Hey Square Readers,   We’re continuing our discussion of Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, and so far we’ve started with an opening discussion of your own experiences with exceptional hospitality, and brainstorming how to provide it to your customers. Today we’re talking about creating that culture internally first, and empowering those who work with you.   A big piece of this book is actually leadership development. The author explains that giving your customers a great experience really starts with first creating a positive culture within your business of kindness, caring, and trust. If you have a partner or employees, enabling and empowering them is key because you can’t provide great service if you’re having organizational or staff issues. He says that if you want to treat your customers well, then you first need to treat your team well, by having logistics down and a great employee culture.   The author says that this starts by hiring the right people for your business; not settling for anything less than someone who could become a top contributor on your team. Next, it’s training them to internalize your business’ mission; taking time to communicate with them in order to inform, inspire, connect, and provide positive reinforcing feedback & praise. Then getting to know their strengths, and assigning them roles accordingly. With that, you can demonstrate trust in them by giving them responsibility and ownership over elements of the business, which they can transform to provide an exceptional customer experience. You worked to hire the best people, now trust their judgment and expertise to help you run your business.    So let’s take these concepts and look inward at your own businesses. Share your reflection to these questions in the comments, and don’t forget to respond to other members’ messages with your thoughts too!    We’d love to hear your answer in the comments: How can you train your employees to: 1) internalize the impact your business can have on customers’ lives, and 2) give your customers a deeper level of hospitality? What work and responsibilities, areas of your business can you give ownership over to your team, in service of providing an exceptional customer experience? What is holding you back from giving your employees more control?  How can you systematize giving more positive feedback to your team on a regular basis?     Feel free to share any other thoughts you have about this book. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the comments below!   Don’t forget to: View and Subscribe to all threads about this book   Happy reading, Pesso   ... View more

Hey Square Readers,   Welcome to another round of the Square Readers Book Club! Today we’re starting our next book for January & February 2025, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara!      This book is all about giving a truly incredible hospitality experience to your customers. It dives into key strategies and tactics that the author has used in the restaurant industry, with transferable lessons you can use in your business. Its focus is on creating a culture of excellence and care, empowering employees to enable it, and using small gestures to blow your customers’ minds.   As we start reading the book, we’ll kick off our conversations with a baseline of your experiences giving and receiving exceptional customer service. I’d love to hear about you and how you have received great hospitality, and given it in your business, so share your story in the comments!   So let’s talk: What’s a great customer service & hospitality experience you’ve ever received?  How do you currently deliver an outstanding customer experience, in big and small ways?  What questions are you hoping to have answered by reading this book?   For some extra fun, share a selfie of you with the book here in the comments!    Don’t forget to: View and Subscribe to all threads about this book   Happy reading! Pesso ... View more

Hey Square Readers,    We hope you’ve started to dive into reading Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara! Last week we kicked things off with a baseline discussion on your own experiences with exceptional hospitality. Today we’re covering what Unreasonable Hospitality is, and exploring how to provide it to your customers.     What is Unreasonable Hospitality? The author explains that providing small acts of hospitality can absolutely thrill your customers, make it feel like you’re performing magic, and make their experience with your business a story that they’ll remember forever. Delivering incredible service for someone in a time of need can transform their day, relieve sorrow even for a minute, and create a deep emotional connection for them with your business.    It’s thoughtfully putting your customers needs first in a way that is deep and meaningful to them to create a catered experience. It can be something as small as giving a genuine welcome and having a meaningful conversation, a personal touch of remembering a birthday or a family detail, an act of service like feeding their parking meter, or a Surprise & Delight gesture of providing a welcome gift or thank you goodbye gift. It should be something thoughtful and meaningful to your customers that fills a need that they have, and references a conversation you’ve had together.    How can you provide Unreasonable Hospitality? Now let’s brainstorm ideas for our own businesses, and give each other some suggestions too!   Again, this is a pure brainstorm here, no idea is too big or extravagant. This is Unreasonable Hospitality, after all. Only after you’ve found some big ideas that you like, then next time we'll figure out how to do it in an affordable, scalable, and realistic way.    Share your answers in the comments: Tell us about your business: What is your industry? How do you currently serve your customers? What common needs do your customers have? What are the deeper reasons they come to you?  What are some new ideas of ways you could provide incredible tailored experiences for your customers? No idea is too big! Reply to other members’ comments and share some ideas that could help them. Having an outside perspective is extremely valuable!    Feel free to share any other thoughts you have about this book. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the comments below!   Don’t forget to: View and Subscribe to all threads about this book   Happy reading, Pesso   ... View more

Hey Square Readers,   You voted and chose Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara as our Square Readers Book Club book for January & February 2025!     We’re so excited to kick off the new year with this book focusing on the core of our businesses: our customers. This book was also featured in Season 2 of the hit show, The Bear, in an episode all about giving service and taking pride in one’s work, and I can’t wait to dive in.    Here’s a quick summary: Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect “Essential lessons in hospitality for every business: Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. The answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner. Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business— we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.”   We’ll start reading on Monday, January 6th, so get ready and pick up a copy at a local library, bookstore, Amazon, or anywhere else! We’ll have discussion threads and conversations all throughout the two months, so keep checking back to the Square Readers Book Club.    We will once again have @DinaLRosenberg, co-owner of Amityville Apothecary in NY, co-hosting for this round of our book club. With an MBA, a ton of small business experience, and an absolute expertise in customer service, she is the perfect person to help guide us through this book.    Tell us in the comments: Are you excited about this book?  What do you hope to learn?   Here are the next books we’ll read together: March & April 2025: Obviously Awesome by April Dunford May & June 2025: Atomic Habits by James Clear July & August 2025: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss September & October 2025: Company of One by Paul Jarvis    Don’t forget to: View and Subscribe to all threads about this book   We can’t wait to read with you! Pesso ... View more

Hey Square Readers!   Thank you so much for joining our Square Readers Book Club! Don’t forget to click Join Group at the top of our Book Club Group Hub.   I would love to learn more about you all, so here's a space to introduce yourselves and to meet some fellow Readers.      So tell us a bit about yourself here in the comments.    Tell us: Your name & location Your business name (and website) What you're hoping to learn and gain from Book Club Your favorite book (business or fun) A picture or two of you or your business   And of course feel free to reply to each others’ intros, especially those nearby or in the same industry as you.   Looking forward to meeting you all, and reading with you, Pesso ... View more