A Business Strategy for Better Customer Experience and Team Engagement
I’ve learned as a hospitality speaker and business owner that in today’s fast-paced business world, it’s easy to confuse customer service with hospitality. But they’re not the same — and if you’re in franchising, quick-service restaurants, retail, or home services, this distinction could be costing you loyalty, sales, and employee retention.
In a recent article I wrote for Nation’s Restaurant News, I explored how true hospitality is about emotional engagement, not just operational efficiency. It’s the one part of the customer experience you can fully control — and when done right, it outperforms most marketing strategies.
The best brands understand this: Hospitality isn’t a script. It’s a culture. And it must be modeled by leaders, practiced by teams, and felt by customers.
This is especially important when you’re managing hourly employees. These team members often drive the majority of customer interactions — and they’ll deliver better service when they’re part of a culture that values people, not just performance. That’s why employee engagement and emotional intelligence are at the heart of any strong customer experience strategy.
Here are a few takeaways from the article that apply to any business:
- Great service gets remembered, but great feelings create loyalty.
- Leaders set the tone. Hospitality starts at the top.
- You can’t expect employees to care about customers if they feel unrecognized themselves.
Whether you’re leading a franchise, a restaurant team, or any frontline workforce, hospitality is a competitive edge hiding in plain sight.
If you’d like to learn more, here’s the article from Nation’s Restaurant News. And if you’re serious about building a stronger team and improving the way your business connects with customers, explore my keynote presentations or my Hourly Employee Management System (HEMS) online course.
Because businesses don’t win by serving more customers — they win by serving them better.
Scott Greenberg is a hospitality keynote speaker, business coach and the author of the books, The Wealthy Franchisee: Game-Changing Steps to Becoming a Thriving Franchise Superstar, and Stop the Shift Show: Turn Your Struggling Hourly Workers into a Top-Performing Team.
