Amy Vaughan:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughan and I am the owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital and choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. You can join the movement@togetherindigital.com and I want to say welcome to everyone today, to our listeners and our live listeners as well. As we could begin to explore how hospitality can become one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. In a world where automation and AI dominate our interactions, there’s something magical that happens when we inject genuine human connection into our business relationships. It’s actually a two way street, folks. Our guest, Holly Fisher, is the founder and CEO of Fisher Creative Marketing and a story brand certified guide.
Amy Vaughan:
With over a decade of experience, Holly helps businesses simplify their message and enhance customer experience. As an unreasonable hospitality coach, she’s passionate about helping brands build loyalty through care, clarity, and a compelling story. Holly is here to share how small, intentional gestures can turn your clients into loyal advocates who can’t stop talking about you. Which is kind of something we all want, right? Not through bigger budgets or flashier campaigns, but through the timeless power of making people feel truly seen and valued. Welcome, Holly. We’re thrilled to have you here with us today.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, thanks for having me. Happy to be here. Excited for this conversation.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes, me too. We are very much aligned in values and philosophy. We were just talking before we came on live even, you know, just about these passion points of ours and putting people at the front and center and how it’s, you know, it really is the way to create sustainable business and really kind of have a marketing strategy that’s just out there in the wild doing the work for you, which, you know, is something I think all of us marketers dream of, right? And business owners. So excited to have our live listening audience with us here today. As always, folks, be sure to use the chat, say hi, but also drop your questions if you have something specific that you want to know from Holly. At Together Digital, we want you to ask for what you need and to get used to asking the questions. There is no such thing as a bad or wrong question. So if you have something that you would like to know, please drop it in the chat and I will make sure it gets answered before we end and wrap today.
Amy Vaughan:
So, Holly, let’s give our listeners a little bit more about you and your backstory. How did you go from a traditional marketer to becoming an unreasonable hospitality coach, which I would love for you to kind of give them some context of that as well and what that moment looked like for you when you made that pivot. Sure.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah. So I have been working in marketing for a number of years, almost 15 years. I was a journalist before that, a longtime writer and kind of storyteller. And I’ve been a story brand certified guide since early 2018. So I’m certified in the story brand marketing framework created by Donald Miller. I’m sure some, a lot of folks are familiar with that book and that framework has been out for a number of years. So, I’ve been working in that space and really just helping folks with their messaging and their marketing for quite some time. And last year I actually read the book Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Go.
Holly Fisher:
And a lot it was, it had been on my to read list, you know, for a minute. Right as we get our stacks get really tall. And a lot of folks are really buzzing about this book. So I picked it up and read it and it’s a, it’s a great read. It’s full of some really fantastic stories and actionable ideas and I just, I blew through that in just like a couple of weeks. Really great book. Will, if you’re not familiar with that book, he owned a restaurant and ran restaurants in New York City and really talks about how they were able to take a really high end restaurant in New York City to the number one restaurant in the world. And that was largely through the power of hospitality.
Holly Fisher:
And so I was really just impressed with his story. Just this concept, this idea, this is something that even in my own business I always, you know, I’m striving to practice. And so I just really loved this idea of, of this hospitality as a marketing concept and this idea of unreasonable hospitality. So the opportunity presented itself last fall for a new certification to become an Unreasonable Hospitality certified coach. And so I jumped on that and I thought, well, this just aligns really well with marketing.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Holly Fisher:
This is just a really wonderful way for businesses to uplevel their marketing and, and really have those, those marketing and brand ambassadors out in the world who are talking about what a wonderful business you are. So, I’ve been doing and now can do workshops and training with folks to help them figure out how they can infuse more hospitality into their business.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. Yeah. Because you say that basically hospitality is marketing, which is a pretty bold statement. Cause when you think about marketers and like their pillars and their themes and their topics and their Channel strategies, you often don’t hear those things put together. So it’s a pretty bold statement. Break down for our listeners a little bit about what you mean by that and then why traditional marketing approaches might be falling short of hospitality.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, our customers and clients really do want to do business with other people. They want to know that businesses are valuing them as customers and clients, that they are being seen, they’re being heard, they want that relationship. And, and you know, we do kind of live in this automated, now sort of AI driven world. Right. Where sometimes it’s hard to even just get like a live person on the phone to answer a question. And so being able to have this level of hospitality and think about how we can not just provide a nice level of service for people, but how we can really, again, make them see, make them feel seen and valued and make them feel really special as customers and clients, that is going to really impact your marketing because then you’re going to have people who are out there talking about your business. They’re going to be repeat customers, they’re going to be sending you referrals. And so that’s a great way to have these brand ambassadors out in the marketplace sending you business that, you know, is essentially free marketing for you just because you took the time to really put the customer and the client experience front and center.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. I mean, for us as a membership organization, I couldn’t agree more. I mean, women’s time is limited, their finances might be limited and like even more since the pandemic. And so I think leaning in harder to understand that the word of mouth for us, it’s like 90% of our business. Right. I think it is such a shortcut to a sale that we take it for granted. And it’s funny because as you were speaking. Speaking, Holly, for some reason my brain went back to my agency days when it was just like the clients would always ask for surprise and delight.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
And why did that? It’s one of those terms that would always rub me the wrong way. But as you were speaking, I think I finally figured out why. Because just good customer service shouldn’t be a surprise and delight. It shouldn’t be just a random one off instance. It’s not like a strategy or a tactic. It is a consistent way of being right as a business.
