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A Hotel is Just a Building | Bashar Wali | TEDxWilmingtonSalon — Transcript

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0:08I have calculated that I've traveled
0:10212,503
0:13miles in the last 12 months.
0:16I have stayed in 167
0:19different hotels.
0:21167
0:23different hotels over that same time
0:25period.
0:27I'm a hotel fanatic.
0:29I never stay in the same hotel more than
0:31one night.
0:323 days in New York, that's three
0:34different hotels for me.
0:37I travel so much that I've earned the
0:39incredible unobtainium status on Delta.
0:43Don't bother looking it up. You won't
0:45find it and you can't get it.
0:47You need infinite miles to get that
0:49high.
0:51And along the way, I've burnt through 7
0:53terabytes on Snapchat with video that
0:57thankfully you won't find cuz it's gone.
1:00But why should you care?
1:03I'm going to tell you a little bit about
1:04what I've learned from my travels.
1:08I have learned that we as human beings
1:11have a single most powerful tool in our
1:13arsenal.
1:15And that is our ability to make human
1:17connections.
1:19I believe we are people first and
1:22hotelier second.
1:23And that's the key to our success.
1:29I'm going to take you on a quick journey
1:30with me through some of the amazing
1:31hotels I've seen and stayed at.
1:33Hopefully not all 167 of them. I'll only
1:35show you seven.
1:37Burj Al Arab in Dubai in the UAE.
1:40I mean, look at this thing.
1:42That round thing on top on the right,
1:43that's a tennis court.
1:46The Plaza Hotel in New York.
1:48What can one say about the Plaza? We all
1:49know it, an incredible hotel.
1:52This amazing thing on South Beach, the
1:55Faena Hotel.
1:56Where the owner commissioned the artist
1:58Damien Hirst to create a custom piece of
2:01art for him.
2:02A woolly mammoth skeleton dipped in
2:05gold.
2:0620 million bucks, but who's counting?
2:09And this robot hotel in Tokyo
2:13where if you're a local, you go to the
2:14middle and get checked in with that
2:15robot lady.
2:17If you're a tourist, you get the
2:18dinosaurs.
2:20Thankfully, I was a tourist.
2:26Ice Hotel in Sweden.
2:28Now, I like my rooms cold, but that's a
2:30bit much for me.
2:33And the Marina Sands in Singapore.
2:37That alien ship on top, that's a
2:39swimming pool.
2:41Now, don't get me wrong. These are
2:42amazing buildings, incredible hotels,
2:45incredible architecture.
2:48But bear with me cuz I'm going to ruin
2:49this for you.
2:51I'm going to tell you
2:53that these buildings
2:55are nothing more than brick and mortar,
2:58glass and steel.
3:00And no matter how sophisticated,
3:03elegant, or beautiful these buildings
3:05may be, there are some things they
3:07cannot do.
3:09Buildings can't smile.
3:11They can't listen. They can't anticipate
3:13a need.
3:15They won't get out of their way to open
3:16a door or hail a cab for you.
3:19Because that's what we humans do.
3:24I've been in the industry for about 25
3:25years and I've learned a lot of things.
3:28I've learned that a guest in a hotel
3:31will really appreciate it if you
3:32remember their name.
3:35And they'll really love you for it if
3:37you know what kind of pillow they like.
3:39I've learned that humanity matters far
3:41more than buildings, far more than art,
3:44cars, or things you may throw at guests.
3:48And through my career, I've collected a
3:50lot of stories as you can imagine.
3:52It's the hospitality industry after all.
3:54We see all the madness that happens.
3:57Two stories resonate and always stand
4:00out for me.
4:01And if you allow me, I'm going to share
4:02a couple of them with you.
4:06So fortunately, I have lots of friends
4:08in the industry and lots of connections
4:10and I'm lucky that every hotel I go
4:12into, inevitably, I walk in the room and
4:15there it is in the corner, a beautiful
4:18cheese tray, a nice bottle of wine, and
4:20a card with my name on it sitting at a
4:2245° angle against that bottle of wine.
4:26Now it's midnight. That's typically when
4:27I get to my hotel room.
4:29That cheese tray was put in the room
4:31probably around 2:00 p.m.
4:34That cheese has seen better days.
4:36It's sweating by now. I could see the
4:38sweat beads running down the side.
4:41And that brie, I'll spare you the smell
4:42description. You can smell it right now.
4:45And the bottle of wine may have been $10
4:47or $1,000, it doesn't matter.
4:50Cuz it's midnight, I'm not touching it.
4:52And if my life depended on it, I will
4:54not take it with me cuz I'm not checking
4:55my bag in.
4:57And that note, that unfortunate note,
5:00has become such a list, they all say the
5:03same thing.
5:04Dear Mr. Wally, thanks for being with
5:06us. We hope you enjoy your stay. If you
5:07need anything, please call on us.
5:09Sadly,
5:10it goes in the recycling bin. I don't
5:12even open it.
5:14Except for this one hotel.
5:16I walk in the room, it's midnight,
5:18there's the sweaty cheese, there's the
5:20wine, and there's the note.
5:22However, not in an envelope this time.
5:25Jackpot. For an ADD guy, you skip a step
5:29for me, I'm yours.
5:31So purely out of guilt and a little bit
5:33of wishful thinking for karma, I say,
5:35"What the hell, I'll read the card."
5:38I walk up to the card and as my soul is
5:40being crushed reading the same junk
5:42again, blah blah blah, welcome, we hope
5:44you enjoy your stay.
5:46On the bottom the card said, "P.S.
5:51Black-ish on ABC is on channel 12 at
5:548:00 tonight."
