Legendary Stories: A Four Seasons Anecdote
And our employees continually do amazing things, going beyond what anyone would normally expect from customer service. I'm reminded of an event at Four Seasons Chicago, about six months after it opened in 1989. The event was a small black-tie fund-raiser for sixty people hosted by President and Nancy Reagan to support Children's Memorial Hospital.
Every gentleman in the room wore black tie—except one.
Hans [Willimann, a thirty-year Four Seasons veteran] overhead a man off to one side speaking with his wife as donors lined up to get their pictures taken with the former president and first lady.
"You could have told me that it was black tie!" he complained to her. "If you had, I wouldn't feel like an idiot."
Hans moved close enough to hear this, and he approached in classic Four Seasons fashion.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I work here. I understand your dilemma, and I think I can help."
Hans invited the man to follow him to the uniform office.
"Khaled, this gentleman doesn't have a tuxedo. Can you help him?"
Khaled invited the gentleman to have a seat in his office, excused himself, changed out of the tuxedo he was wearing, put on his civilian clothes, and rushed to the laundry to press his very own tuxedo for the guest to wear. The pants were a little bit too big, so the staff seamstress came up and fixed them, and the gentleman rejoined the party.
The next day Hans received a length and effusive letter of praise from Mr. Steingraber expressing his gratitude. The letterhead indicated that he was the chairman and CEO of a major global strategic consulting firm, A.T. Kearney. And he felt that if his consultants had the kind of attitude that Hans and his banquet manager had demonstrated, the company could be twice their size.
Source: Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy
Posted by Ryan Dunphey
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