Holly Fisher:
Absolutely.
Amy Vaughan:
And I always wondered why.
Holly Fisher:
That drove me nuts. Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
So funny. All right, so I also know that our listeners who are here with us and, you know, listening to the Podcast after we publish it, they’re probably thinking that hospitality sounds either expensive and or time consuming. Could you maybe paint a picture for them about what unreasonable hospitality looks like in practice?
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, that’s a great question, and that’s something that I share with people a lot, is that this doesn’t have to be expensive, doesn’t have to be time consuming. You don’t have to hire a whole new team of hospitality folks for your business, you can do this at any business, any size, any scale. So this is certainly not just for folks that might consider themselves to be in the traditional hospitality industry of, you know, restaurants and hotels. Right. We’re all in the hospitality industry if we have customers and clients that we’re serving. And so thinking about just those little things that you can do, again, doesn’t have to be expensive, doesn’t have to be big. Can be if you want, you know, you can do something grandiose. But honestly it might be things like thank you cards, just little notes that you’re sending people, just, you know, paying attention to what clients and customers are saying and how you can just show up for them in a way that they know you were listening.
Holly Fisher:
You know, let’s say for example, you, we’re kind of in this back to school season right now. So let’s say you have a client whose first child is going off to college. Right? It’s a big, that’s a big deal, right? What if you just sent them a note, hey, I know your son or daughter is going off to college this week. I’m just thinking about you. You know, here’s a Starbucks gift card. You might need a little extra coffee to keep going this week. What did that cost you?
Amy Vaughan:
Right?
Holly Fisher:
Almost nothing. Right. But your client is like, wow, one, somebody actually paid attention to what I said. Right. Took some time to build that relationship, and knew that I had an important life event going on. And so it’s going back to that person going, wow, I feel really seen and valued by this business. And so that’s just a simple example of something you can do that’s going to have a great impact but doesn’t cost really anything at all. A couple minutes of your time and you know, a five or ten dollar Starbucks card maybe.
Amy Vaughan:
Right, right. And it really just takes that action. Right. I think sometimes it’s hard to get caught up in all the day to day and I know for us, for example, I do member one on one onboardings with all of our new members. It really helps me understand why women are joining. What do they need? You know, what are they looking for? Because it’s a little different. And while we can’t be everything for everyone, we have a lot to offer as a community. And I know their time is precious and limited because they don’t get to prioritize themselves in their careers often, which is usually why they join. And so for me to open my door and say, my time is for you to help you go in the right direction and use this most effectively, I just really felt like we didn’t used to do those.
Amy Vaughan:
And once we started doing those, it was really great to see the increased engagement, the loyalty, the renewals that came, and they were more likely to use their membership as well versus just kind of do it, pay for for it, and then resent it because they never got the chance to really dig in and figure it out. And it’s systematized. I was going to say, I know we talked a little bit about automation, but I actually think automation can help with hospitality to a degree. Right. I talk to and onboard a lot of people every month, but I use read AI for my notes. And so if I can’t remember or call something specific and I really want to go back and send a note or thanks to somebody and make it meaningful, I can go back to that and be like, please help me remember. You know, so I think between like, absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Holly Fisher:
Or if you’re talking to somebody, you know, maybe you have a monthly call with someone and you’re like, I know they told me about something that was happening with their kids or their family or their business or whatever. You know, we’re all human. Right. It’s hard to remember everything. So, absolutely, you can go back and check that recording so that you can mention it in the next call because you do want to know what’s going on with them and you are interested and invested.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah. It’s just the older I get, I’m like, the less it fits up here in this head of mine. So I’m like, I need all the help I can get. Yes.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, I definitely need a note taker following me around 24 7.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s amazing. And if I think if somebody mentioned something specific, I can start to like, just search up a couple phrases that I know maybe we shared because I’m trying to remember the name of something, you know, and like I said, I’m very much driven by my calendar. So it’s like making myself available at certain times is important so that people know that I’m always there for them. From a hospitality standpoint, it also helps keep me sane and in check so I’m not all over the place at different times. And then even with that workflow I use calendly personally, there’s always follow ups that I have set up and created to really just make sure they got what they needed out of it and to ask for feedback and things like that. So there’s really a lot of ways you can do it that, like you said, aren’t expensive and actually aren’t time consuming, but are intentional and thoughtful and hopefully make people feel seen and heard as well.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
Awesome. Let’s talk about little moments with big impact philosophy and if you could share a specific example of a small gesture that created a disproportionate loyalty or word of mouth situation.
Holly Fisher:
I’m actually going to share an example that Will Guidera gave at a talk last year when I was listening to him at a workshop. He was doing some consulting work with car dealerships and they were a little, you know, hesitant about all of this, like oh, this whole concept of hospitality. And so he was really digging in with them and asking questions about the whole customer experience. Right. Because the customer journey is fast, right. There’s things that people experience with your business before they ever, even, you know, walk in the door or engage with you all the way up to post purchase. Right. So one of the questions that he was asking these car dealers was what happens the first time someone opens the glove box of their new car? Because we’re all going to do it, right? At some point we got to put our insurance in there, the new car registration, our Chick Fil a napkins, right? We gotta have all that stuff in the glove box.
