be·spoke
/bəˈspōk/
adjective
made for a particular customer or user.
I just finished the book Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. He took Eleven Madison Park (EMP) from mediocrity to the number one rated restaurant in the world with the very rare achievement of three Michelin stars and four stars from The New York Times (the highest classification from each organization).
Of course, they had to have great food, but many restaurants in the upper echelon of dining can claim that. Where EMP truly differentiated itself was in the area of service. Creating a culture of creativity, generosity, and ruthless hospitality for the entire team is what launched the enterprise into the stratosphere.
What was rare and incidental became systematized and part of the fabric of the dining experience. Some examples:
they eventually had four “Dream Weavers” on staff who worked to personalize the experience of all their guests
couples who got engaged were given their champagne in special Tiffany flutes that they received as a gift at the end of their meal
guests headed to the airport after their meal carried gift bags of elegant treats to replace the traditional mediocre ones you get in-flight
employees created custom guidebooks of their favorite locales and also had access to stacks of gift cards for MOMA, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty to share with visitors to the city
The audiobook contains about eight hours’ worth of amazing stories of the things they did. But the craziest stories were about the “bespoke” gifts - the highly customized experiences for special guests. They describe these as “legendary" and have a private Instagram account established of these stories for their staff to celebrate and be further inspired.
While these gifts can sometimes be extravagant, what really differentiates them is the thoughtfulness behind them. Legendary experiences are so over the top that they are shared hundreds of times and result in ROIs many times over their initial cost. These stories started the flywheel spinning and helped it pick up and keep momentum.
“Gifts are a way to tell people you saw, heard, and recognize them. That you cared enough to listen and did something with what you heard.” ~ Will Guidara
The authors of Giftology also have some similarly great stories about gift-giving, but it is the way that Will transforms the culture of his organizations through creativity and generosity that is truly inspiring. And it had to start with how he cared for his employees first. We’ve seen a similar movement among our customers with their employees:
owners not trading in old cars for new ones, but fixing them up and gifting them to employees who need them
a business owner requiring and funding the annual vacation of a key team member who was unaccustomed to taking and funding their own
giving a new employee a set of gift cards to experience their new city with their visiting daughter
paying for employees’ surgeries, providing other medical assistance that the employee wouldn’t have gotten on their own
supporting their hobbies and interests with special time off and special funding
providing for counseling, retreats, and other experiences for personal growth
If you care for your teams with these kinds of magnanimous and unique gestures, their engagement, commitment, and productivity go through the roof. There is also a direct correlation with how they care for your clients. While you should do this because it is the right thing to do, it is also the path to greater business success.
There are a few crucial ingredients we’ve identified that are necessary to integrate this magically transformative ingredient into your organization:
financial resources - you have to manage the business with sufficient margin to provide essential resources
personal margin - you need to not be so overwhelmed that you don’t have eyes to see the opportunity
being full & satiated - not operating from personal depletion - not drowning with your own needs
As the managing partners of some of our businesses say, having the ability to do these types of things is the best part of running a business.
Consider
Are you operating with financial margin, time in your schedule, and enough in your own tank to facilitate bespoke and other experiences for those you lead?
Can you remember a time when someone surprised or even overwhelmed you with their unexpected generosity?
Is your business created to primarily serve you, your customers, or your employees? It has to start with employees as the first priority!