For her financial service client’s annual recognition conference, Romy Linde, general manager of Hello! Destination Management in Southern California, aimed to create 100 moments of connection, each one tailored to the attendee.
Their inspiration was the New York Times bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality by restaurateur Will Guidara. The author’s Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan earned him three Michelin stars and a spot co-producing the Emmy Award-winning TV series, The Bear.
So when they found out that one of the attendees liked cold plunges, they worked with the hotel to have tubs brought in. Another person enjoyed watching sunsets, so they had a lounge chair set up in just the right spot. Another mentioned he had forgotten his cufflinks, and they arranged to have a pair sent to him.
It’s Not About Money
One of the key principles of Unreasonable Hospitality is to make guests feel genuinely cared for and valued — like they’re the sole focus. So early on in her planning, Lindel sent out a questionnaire to attendees, asking about their preferences and what activities they enjoyed.
She set out to break down some of those barriers planners are forced to work within, such as group activities and minimums, and instead used a concierge approach to curate thoughtful, personalized touches and experiences. There was no extra budget to cover the Unreasonable Hospitality-related expenses, so they cut out the branding at the event to pay for it.
Lindel pointed out that not everything you can do to surprise and delight customers is expensive. One example is having a greeter positioned in the hotel lobby to welcome each guest personally. All it requires is some online research to ensure you identify them correctly.
Just Listen
In planning her company’s incentive trip to Morocco, where one of the main activities was a shopping trip to the souks, Heather Nutter, senior manager, conferences & events at Commonwealth Financial Network, learned that most of the attendees had never been there before. She realized that it might be an overwhelming experience, which is another principle of Unreasonable Hospitality: Slow down enough to listen and be attentive to peoples’ needs.
To alleviate attendee concerns, she brought in several vendors on the first evening to showcase their work and give people a preview of the souk experience. Then they were able to select one item as their gift.
“We gave them something with monetary value, but also alleviated that overwhelming feeling as they headed into their week. They felt so much more relieved knowing what they were looking for and how they should negotiate or bargain for those goods.”
Kindness is Contagious
Linde and Nutter shared their Unreasonable Hospitality stories during a panel discussion at this week’s Financial and Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP)’s Annual Conference, alongside Jenny Stitz, account director, worldwide sales from Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Just the day before, Guidara had been the keynote speaker, so his words were fresh in the minds of the speakers and the audience.
The panelists noted that it’s not always possible to scale up Guidara’s principles to larger groups of 500 or 1,000 people. But they agreed that it is possible for every person to experience that feeling of service that he writes about in the book because kindness is contagious.
It starts by hiring great people, and treating them well. As he says, “You cannot offer unreasonable hospitality to customers if your team doesn’t feel it from each other.”