Holly Fisher:
So at some point we opened the glove box and he said, you know what if you put in there a note maybe from the manager of the dealership, you know, thanks for buying the new car. If you need anything, here’s my number. And then they put, you know, a coffee gift card and have a coffee on us. So they did that and had just an amazing reaction from customers because that was just again, not expensive. I mean, you’re talking about a car that could be 30, 40, 50, $60,000 and you’re giving someone a 10 or $15 gift card like not a big deal, right? Quick note, put that in the glove box. Again, it’s a system, right? We know we’re gonna do that with everyone put in the glove box. What a wonderful surprise. When I open the glove box and see that? I have a note from the car dealership and a gift.
Holly Fisher:
Gift card to go grab a coffee. That’s, again, it’s just a small thing, but can have a really big impact, and it’s going to just establish that business in my mind in a positive way. I’m probably not going to go buy another car next week.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Holly Fisher:
At some point, I’m going to go buy another car.
Amy Vaughan:
It’s a big purchase.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, right. And so those little touch points like that, that just kind of make people go, wow, this. That was really nice. Like, I can’t believe they did that is really going to make me think, maybe I’ll go back to that dealership next time and.
Amy Vaughan:
Or refer people.
Holly Fisher:
Absolutely. Or I tell someone, oh, my gosh, you’re not going to believe what happened. I opened the glove box of my new car, and guess what was there? Because it’s not something that a lot of other people are doing. Right. So it is a real surprise, a real treat, and something that can. Those little things like that can really have a big impact.
Amy Vaughan:
Right? Yeah. One of my favorite examples is Chewy. If you guys are familiar with Chewy, they do like the pet food delivery. And I think their intentionality within their business model is so wonderful. I mean, a lot of us, you know, we’ve got our fur babies, and they’re basically like family. So, you know, when you’re kind of getting that subscription order every week, every month, whatever you have it set up as Chewy has it set up, where it’s like, if you lose your pet, like, they will send you, like, a card for grievance. They will take the pet food that you have left over and donate it to a shelter. And it’s just like.
Amy Vaughan:
And they just built it into their business model from the start. And I think it’s little things like that that actually made them kind of come out ahead of the race when it came to online pet food subscriptions. Right. Because, I mean, anybody could kind of jump in and do that. But to me, what has always made them stand out is, like, that little bit of understanding that our pets are family.
Holly Fisher:
Yes.
Amy Vaughan:
And so making that whole experience, especially when you’re suffering from, like, a loss, it’s just. It’s tremendous. And I’ve had so many people comment on it and recommend it and all of that good stuff. So, yeah, even though it’s, like, a little bit more expensive, sometimes we’re like, we’re just going to do it because we know that it’s a good business and we know that they care.
Holly Fisher:
Example. I’ve heard other people talk about that, that as well. After. Yeah, a pet passes away and then they’ll get a little something from, from chewing about that. And that’s a wonderful example of just going a little bit above and beyond. But again, just really now we’re just like chewy, yay. Right. Like they really like, that’s how you build that customer loyalty.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Holly Fisher:
And you’re right. Sometimes maybe it, maybe it is a couple dollars more. But I’m like, man, they, they care. So I’m gonna stick with them.
Amy Vaughan:
I’m gonna go out of my way. Another great example I had was the woman that I used to work with at an agency. And it was kind of before Lululemon blew up, but she had been wearing it for years and she was a runner and they had a pair of tights that were like her absolute favorites. And you know, I think she paid like a hundred plus dollars for these pairs of running tights. And she had left them in the locker room at the G and somebody had stolen them and she was pretty devastated. And I think that maybe they weren’t making these particular ones anymore. And so she went to the store and was shopping for a new pair and when somebody came to ask to help her, she kind of told them what happened and they gave her a gift card to buy whatever pair that she felt was the next best thing to the one that they discontinued for her because that was like the really thing that made her live it. She was obviously upset.
Amy Vaughan:
Having a hundred dollar plus pants stolen, but also stolen. But then also to know that like those, that design is not around anymore and you can’t buy them again.
Holly Fisher:
Yes.
Amy Vaughan:
So I think that was really sweet and I think that’s another great thought too, is like empowering your employees and.
Holly Fisher:
Your team with the ability to provide.
Amy Vaughan:
Those hospitable moments are really powerful as well.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, I think that’s huge. You have to give your team the ability to make those decisions and to be able to do, you know, those kinds of things. Right. Because that’s not, it’s not going to have the same impact if you’re like, well, I don’t know, let me run it up the chain of command and go through a bunch of red tape and kind of figure it out. Like, you just, your team just has to know that they have the freedom to make those decisions. And if it’s going to, if it’s going to really be a moment of hospitality, like, do it, you know.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah. Empower them to be able to do that. Yeah, I agree. Because it’s, it feels weird when it feels like the bureaucracy because then you as the person and the customer, you’re like, I feel like I’m being a burden and creating more work on somebody else’s part. So that doesn’t feel exactly at all. Well, I mean, our community is, you know, vastly hybrid. We do in person, but we’re also very much digital. And then our whole industry has become very much remote teams, online services, digital products.
