Service as a Moat

I just finished the book “Four Seasons” about the founding of the Four Seasons hotel, and there’s one thing that really stuck with me.

What’s made the Four Seasons one of the world’s most recognized brands is actually really simple: they’ve focused on providing exceptional service more than anything else.

A standout section of the book highlights the essence of their philosophy:

“This was a process that began with the new employees we were hiring. We didn’t want people who thought servicing others was demeaning—we wanted people with high self-esteem. Not people who said in a crisis, “That’s not my job,” but people who’d say, “How can I help?” People who’d never answer a customer’s question by saying, “I don’t know,” but rather, “I’ll find out.”

This approach underlines an important truth: building a customer-focused culture within a team can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

Unfortunately it’s not as easy as saying “we’re customer centric!”

It takes thousands of hours of team training, hiring people with a customer-centric mindset, and consistent application of these values in daily operations.

For companies that “get this”, I think this will be one of the greatest competitive advantages of our era.