Usually when I write these blogs, I like to think of a topic that has a news hook, even if it's kind of basic or tenuous.
Today, I don't necessarily have that, but there is something going on in the hotel industry generally that I've been thinking about.
The idea of personalization as a key to providing superior hospitality and service is not a new one, but more and more I've seen artificial intelligence discussed as an enabler of that. The theory is often framed as if front-desk associates or other employees have a robust profile of a guest at their fingertips, a dossier of their likes and dislikes compiled likely by some sort of AI, and if automation can remove more of the grunt work off their plates, then what you're left with is the set up for a more humanistic and meaningful interaction between employee and guest.
And to be clear, I'm not pushing back against that idea at all. If you enable people to connect on a more human level, you will definitely get better interactions, assuming your associates have the right kind of personality to seamlessly incorporate that information and form connections with guests.
But what I would say is that sort of profile-building only gets you half way there to true personalization. In part, what I think hoteliers need to admit to themselves is those dossiers on preferences do not present a holistic profile of guests as people.
There are any number of things you can know about me without knowing who I truly am as a person. I'm tempted to list a bunch of them out to prove my point, but I'm also weary that I might be giving away all the secret answers to my password reset questions if I do that.
Suffice it to say, knowing that I'm a father of two, a Buffalo Bills fan and allergic to shellfish doesn't do much to reveal my soul — other than the Bills part.
Like so much in life, the way to truly elevate service above contending with facts is to admit to ourselves what we don't know, and embrace that people are complex ecosystems unto themselves filled with joys and losses and happiness and tragedy and a million things small and large that coalesce into a higher being. Don't assume an AI-compiled profile, or any other resource, gives you a complete picture of a person you've never met before.
True exemplary service comes from forging real human connections.
Let me know what you think on LinkedIn or via email.
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