Amy Vaughan:
So I’m kind of curious for our listeners, especially, like, how do you create hospitality magic when you’re not physically face to face with folks?
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, that’s definitely a little harder if you don’t have that kind of thing, like brick and mortar or kind of face to face interaction, for sure. But just even some of the other things that we’ve talked about, whether it’s just sending notes or sending people little gifts or. I know I work with a lot of folks remotely and usually when someone starts working with me, I’ll send them a little something in the mail. Maybe it’s a copy of the story brand book or the Unreasonable Hospitality book, or maybe it’s a little. I like to send people things. I’m based in Asheville, North Carolina, so sometimes I like to send people things from, like, local businesses, right? Like little, you know, goodies or something like that. So even just putting together sort of a little, you know, I’m excited to work with you kind of packet a little gift, a little, you know, birthday card or, you know, just even little things like that that you can do that again are small, they’re not super expensive, but they’re just kind of letting people know that you care. And that can be a good way to connect with folks when you’re not like, right, in the same, same space.
Amy Vaughan:
I feel like it kind of goes a little bit farther too, right when you’re not in the same physical space. And then you send something that is, like, tactile. It’s always kind of like, oh, that’s so cool. Like, I wasn’t expecting that. I mean, I’ve had calls with people that have done that, that have sent thank you, like handwritten thank you cards after, like a coffee chat. I’m like, oh, my gosh, that’s so cool. And it’s been a minute. But I had, oh my gosh, it’s been more than a minute.
Amy Vaughan:
So my memory is going to fail me here. But we had another podcast guest. Gosh, I want to say it was like two years ago and we were talking about connection. And actually it also came up in that podcast episode and the one with Nancy Harhut, which talks about using behavioral psychology for marketing. And it’s that, like, rule of reciprocity, right. When somebody does something nice for us, we kind of want to do something nice in return. And so that’s what I meant when we were talking through the opening is like you being more hospitable towards your customers, your clients, whomever. It gives something back to you.
Amy Vaughan:
Right. It makes us feel good to make other people feel good. Right. It’s not completely selfless.
Holly Fisher:
That’s right. A hundred percent.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Holly Fisher:
I mean, we love, like, sending. I mean, I love, like, kind of sending people things or like putting together a little note or something like that for folks just to kind of, you know, just brighten people’s day. Right. Or again, it kind of goes back to that, paying attention to the things that people are talking about. Right. So you can send something, you know, you mentioned the, you know, the pets, Right. Maybe somebody got a new pet or they lost their pet or, you know, they love, you know, they love dogs. So you send them a little something, you know, for their pet or that’s pet themed.
Holly Fisher:
Right. So, so it. It goes even just a little bit further than just kind of a more generic gift or note, but it shows that you actually paid attention to something that they told you about themselves.
Amy Vaughan:
I love it. I mean, I think that’s a great note, too, to our job seekers who are listening as well, you know, because it’s a tough market out there right now in the job world. So, yeah, kind of thinking out of the box when you’re reaching out, but also kind of with that follow up, I think people sometimes are like, I feel like such a nag following up. So maybe just find fun, creative, interesting ways to kind of follow up to. One, it’ll be more fun for you. And two, it’ll probably be more fun for the recruiters too, because, I mean, they’re on the other side of things, very overwhelmed. And so finding that opportunity and the ability to kind of make that connection stronger through a little bit of hospitality in that realm too. Like, why not?
Holly Fisher:
Absolutely. Yeah, for sure.
Amy Vaughan:
So for our listeners who are working with and serving clients, I’m curious, how do you begin to identify some of the key touch points where hospitality can make a big difference? Could you walk us through that process and what that might look like?
Holly Fisher:
Yeah. So this is actually part of the workshop that I will do with folks. It is really kind of taking a minute to first kind of get our heads wrapped around, you know, what is hospitality and how that is different from just providing people with a service. Right. Like the thing they’re paying us for. So how can we start to go above and beyond? And then we’ll really take some time to map out all of those customer touch points. And, you know, some of them are going to come to you really quickly. Right? They’re obvious. But when you really start, like digging deeper and really starting to think about it, I mean, you’re just going to start to have, have 50, 60, you might even get into a hundred or more touch points that customers have with you.
Holly Fisher:
And, and I like to encourage people to think about those before, you know, people buy from you that might be consuming content on your social media that might be going to your website. How easy is it for people to navigate around your website and schedule an appointment with you or make a purchase? Right? That’s a customer touch point. Then of course, there’s the actual, you know, purchase or working together. Right. All the different ways. What are the email communications that people get, the meetings, like, all the different ways that you’re interacting with them and then even, you know, beyond. Right. The end of an engagement, right.
Holly Fisher:
Or you finish a project or somebody, like what’s happening after the fact. Are there some things built in that you can continue to kind of stay in touch with them? So yeah, really taking some time to map all of those out. That can take a minute when you really start, start thinking about it and then you can start to look at the different impacts of those. Are there some of those that are naturally, like, positive and fun for people? Are there some that are a little more negative? And I don’t necessarily mean that negative in that you’re doing a bad job, but a really good example of that is when you go out to dinner, A quote, negative touch point is getting your, your bill. Yeah, right, because you were just like.
Amy Vaughan:
Oh, I didn’t order that.
