Insight article
The case of the missing ring: building a narrative of exceptional customer service
Crafting a vision
Every client has their own set of challenges. For one luxury hotel chain, they wanted to achieve an exceptional standard of service, creating the ultimate holiday experience that drove guests to come back and tell all their friends. This meant sharing their vision with their staff and inspiring 9,000 new employees.
We started by crafting an overarching narrative of the journey the business was on. We distilled a simple yet powerful story about the founder’s vision, then tailored a programme that connected people to this narrative through their own stories, allowing employees to truly understand the personal contribution they could make.
The case of the missing ring
One story told of a hotel guest who had the misfortune of binning two theatre tickets. On letting reception know, they offered to buy him replacements. But the guest insisted: it had to be those tickets. So a few off-duty members of staff offered to search through the rubbish to find them. Eventually, they uncovered the envelope – and within it, an engagement ring.
This was just one inspiring story of exceptional customer service uploaded to a digital platform that collated over 1,000 other motivational stories. Through this interaction, through emotionally engaging with the narrative, every member of the business was able to connect with the hotel’s ambitions and contribute in a meaningful way.
The impact of storytelling
The results? Employees felt hugely engaged. Guests’ expectations had been exceeded. Repeat business increased, as did spend during stays and customer recommendations.
Our impact even transformed the founder’s outlook on empowering people. “This business of storytelling,” he said, “and finding a way to give individual recognition to people by allowing them to tell their stories every day and publishing them, is the single greatest idea that I have heard in business of any kind whatsoever.”
That’s why we talk about storytelling delivering meaningful change. It ditches the jargon of traditional programmes in favour of genuine, human language that shows how everyone has a role to play and can be part of the journey towards achieving great things.
To discover how storytelling can transform your business, download our e-book, Storytelling: how to reset an organisation’s narrative to inspire change
