Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Foreword by
Herve Humler, President and COO,The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC ix

Introduction xi

1 The Last Customer on Earth 3

2 Systems and Standards: The Secret Weapons of Service 21

3 People Are the Heart of Hospitality 43

4 Building a Culture of Yes 71

5 Developing a Genuine Service Style 99

6 The Power of Authenticity 119

7 Moviemaking and Magic 137

8 The "Chocolate Tastes Better When It's Being Shared" Theorem 155

9 How the Digital Revolution Has Changed Your Customers 173

Afterword 201

Notes 203

List of Hospitality Leaders Who Were Interviewed by the Author for This Book 207

Index 213

About the Author 224

About the Author

Micah Solomon is a bestselling author and one of America's most popular keynote speakers on building bottom line growth through customer service. Micah was recently named the "new guru of customer service excellence" by the Financial Post.

Reviews

"Sooner or later, we're all in the hospitality business. I bet you'll find that Chapter 8 alone is worth the cost of the book." Seth Godin, Author, What To Do When It's Your Turn "At Virgin Hotels, we are building a new hotel experience-something that can only be done by learning lessons from the greats of our industry and understanding the needs and wants of today's consumers. In The Heart of Hospitality, Micah Solomon--one of the true thought leaders of the customer experience--has gathered unparalleled hospitality wisdom and distilled it in an incredibly readable and useful format. We were delighted to be part of this project and recommend it to any company or individual looking to grow within our industry." Raul Leal, CEO, Virgin Hotels "Micah Solomon is one of today's preeminent thought leaders on where hospitality, customer service, and customers themselves are heading. In The Heart of Hospitality, Micah has put together the only book of its kind: a spectacularly useful, intelligent, and wry look at what determines success in the hospitality industry, packed throughout with his own insights and the insights of an extraordinary roster of great leaders and practitioners from our industry today." Herve Humler, President and COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company "In this groundbreaking new book, Micah Solomon manages to distill the wisdom of some of America's most enlightened hospitality professionals. He combines the power of their insights with his own refreshing point of view in a compelling narrative style that is concise and to the point. The Heart of Hospitality illustrates that ultimately it is the human connection that builds and sustains guest loyalty. This is an inspirational and useful book for anyone interested in customer satisfaction. Is there anyone who isn't?" Patrick O'Connell, Chef/Proprietor, The Inn at Little Washington "An incredibly valuable look at the hospitality industry, hospitality management, and how to succeed with today's (and tomorrow's) guests." Sara Kearney, Vice President, Hyatt Hotels Corporation "It's ironic, but many people and organizations in our industry fail because they lack knowledge and insight for how to provide true hospitality, how to truly care for the guest. That's why The Heart of Hospitality is so important. It steps in to fill this gap. And it fills it with knowledge from the very best: hospitality icons Isadore Sharp, founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Herve Humler, president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Danny Meyer, president and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, and so many more. Micah Solomon has interviewed the key executives from hospitality's best, including those from The Broadmoor and The Inn at Little Washington, Montage, Fairmont, EDITION, and Virgin Hotels and has merged their insights with his own as one of the best and best-known customer service experts himself. Their collective insight focuses on all the key ingredients to deliver an exceptional guest experience - hiring the right people, developing the necessary internal systems and hospitality standards, creating the proper service culture, defining steps for service recovery and visualizing anticipatory service, as well as offering fascinating and essential discussions on how technology has and will change the guest experience." Bill Quiseng, Hospitality-industry GM (Radisson, Renaissance, Autograph Collection) "Micah Solomon has gathered all of the great hospitality industry heroes, hotel management practitioners and great restaurateurs together and pulled crucial hospitality management and business insights out of them. This is transformational to the reader who wants to thrive in the challenging world of hospitality and hospitality management." Rupesh Patel, President and CEO, 3Hospitality