Holly Fisher:
Gosh, I gotta pay for this. So it’s not, it’s not that they did anything wrong. It’s just a negative experience because we’re like, shoot, I gotta pay for it. Same thing if we’re sending clients invoices or things like that, right? Again, they know they’re gonna have to pay for it. But it’s not the most fun part of our time together. So what could I do to maybe make that a little better? Are there touch points along that journey that you’re just not even paying that much attention to? They’re just kind of happening. And you’re like, you know what? Actually, if we did this thing, that would.
Holly Fisher:
That would actually really make that experience better for people. You know, a really common example is thinking about if you. If you have a brick and mortar business, you know, the restrooms. Yeah, right. That’s one. That’s one that sometimes. Sometimes gets overlooked. So what’s the restroom in your business? Right.
Holly Fisher:
If it’s virtual, the thing that you’re just kind of like, yeah, people use this. But I didn’t really, really pay that much attention to it. Like, it’s just, okay, so how can I start to level up those touch points? And again, you know, if you have a hundred of them, you can’t do them all at once. So start to prioritize and maybe you just pick, you know, we’re going to start with three.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Holly Fisher:
And we’re going to do that, and then we’re going to add, like, a couple more, and we’re just going to continue to work our way through this list of touch points. And how can we just make that experience just a little bit better for clients? And again, it doesn’t have to be huge, big, grandiose, or expensive. It can be just really, like, even small stuff, really simple things.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. And I love your point there, too. I think we often disregard when a client is leaving or a customer is canceling or they’re asking for a return or a refund. It’s so easy to think, especially as a business owner sometimes to be like, fine, be gone. But it’s like, no, like, the. To me, the best thing you can do is actually me even making them. The point. Like, you’re saying the pain point of partying is as pleasant as possible.
Amy Vaughan:
Now, I’m not saying be a doormat, but I’m saying, like, for me, if somebody’s like, hey, I need to cancel for whatever reason, I’m always like, listen, we’re going to do what we can for you. That’s totally fine. We understand. But please know that we are here for you when we are rooting for you, and we’re going to continue to be your constant even if you’re not within the community and a member right now. Because to me, it’s like, you never want to burn a bridge. Like, unless they are just an awful customer and they need to go. That’s maybe a different thing. Right?
Holly Fisher:
That’s right. And that does happen sometimes.
Amy Vaughan:
Right, Right, right. And that’s. That’s all. Nothing story. But I think, you know, really looking at when that point of departure is like, so for your car example, you know, the car is sold, they didn’t need to do anything extra. But by putting that gift card into the glove compartment, it just, you know, again takes it that way extra mile, pun intended on kind of emphasizing, you know, the desire to make sure that the relationship continues. I was going to say that too. It also reminds me of even my.
Amy Vaughan:
Our realtor when we bought our house 12 years ago. She’s amazing. The reason why she’s one of the top realtors in our area is because she invites us to her house for like get togethers and she sends a Christmas card and you know, she sends like things for the birthdays and I mean she doesn’t have to go out her way and do all of that. But because she does that, I will always recommend her because she was a good realtor as well, obviously. But just that little extra. I mean this always keeps her top of mind. And as a realtor, referrals, number one in getting new business.
Holly Fisher:
We’ve had real estate agents that have done that before too and will still sometimes send us things even though we don’t even live in the same city. We wouldn’t be using them again necessarily. They’ll still send us a little something or notes or something like that. And so. So just those. And again, small things. Right. I think we’ve really emphasized that this does not have to be bigger, expensive stuff.
Holly Fisher:
It just takes a little bit of thought.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah. So I guess that that leads perfectly into the next question or what are some low cost, high impact hospitality strategies that someone could implement? Like.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, yeah, I think we’ve talked about a lot of things like that. I mean just even little small notes and reminders and gestures, things that you can do. I think so. Again, I think one of the really important things is just paying attention to people. So I’ll actually share a little story from the unreasonable hospitality book that Will has talked about a lot. Some people might have heard, but again, he has a very high end restaurant in New York City and he just, they were a little bit short staffed I believe and he was just kind of helping pitch in, clear a couple tables, do a few things things happens to hear a group of people who had been in New York City, they were big foodies, they had gone to all of the like really top notch restaurants all around town. They ended up eating at his restaurant and then they were off, you know, back to wherever they came from. So he happens to overhear them talking about all the different places that they’ve been eating.
Holly Fisher:
But their one gosh, the one regret they had was they never actually got to have a hot dog from a New York City hot dog stand. Right. And so he pops out, goes outside, gets the two dollar hot dog from the, you know, hot dog cart outside the restaurant, takes it into the kitchen, convinces the, the chef to cut it up into like three little pieces, put it on one of their fancy plates, you know, little fancy, you know, dash of ketchup, and take it out to the table. And those people were like, oh my gosh, blown away, right over the, again, this $2 hot dog. But it wasn’t so much about the hot dog, it was the gesture. It was the fact that he had slowed down enough to hear that conversation. And so I think that’s where we can really have a lot of impact . Okay, let me listen to the things that my clients and my customers are telling me. Especially when you work with, you know, if you’re in like consulting or coaching and you have a lot of one -on -one interactions with people, I think that can be a really wonderful opportunity to hear what people are saying here.
