A great restaurant doesn't distinguish itself by how few mistakes it makes but by how well they handle those mistakes.
The most important thing you can do is make the distinction between customer service and guest hospitality. You need both things to thrive, but they are completely different.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Customer service is focused on fulfilling needs, while guest hospitality emphasizes creating a welcoming experience.
In this quote, Danny Meyer highlights the crucial difference between customer service and guest hospitality. While customer service involves meeting the basic needs of clients, guest hospitality goes beyond this to create an inviting and memorable experience. Both elements are essential for success in any service-oriented business, but they require different approaches and mindsets to implement effectively.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation on improving business practices, you might say, 'As Danny Meyer wisely points out, understanding the difference between customer service and guest hospitality is pivotal for our growth.'
More from Danny Meyer
All quotes βMy history has been to grow the roots as deeply as you can before going on to the next thing. That's why it took 10 years to go from Union Square Cafe to Gramercy Tavern, and another 10 years to go from Blue Smoke's first location to its second, and five to go from Shake Shack 1 to Shake Shack 2.
In an age when so many groups are rolling out restaurants faster than your local baker makes donuts, my goal is that each restaurant feels hand-crafted. That they have their own soul.
Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple prepositions - for and to - express it all.
Similar quotes
It's so important for startups to get their culture right at the start. They need to feel unique and that they are on their own important mission in the world.
A company has a greater responsibility than making money for its stockholders. We have a responsibility to our employees to recognize their dignity as human beings.
I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It cost a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's a fantastic brand loyalty.
If your startup is only in the development or idea stage, there is almost no better predictor of failure - I mean, utter failure, scorched-earth bankruptcy - than raising too much money in the first round.
No young kid growing up dreams of someday becoming a businessman. He wants to be a fireman, a sponsored athlete or a forest ranger The Lee Iacoccas, Donald Trumps, and Jack Welchs of the business world are heroes to no one except other businessmen with similar values.
Companies that get confused, that think their goal is revenue or stock price or something. You have to focus on the things that lead to those.