Businesses engaged in hospitality such as hotels, restaurants and limo companies rely on their employees to deliver hospitality. Hospitality is defined as a relationship between a guest and a host. While the host’s name might be Marriott, the actual delivery of hospitality is provided by the employee representing Marriott and interacting with guests of the hotel. The employee is the actual host during service delivery.
Here at Ecko Worldwide Transportation Group, we recruit and search for employees that have a servant’s heart. These are people who have a natural talent of making people feel welcome, valued and appreciated. It is not a skill that everyone is born with. It takes talent, style, etiquette, good manners and a whole lot more to convey true hospitality.
On a recent morning, Lily was the only food server working in a neighborhood restaurant. The name and city of the restaurant is unimportant. The job Lily performs each day is critical to the ongoing success of the restaurant. With about twenty guests seated at eight tables, Lily had her hands full. As she moved between the tables, she took the time to chat with each table making her guests feel welcome and appreciated. The chats were completed while refilling waters, teas and coffees – accomplishing the other part of her job while also delivering true hospitality.
When a bell would chime, Lily would head off to the kitchen window to collect and deliver prepared food. She wasn’t only picking up food prepared for guests who were dining in the restaurant, but also those who were arriving to pickup to-go orders. She never missed a beat. She greeted each arriving guest with a smile and a friendly greeting welcoming them to the restaurant. As she walked through the restaurant, she carefully eyed every table for needed refills. She asked her guests if everything was okay with their food and asked if she could bring them anything else. Lily’s efforts to deliver exemplary hospitality was evident in every action she took.
While a restaurant server may be a vastly different job than that of our chauffeurs, the delivery of hospitality is the same. Hospitality means keeping your eye open for opportunities to exceed the expectations of the customer. It is our intention to provide the same level of attention to our passengers as Lily provides to her restaurant guests.
May we all be lucky enough to have a few people like Lily delivering hospitality to customers.