What hospitality taught me about customer service

Throughout my career, I have worked in pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, motels, and hotels. While each environment was different, they all taught me the same fundamental lesson about customer service:

People want to feel like they matter.

When customers walk through the door, they are not simply buying a meal, booking a room, ordering a drink, or attending an event. They are looking for an experience. More importantly, they want to feel welcomed, valued, and recognised.

Some of the most successful hospitality professionals I have worked with were not necessarily the fastest, the smartest, or even the most experienced. They were the people who made customers feel important.

It could be something as simple as remembering a guest's name, recognising a returning customer, or having a regular's favourite drink ready before they even reached the bar. These small gestures demonstrated that the customer was more than just another transaction. They showed that someone had taken the time to notice them.

Over the years, I came to realise that customer service is not really about serving food, pouring drinks, or checking guests into rooms. It is about creating a connection. Customers remember how you make them feel long after they have forgotten the details of their visit.

Hospitality also taught me that every interaction matters. A smile, a greeting, a conversation, or a genuine interest in someone's day can completely change their experience. Likewise, poor communication, indifference, or making someone feel unimportant can undo an otherwise positive experience.

One of the greatest misconceptions about customer service is that it is only the responsibility of frontline staff. In reality, customer service is a culture. The best venues I worked in were those where every employee understood that creating a positive experience was everyone's responsibility.

I also learned that loyalty is often built through consistency rather than perfection. Customers do not expect businesses to get everything right all the time. What they do expect is to be treated with respect, honesty, and genuine care when things do not go according to plan.

Today, regardless of whether I am working with customers, employees, franchise members, or stakeholders, I still apply the lessons hospitality taught me. People want to feel heard. They want to feel respected. They want to feel that their time and business are valued.

Because at the end of the day, the most important thing hospitality taught me was this:

People may forget what you did for them, but they rarely forget how you made them feel.