The Principles of Unreasonable Hospitality for Business Excellence

Lead by inspiring accountability, not fear.

Great leaders foster an environment where employees want to meet expectations and don't want to disappoint, rather than being scared of reprimand.

Why: When leaders are attentive and thoughtful in holding people accountable, staff are motivated by respect and a desire to perform well, leading to better outcomes and higher retention.

"I think the greatest leaders are those that when they walk into the room, the people that work for them check themselves a little bit. They want to make sure that everything is as it's meant to be, and they smile because they're happy that person's there."

Pursue relentless, unreasonable hospitality beyond mere excellence.

While a relentless pursuit of excellence is necessary to be the best, it's the unreasonable pursuit of hospitality that truly elevates an experience, focusing on human connection over mere perfection.

Why: The most human moments are 'perfectly imperfect' and are the 'stickiest of all,' creating lasting memories and emotional connections.

"It was the relentless, unreasonable pursuit of hospitality, right? Like you push everything to get every detail so unbelievably perfect, and then you do these messy things at the end to make people feel so very seen."

Prioritize gestures specific to an individual for maximum impact.

Identify and act on unique, personal details about customers, even if seemingly small, to create a highly personalized and memorable experience.

Why: Gestures tailored to an individual will always have the greatest impact, making people feel 'so very seen' and creating stories they will tell.

"The thing that people will actually remember is a hot dog, or whatever other random thing we did for people."

Operationalize intuition by 'going to the tapes' of successful actions.

Instead of only analyzing mistakes, review past successes to understand what worked well and intentionally integrate those insights into future operations.

Why: This process allows you to 'put intention to intuition,' ensuring that effective, intuitive actions are consistently replicated and improved upon.

"What I don't think anyone does often enough is go to the tapes when they've done something right to make sure that they continue to do that thing."

Enhance overlooked touch points with creativity and intention.

Identify common, often neglected touch points in the customer journey (e.g., the bill, welcome emails) and infuse them with unexpected generosity or personality.

Why: Small enhancements to overlooked touch points demonstrate a deep level of care, creating a profound positive impact and memorable experiences where none are expected.

"In spite of the fact that everyone shares that touch point, I've never seen it approached with any creativity or intention."

Leverage reciprocity and surprise to amplify generosity.

Offer unexpected gifts or favors without prior announcement, creating a sense of indebtedness and delight in the recipient.

Why: Generosity begets generosity, and when combined with surprise, it creates a stronger emotional connection and loyalty than if the offering was expected or earned.

"I just think generosity begets generosity."

Use pattern recognition to anticipate and enhance common scenarios.

Analyze recurring situations or customer segments (e.g., families with children, engagements, pet owners) and develop creative, proactive responses to improve their experience.

Why: By anticipating common needs, businesses can provide thoughtful gestures that make a significant positive impact on a segment of their customer base, fostering loyalty.

"One Size Fits Some is effectively using simple pattern recognition."

Embrace silliness and humanity to foster connection.

Don't take your brand or business too seriously; allow for playful, human interactions that break formality and create genuine rapport.

Why: Many companies focus on perfecting brands over pursuing people. Being a 'little sillier, a little more human, a little more connective' never fails to create stronger bonds.

"It required realizing that we should stop taking ourselves so seriously because sometimes the silliest things can be the most connective."