MODERN COMPANY
couple where they lived. They
said their home was a 4-hour
drive away. It turned out that the
bellhop’s brother lived near the
couple’s house and he was able
to collect the medication from
their housekeeper. The bellhop
then made the 8-hour round trip
to get the pills from his brother
and deliver them to the couple’s
room.
story about what great customer
service looks like. These stories
are mini user manuals for sales
success.
The embedding of customer
service using stories was
pioneered in the hotel business.
Ritz-Carlton led the way by asking
its employees to submit stories
of outstanding service. They call
them ‘wow’ stories. Every month
the Ritz-Carlton HR team chooses
one wow story to share with every
team across the chain. The teams
then discuss what it means,
asking themselves questions
like, ‘So what’s significant about
this story?’ and ‘Have we seen
anything like this in our area?’
and ‘Does it inspire us to do
something similar?’ This more
deeply embeds the lessons
contained in the story.
The American hotel and casino
tycoon Steve Wynn believes the
systematic sharing of stories is
the most important thing he has
ever done in his business. At a
conference in 2012, Wynn said
of storytelling, ‘It changed my
business. It changed my life’. In
his establishments, employees
find and share stories every day,
simple anecdotes that capture
everything from small courtesies
to heroic efforts. For example,
one of Wynn’s housekeepers saw
a guest drop a credit card as they
entered their room, leaving it in
the hallway as they shut their
door. The housekeeper knocked
on the guest’s door, told them
what had happened and returned
the card. Yes, it’s a tiny story,
which sits at one end of the story
spectrum. Here’s a story from the
other end.
One afternoon an elderly couple
arrived at Wynn’s Las Vegas
hotel. As they got out of their
car, the woman gasped and said
to her husband, ‘Oh dear, I’ve left
your medication on the hall table’.
She was referring to some pills
her husband needed to take the
following morning.
A bellhop overheard the
conversation and asked the
If you want to change the culture
of your business, you need to
change the stories being told
in it. The process of finding
and sharing stories to embed
great customer service can
also be used to embed your
business values or your strategy.
Whatever the focus – customer
service, integrity, innovation,
collaboration – your company
should be teeming with stories
on that topic. If not, your goal is
nothing more than a wish.
Shawn Callahan is business storytelling
specialist and founder of Anecdote.
Shawn works with leaders and sellers
around the world helping them find
and tell oral stories to spark action.
He is the author of Putting Stories to
Work: Mastering Business Storytelling
(Pepperberg Press). For more
information visit www.anecdote.com or
contact [email protected]
May 2016
ModernBusiness
15