I enjoy watching the CBS program “60 Minutes” and did so again last Sunday.  One of the featured stories was on New York restauranter Danny Meyer.  Meyer started with one restaurant concept as an owner/operator in the 1990s and now has 16 restaurants of different styles in New York City.  He is also the inspiration behind Shake Shack, a New York fast casual start-up in 2004 that now has about 140 units nationwide.

Meyer talked about what was necessary to build a great restaurant in New York City.  It will come as no surprise to you that he mentioned great service, great location, and great food.  Those attributes are pretty simple to think of and certainly are a must if you want people to keep coming back for more.  However, while those attributes need to be there he mentioned that what he thought was the most valuable attribute of restaurants – and any business for that matter – was hospitality.  It is your “Hospitality” that is the icing on the cake and is what will, he argues, in most cases, cause a first-time client to become a repeat customer more than any other facet of your business operation.

Meyer also talked about how it is important with hospitality to be able to read the customer as to what they want.  He stresses you have to know if being “Hospitable” means leaving that single customer alone to eat or does he want to engage in a conversation with the host.  In other words, “Hospitality” means different things to different people and being able to gauge what it means to different customers makes all the difference in the world.

So, I looked at Meyer’s analysis in light of operating our funeral home.  I think he is on to a major reason why clients use funeral homes over and over again for family members and have such great loyalty.  On one hand, we have to have adequate facilities to get client families in the first place, we need to make the deceased look acceptable during visitations, we have to properly have rolling stock that is seen as, at least, adequate for the occasion, and we must act in a professional manner.  Those are the minimums that our standard must be.

However, how we do much of that is how we are rated.  Are we friendly and courteous during the visitation or do we sit at a computer at the welcome desk typing obituaries or playing solitaire?  Do we offer coffee and other amenities without being asked? Do we know when people want help and do we know when to just leave them alone?  In a large funeral establishment, does any owner or manager make his way to the family and let them know that he is available if they need him.  Even in owning 16 restaurants, Meyer still usually goes by a couple every day and visits with customers so that they know the ownership is grateful for their business and willing to do what it takes to make them happy.

When I was owning and managing our funeral home I found it important to begin visitations at 4 pm simply because I was still in the building.  Even if I did not know the family I was able to go into the visitation, introduce myself, and ask if there was anything they needed.  It was something that any of the staff could do, except when it came from me, the owner, it had a greater sense of purpose to most families.

Take a look at how you are operating.  Train your staff to be hospitable.  Be kind. . . wear a smile, but also know when hospitable can also mean leaving someone alone when you sense that they want to be left alone.  In any regards, just having the “Hospitality” thought process will be good for business.

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