Holly Fisher:
You know, what can you do to make just either add a little fun, right, a little hot dog to their life, or, or something else that you can do for them that’s really going to help them in their business as well. And again, that’s a small, you know, low cost example, but it just requires you to be mindful and to always have this idea of hospitality at the forefront of your mind.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, it sounds like a little bit of active listening and action. Right. Just kind of like, don’t even wait, just go outside, buy the hot dog, bring it in. I love that story.
Holly Fisher:
That’s a great idea. And same thing, you know, if that had been a staff member, you know, I think letting the staff member, again, like we talked about earlier, feel empowered. They could have been like, hey, Norman, to dash outside and grab this hot dog real quick, you know?
Amy Vaughan:
Right, right.
Holly Fisher:
Really cool.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah. So. All right. So you also mentioned that kindness scales how. And I kind of alluded to some of this earlier, but I’m sure you’ve probably got some other ways to share how you systematize hospitality without losing its authentic and more personal feel.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, and I think that’s huge because you, you do want people to feel like they are special and like they’re getting something really unique. But at the same time, as a business, you do have to have some systems in place so you can do this. So I think one of those is, one of the ways that you can do that is look for what we call the recurring moments in your business. What are the things that happen with some regularities and how can you build a system in place that says, okay, when this happens, we do this thing. So, you know, for example, I work with a lot of folks that I’m helping them, you know, build a new website. So an example of that could be like, great. When a person’s. When a client’s website launches, they get, you know, maybe they get some kind of a gift.
Holly Fisher:
They get, you know, one time I sent a client some cupcakes, you know, just to kind of celebrate the launch of the new website. Because they had been working on it for such a long time and it was a really big website and took, you know, took a minute. And so having those kinds of things is great. When we launch a new website for a client, they get this. Or when someone starts an engagement with us, they get a little kind of welcome gift or a welcome, you know, note or something like that. Again, just thinking about what are the things that happen on a regular basis that also helps. If you have a team, then they’re gonna know, like, oh, great, whenever this thing occurs, we do this. Or maybe, you know, you work with.
Holly Fisher:
With. Let’s say you work with a lot of moms, right? And they have. And so you have a lot of moms. Maybe they’re having. If they’re young moms, they’re having a baby, right? And so, you know, every time one of our clients has a baby, we send them this thing or whatever, right. Flowers or a onesie or whatever, right?
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Systems and processes, I think, make all of it easier and then it makes sure that it’s always happening and it’s staying top of mind because again, being.
Holly Fisher:
A business owner feels great about it. They’re still like, oh, look what I got. Right? It doesn’t matter that everybody else, you know, is also getting that. They don’t care. They’re just thinking like, wow, this is awesome. I feel really special.
Amy Vaughan:
No, I agree, I agree. So what would you say are the biggest mistakes you see businesses make when they try to implement hospitality driven marketing? Are there any pitfalls or traps they should be on the lookout for?
Holly Fisher:
I think one is making sure that it is genuine. Right. I mean, we don’t. Yes. At the end of the day, this will help us grow our business. It will help us get repeat customers and referrals and marketing and all of that. So there’s certainly that benefit to us. But we also want to make sure that we’re not just like, well, I just, I need to do hospitality because I need to do it.
Holly Fisher:
Right. We want that genuine connection and relationship with our customers and clients. So. So making sure that our motives are pure, I guess. Yeah. And that, you know, this is something that we really believe in and that’s also how we’re going to get our team. You know, if you have a team really getting everybody on the same page with this so that, you know, it really can come from top down and everybody has this buy in, this sense of ownership, this culture of hospitality within your organization. So I think that’s huge.
Holly Fisher:
And then I think again, just like we mentioned earlier, just not making the assumption that this is going to be a big undertaking. Right. That it can be something simple. You could just start picking one thing right. Next month that you’re going to do. Right. One little thing.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. I think that’s the best way when things feel big. Right. What’s the next little step we need to take when maybe it feels overwhelming? And kind of on that note, I can imagine a lot of our listeners wanting to go back and maybe talk to their bosses because you’re 100% right. It has to be bought in from the top down if it’s going to be implemented and done well. And we’re adding it to the process. Like we’re often talking about marketing, you know, we are constantly asked, like, what, what’s the roi? How do you measure the roi? Right. So, you know, what are some of the ways in which we can either be looking at, talking about tracking, you know, the ways in which hospitality might truly be working to help the bottom line of the business? Because sometimes that’s just what people care about, unfortunately.
Holly Fisher:
For sure. Yeah, that’s true. Absolutely. And I think you can, I can use it. I think you can use some of your traditional marketing metrics as well. Right. So even looking at things like referrals, reviews. Right.
Holly Fisher:
Those kinds of things, maybe you have some stuff set up where people are more apt to share, like on social media, things like that. Right. So you can do some of those things. I also think that this falls into that long game concept. Right. I mean, this is not necessarily the kind of thing that you’re like, great, we started sending thank you notes today and tomorrow we doubled our business. Right, right. With like, with a lot of our marketing.
Holly Fisher:
Yes. Sometimes we do see immediate results. Sometimes the results are over. Time. Right, right. And it’s just. It’s building the relationship, building the trust and the rapport with the customers and clients that’s going to take you through the long, long game. Right.
Holly Fisher:
I mean, it’s like the car example we talked about. I’m not going to buy the car from you today and then buy another car from you tomorrow, but I may come back in seven, eight, nine years.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Holly Fisher:
Buying your car from you.
