs where it’s like, Hey, just spend another $20. And now you’re going to be in the gold club. You’re going to get free shipping for life. And you’re going to get 10% off every order you place. And it makes it almost like a little game like, oh, I’m so close. I just, I just going to spend the extra 20 bucks so I can get into the club and these big corporations, they know that this works, they want to give you perks.

So you are loyal. So think about how this can translate to your business. Is there something you can do, one to create loyalty. Now at the most basic level, you could just have a loyalty program that someone gets points or they get a reward or something like that. But if you really do this well, not only do you develop a loyalty program that rewards your best customers, but also one that it really entices them to purchase more products or consume more services and plainly put, give you more money. And everyone on your sales staff and your marketing department, every step of the customer’s journey should be helping lead them to that next level of the loyalty program. Now, number eight kind of goes with number seven, but the very best loyalty programs have exclusive perks for top level customers.

Now, this could be like the , uh , this could be like the exclusive lounge at an airport for the best frequent flyers. This could be something like when you rent a car and you don’t have to wait on the line, you go to your own special line because you’re special. When you check in your hotel, you have a personal concierge, so you don’t have to stand at the counter. And this makes you feel special. Well , all of these things make you feel special. We all want to feel special. We all want to feel important and they know this and it works. And when you’re treated special, now, if you have the opportunity to stay at a similar hotel that let’s say is also a four-star hotel with similar accommodations, but now you’re not going to get that extra perk. And that extra benefit for being a top level customer. You’re probably going to spend a little bit more or go a little bit more out of your way to stay at the brand in which you’re loyal to, and that you’re rewarded at for your loyalty. S

o think about this in your business . Is there something for your very best customers that you can do that is just beyond what you do for anyone else, something that will make them feel special. Think about that. How do you make your best customers feel special? So number nine on my list is , uh , what I’ll call exit service. This is the service you get. When you’re leaving the hotel, you’ve already had your stay. You’ve already paid and now you’re leaving. And at good hotels, you’ll find that a great concierge and great Doorstaff. They’ll give you advice. They’ll make reservations for you at a restaurant. They’ll give you directions. They’ll help you find a car. They’ll help you. A cab. They’ll do anything for you that you need. So when you’re leaving again, there is no inconvenience and everything is easy and that all your needs are met the best they can. They could give you a recommendation for a restaurant down the road, but for actually calling the restaurant and making the reservation on your behalf. Again, it’s taking the burden off the customer and it’s now putting it on to them.

It’s making the customer’s life easy. It’s building the relationship and it’s increasing the value that the customer is going to have. Now, what does that cost again? What’s the, what’s the risk and reward here as a business owner, are you so busy and so important that you can’t take 45 seconds to make a dinner reservation for one of your top clients? But again, this is something that usually doesn’t happen outside of the hospitality industry. Now, I’m not saying you need to make dinner reservations regardless of what industry you’re in, but think about something that is similar to that.

What is something that when you are done with your client and when your client is done with the service you provide, or has already consumed the product that you offer, that you can do to enhance the sense of value on the perspective of the customer. This could be offering a free training session on whatever the product is. They just bought, or maybe a webinar to help someone get started on their website that you just designed for them. Maybe you give them a certificate that they can redeem within the next 30 days for free class, or, you know, it all depends on your industry. Got to think about this, but you should absolutely implement what I would call an exit service plan.

Number 10 on my list. This is the last one, this one’s , uh , uh, this one has very little to do with the customer. This actually has to do with the other businesses in your industry. And that is partnerships. Have you ever noticed in the hospitality business, there are tons of brand partnerships, and I know this is not unique to hospitality, but it’s the most common in hospitality. You always see cross branding and cross industry partnerships. American express will team with a hotel brand or with jet blue in the hope of having these preferred mutually beneficial perks, you know, use your American express card at this hotel, and you will get X, Y, and Z. It’s a boost for that hotel brand. It’s a boost for American express.

It’s great. It’s a good way to build partnerships. Same with the airport and maybe a car service. If you buy a ticket with jet blue, they’ll recommend you use Avis. And I’m , I don’t know if these are real. I’m just making these up as I go along, but you’ve seen things like this. So think about it. What is something you can do with your business to cross brand and cross promote another local business? Or maybe it’s not a local business. Maybe it’s a regional business. Maybe it’s a national business, but something where you have something in common, or I should say your customer has something in common with you and this other business. So great opportunity where you can work together and really get a nice cross benefit between the two organizations.

I mean, just to throw an example out there, if you own a spot and down the road is a hair salon. That could be a great partnership. Give them a call, see what you can come up with. Is there something where you can say, Hey, come to this spa or go get your hair, cut, get your hair done at this salon. And then we’re going to give you a coupon. So you can go to the spa and get a facial, whatever it is. You’re not competing with this other business. You’re just offering a service that compliments the other business. So think about it . Are there other businesses and other services or other organizations that really compliment what you do and reach out to them? See if there’s some way to work together, where you can put your heads together and each access each other’s customer base in a way that’s mutually beneficial to both of you. So those are

The 10 things that I’ve picked up from just staying at a lot of hotels over the years and really pay attention to. And I think it’s 10 things that we can translate to whatever it is you do, whatever it is, you sell, whatever you offer, whatever the product is, whether it’s a product or a service. Just think about those 10 things. Thanks so much for listening. I am Justin Varuzzo . This is the marketing and service.com podcast. If you enjoyed this, please, please, please subscribe. It means so much to me, and I hope that you can take this information and really improve your customer journey, improve your business, sell more while making your customers happy. And that’s what this is all about. Thanks so much for listening. Have a great day.