Quality, Hospitality, and Community

Food and books–what could be better? Maybe that’s why I keep getting drawn to what Danny Meyer has to say about customer service and hospitality.

David Dalka has blogged a talk Meyer gave at the National Restaurant Association (a different kind of NRA altogether) in Chicago on ‘Enlightened Hospitality.’ Some highlights:

Performance used to be the thing that did it for you. I’ve always made a practice of asking why. You guys make the best roast chicken, you seat us on time, etc. We stopped hearing that when people started using the Internet.

Nobody defined how hospitality is different than service. Did the waiter clear the table timely? Hospitality defines how you make someone feel. You have made them feel like you are on your side. Hospitality only occurs as we see it. Service is the technical delivery of product. You can write a manual to define the service and we have a different manual for hospitality. If you do something, do it consistently. Hospitality is not a monologue it’s a dialogue.

Hospitality IQ is the companies which [are the most successful] in hiring the right hospitality. We need to hire people who derive pleasure from giving pleasure. What occurred to me is that you can’t teach it…Kind, Intelligent and Curious, a high work ethic and integrity. These people were people with a high degree of empathy. Integrity is more than honesty. It is the judgment to do the right thing. More often than not they are life choices.

Why would we have a community investment department? Why not help fix the park across the street. A rising tide lifts all boats. You might succeed at that. You can invest in the tide.

49% of a swans body mass is below water, 51% of the swan is above water doing the graceful stuff. My favorite chapter is the road to success is paved with mistakes well traveled. Waves are like mistakes, there is another one just behind it.

I really need to read his book. So much there is pertinent to libraries, especially his thoughts on improving your community. Libraries really need to work hard to be the center of our communities, because if we’re not, something else will step in and play that role–a mall? WalMart? Seriously.