Amy Vaughan:
Well, and I also would think that I might go to them now. It might not go out of my way to, like, get oil change somewhere. I might go there to get the car service and oil change because I felt that much more taken care of when I was there versus doing like a Jiffy Lube, you know what I mean? Where it’s like, I’m in and out and bam. Thank you, ma’. Am. Now we’re moving on.
Holly Fisher:
So.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, absolutely.
Holly Fisher:
I think it’s. It’s having that. That perspective of going, you know, I’m in this for the long haul.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Holly Fisher:
And I will see the results. They may not necessarily be tomorrow, but I will see the results of this effort.
Amy Vaughan:
Agree, Agree. Yeah, it’s like that long lead marketing nobody ever wants to talk about. We always want, like, the immediate results. We’re all too. We’re all too overstimulated and too used to immediate gratification that it’s kind of a bummer because it. You’re leaving money on the table. You’re literally leaving money on the table by now. Putting into place, like, hospitable practices within your business to make sure that you sustain the leads, the business, the relationships that you currently have, because those are going to be your best bet.
Amy Vaughan:
Right. It’s like marketing 101. So it’s, like, so funny. These feel like revelations because they really shouldn’t be. Right.
Holly Fisher:
I know, but we kind of live in this world of, like, let’s go viral.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes. Right.
Holly Fisher:
Like, people just want to be like, I did this thing and I went viral. And I’m like, okay, well, sometimes that happens. Right. But not very often. Right?
Amy Vaughan:
Not very often. And then what? Oh, that’s another good podcast episode of ours, too. Y’ all should go back and listen to it. With Kenya Kelly talking about Tick Tock and that whole sense of, like, she had a law firm come to her and they were like, we want to go viral. And she’s like, do you want to go viral or do you actually want leads you can close. They were like, oh, we want leads. We can close. She’s like, Then let me do what I need to do, and I’m going to get you 100 new leads.
Amy Vaughan:
And they’re like, what? Nothing we’ve ever done’s created 100 leads. She’s like, well, going viral won’t get you leads, but having the right message to the right people at the right time, that’ll get you there. And so, yeah, she got them over a hundred leads, and I think they got like 20 of those closed, and it was like the biggest boom in their business they had seen. And, you know, again, I think that flash in the pan notion, for as long as I’ve been in this business, it’s like, are we done with that yet? It’s been like 15, 20 years, folks. Can we not use the word viral anymore? Because it’s. I mean, it doesn’t have. And then it’s funny because they put the pressure on roi. But what’s the ROI of viral?
Holly Fisher:
Right? Yeah.
Amy Vaughan:
Right.
Holly Fisher:
I think it’s. It’s always about. I think in 99.9% of cases, it is quality over quantity.
Amy Vaughan:
Yes, 100.
Holly Fisher:
So I would much rather have a hundred, like, really solid leads than a million people that just saw it and just moved on.
Amy Vaughan:
Yep.
Holly Fisher:
Right.
Amy Vaughan:
I am with you. I am with you, Holly.
Holly Fisher:
Much better results that way. So.
Amy Vaughan:
Absolutely. Well, and then, not only that, but you’re just kind of working with the kinds of people that you want to be working with. I think that’s like the philosophy I’ve taken on with digital and our membership. It’s like, like, how are you going to grow? How are you going to scale? You’re at 500. You’re gonna get to 2,000. I’m like, no, dude, it’s like, I’m not trying to pack a room. I’m trying to make an impact on an individual level with women who don’t feel seen and heard. And so I said, I want quality over quantity.
Amy Vaughan:
I want the kinds of women who are collaborative, who are open to listening and learning and helping others, and not power hoarding or shaming or blaming or any of that stuff that a lot of us get conditioned to do in most other environments. And so to me, that’s a very sacred space, you know? And so, yeah, I am. I’ve said that so many times. The quality over quantity and the sustain versus to scale. And again, it just comes with the nature of our business and what we’re trying to do because we’re trying to achieve a mission. So does it, like, really make the bottom line big? No, but it helps us keep going to achieve the goal that we’re out to do. So, obviously, I know my. My business is coming from a different place, but.
Amy Vaughan:
No, that’s awesome. Yeah, awesome. Awesome. All right, well, I’m going to check in with our live listening audience real quick. I just thought my phone was my mouse. Gosh, it’s Friday, you guys. I went to click my phone. If you have questions, feel free to drop them in the chat, but we’re going to take a quick pivot over into our power round, which are kind of our fun quick questions, and then we’ll wrap up for the day if we don’t have any questions from you all.
Amy Vaughan:
But we appreciate you all listening in. All right, what is the smallest gesture that’s created the biggest client reaction for you?
Holly Fisher:
I think for me, it is. I mentioned earlier, like, just sending people little gifts. Sometimes when we start working together or sometimes on the holiday, if I’ve done a big project for someone, I’ll send something. And I usually will always try to send something from a local business because I like to support other local businesses. And so I’ll send, you know, maybe a gift basket or something like that. And, you know, then I’ll get a text from someone with a picture of, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe you did this. This was so wonderful. You know, how nice.
Holly Fisher:
What a great gesture. Or, you know, last year someone did say, well, I loved everything that you sent. It was all from. From Asheville. You know, that was so great. And so I think those kinds of things are just these little unexpected surprises. Or occasionally I’ll send a client, like, maybe just a book that I thought they would be interested in, and people will again, text me a picture, be like, oh, my gosh, thanks for sending this. You know, what a great little surprise.
Holly Fisher:
So again, just kind of those little small things that just show you’re thinking about people and committed to their success and the success of other businesses in your community.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, I love it. I love it. All right, what’s the unexpected place that you’ve seen? Amazing hospitality that inspired your business approach.
Holly Fisher:
Oh, gosh, that’s a tough one. I was trying to think of an unexpected place. A little story came to mind. This is not an unexpected place. But I was thinking about this yesterday when we took a trip. To Disney several years ago. So again, not really an unexpected place.
Amy Vaughan:
Sure.
Holly Fisher:
But just another example of kind hospitality and action when we went to Animal Kingdom and my daughter was probably like, maybe like nine or so, you know, they have those, like, scavenger hunt maps, and she always loved those as a kid. So she wanted to, like, check off all the things you were supposed to do, and then you were supposed to turn in your map or whatever at the end of the day, and you got some kind of little prize. It was probably like a sticker or something.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah.
Holly Fisher:
Something happened, and we had gotten a little bit delayed, and we ended up not getting the map back in time. And she was quite upset. Yeah. And there were tears. And we were with some friends of ours who live in Orlando, and they’re Disney pass holders, and so they go to Disney all the time. And so she went up and spoke to a staff member and explained what had happened. And so, you know, there was a little bit of back and forth, and then they actually ended up letting her pick out, like, a stuffed animal from one of the gift shops. Right.
Holly Fisher:
So tears are gone. She’s happy, Everybody’s happy. But that was just another good example of, like, making sure that your staff is empowered to do that. Obviously, that’s. That’s part of Disney’s culture. Right. They want everybody to leave happily baked in. They don’t want tears.
Holly Fisher:
Right. So that’s a part of their thing is like, you know, what if it. If that kid is going to be happy and that family is going to be happy, take the stuffed animal and off you go. I think she still has that stuffed animal, and she’s 17.
Amy Vaughan:
So you know what we need to do? We. I need to introduce you to Rita Richa, who is. Has another podcast as well, called Bibbidi Boppity Business. And I loved her podcast so much. It was just absolutely delightful. I am. I am a Disney nerd. My family, like, I grew up watching the movies.
Amy Vaughan:
My mom is a great illustrator, and, you know, if she’d have had her way, maybe been an animator with them at some point. But life never got her there. But because of that, her approach on the podcast is really like, what can we learn from, like, the Disney business model? And a lot of it has to do with the hospitality, you know, and how it’s absolutely deeply ingrained and everything that they do and the approach. And it all stemmed from Walt’s initial vision of what that world was. He wanted that world to be like that.
Holly Fisher:
Like.
Amy Vaughan:
And it’s such fun. And it really makes you look at and think about your business differently in the ways that. Which she asks you questions and framing things up in, like, a Disney mindset. So if you’re a Disney nerd, definitely tune in. To Rita’s podcast. And Helly, I’ll have to introduce the two of you.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, great job of that. Of just making sure that people feel really well cared for. So.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah, yeah. And it’s brilliant because it’s like so many people. And it’s funny. People have been like, oh, that’s. It feels childish, Rita, that you’re doing like a whole podcast. That’s like the philosophy of Disney and business. And I’m like, but tell me another business that is as successful as Disney is doing what they do, you know, like, how is that not a good business case to study?
Holly Fisher:
Oh.
Amy Vaughan:
All right, last power round question and then we’ll wrap for the day. One hospitality myth that you wish you could bust for marketers right now. Now.
Holly Fisher:
Yeah, I think it’s reminding people that we’re all in the hospitality business. Some people do say, well, this doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a hotel, I’m not a restaurant, I’m not a tourist attraction. Right. The things that we sort of typically think of as hospitality. But if you have people that you’re serving, if you have customers, if you have clients, if you have people that you want to hire you or buy from you, you’re in the hospitality business. And so I think that we just have to get into that mindset. I’m going, all of us, our business, our clients, whatever.
Holly Fisher:
Like, they are all in the hospitality business and we can all have a hospitality mindset.
Amy Vaughan:
Yeah. Amen to that. Well, we will wrap it there. Thank you so much, Holly. This has been such a thoughtful conversation about how transforming client relationships through genuine care and attention can really take your business farther and honestly be a genuine competitive advantage. So excited to share this more with our community for our listeners. Remember, this Power Lounge is being recorded live and it’ll be available next week on YouTube and our podcast, so be sure to check those out and subscribe. Like and subscribe, as my kids would say.
Amy Vaughan:
If you are inspired by conversations like this and want to be a part of our community that is navigating the future of what it means to be working together both digitally and in person again, go check out our website@togetherindigital.com thank you all for joining us today and we hope. We hope to see you all next week and be sure to connect with Holly on LinkedIn. Holly Fisher, thank you for joining us again today.
Holly Fisher:
Thanks. This was really a lot of fun. I appreciate it.
Amy Vaughan:
Absolutely. All right, everyone, we hope to see you all next week. Until then, keep asking, keep giving and keep growing. We’ll see you soon.