5:56Holy
5:58My brain is racing.
6:00Why? How? How did they find out?
6:03So, I quickly run to my computer, whip
6:05it out. I go to Google in private, and
6:07yes, I know how to do that. And I Google
6:09my name, and there it is. The third
6:11entry down is my Facebook profile.
6:14The public portion of it said that I
6:16like the show.
6:19Your wine be damned, your cheese be
6:20damned, you got me.
6:22I got trolled, and I kind of like it, I
6:24must say.
6:26You've won me for life.
6:28Because you cared enough to find out
6:31something about me and to connect with
6:33me on a human level.
6:34That hotel, one night or 10 nights, I'm
6:36not moving away.
6:39Another quick story.
6:41Generally, when you make a reservations
6:43at a hotel, a good one,
6:45they'll ask you if you have any special
6:46requests.
6:48And this one is one of mine, so a bit of
6:49self-promotion here, so bear with me.
6:52So, this guest, evidently in a
6:54whiskey-induced state, decides to make a
6:57reservations.
6:58And he decides he's going to ask for a
7:00special request.
7:02He asks for two mints to be placed on
7:04his pillow when he arrives in the room,
7:06and asks for a hand-drawn,
7:09framed photograph of Neil deGrasse
7:11Tyson.
7:14And a love note from Neil
7:17to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
7:24Boom.
7:26I would have paid a fortune to be a fly
7:28on the wall in that room and see that
7:30guy's face when he walked in the door.
7:32I promise you he probably forgot that he
7:34even made that request,
7:36but he will never forget that we
7:38fulfilled it for him.
7:40He will be a customer for life, he will
7:42be a brand ambassador for life, and he
7:44will tell everyone he knows about this
7:45hotel.
7:46This stuff is gold. We love this. You
7:49give me an opportunity to surprise and
7:51delight you?
7:53Easy.
7:55Here's what the note said.
7:57Billy, you and I are a binary star.
8:00Together, we are a symbiotic marvel.
8:03However, should we ever drift apart, all
8:05of the space-time wouldn't be enough to
8:07fill the void in my heart. I would
8:09implode due to the massive nature of my
8:11grief, and would succumb to my fate, and
8:14collapse upon myself. Movie? My place?
8:17This weekend? Love, Neil.
8:21Let's talk a little bit more about this
8:23human connection business.
8:25I'm going to get a bit Darwinian on you
8:27here, so bear with me.
8:29We humans are pack animals.
8:32We had to be together. We had to stay
8:34together to survive as a species.
8:37You couldn't run off in the forest by
8:39yourself and pretend that you could
8:40survive. You'd be eaten alive.
8:43It's so part of our DNA. That's why
8:46emotional pain hurts so much more than
8:48physical pain.
8:50That's why social denial hurts so much.
8:55That's why those Instagram likes matter
8:59so much. Our
9:01upbringing has teed us up for a lifelong
9:04quest of meaningful relationships.
9:07We humans need air, water, food to
9:11survive, but our need to fit in is
9:13equally as important.
9:16We have an insatiable longing for
9:18belonging.
9:20I'm about to give a shout-out to one of
9:22my arch-enemies. It pains me to do it,
9:24but bear with me. It makes sense.
9:27Generally, when you go to make a hotel
9:29reservation,
9:31you're dealing with a highly mechanized
9:33corporate machine.
9:35And I hate to break it to you, but when
9:37you often think you're actually talking
9:39to someone online, it's not a someone,
9:41it's a bot.
9:43Not Airbnb.
9:45The brilliant move they made is that
9:47when you decide to book on Airbnb,
9:50you are immediately connected with a
9:52human.
9:53Better yet, they call them a host.
9:57There's something intimate about walking
9:59into someone's living room.
10:01There's something intimate about staying
10:03in someone's guest room.
10:05I believe this is a good part of of
10:08Airbnb's success is their ability to
10:10make that connection with you.
10:12With a human in a foreign city in a
10:15foreign land.
10:18This human connection business, it
10:20applies to any business.
10:22It doesn't matter what business you're
10:23in.
10:24High end, low end, high tech, low tech,
10:27it doesn't matter.
10:29If you know how to connect with people,
10:31you will always win over an able
10:34competitor.
10:35Because people
10:37always have,
10:38do, and always will want to do business
10:41with other people.
10:43Not machines, not computers.
10:45Use Slack all you want, use email, use
10:48Messenger, use anything you want.
10:50Nothing will replace that human
10:52connection, that one-on-one.
10:57Call me old-fashioned, but I believe
10:59that my appeal as a businessman is my
11:01ability to make those connections with
11:03people.
11:05If I'm doing a deal with you,
11:07all those communication devices and
11:09methods make it easier to do so, but
11:12they never replace that human
11:13connection.
11:15I'm going to make the time, I'm going to
11:16find the time
11:18to go see you, to buy you dinner, to buy
11:20you a cup of coffee, to have a drink
11:21with you. Nothing will replace that.
11:24There's still hope and dignity in a
11:25handshake.
11:28I'm going to give you a an example.
11:31Banking,
11:32one of the most mundane transactional
11:35based experiences. We all hate it. Who
11:37wants to go to a bank?
11:39Umpqua Bank in Portland, Oregon, when
11:41Ray Davis came in to be their CEO, they
11:44had six locations.
11:45He decided wholesale that everyone in
11:47the bank, top to bottom, has to go
11:50through hospitality training.
11:52He literally pulled people out of the
11:53hospitality industry to do this training
11:55for the bank.
11:57He took all the bank branches and
11:58converted them to the equivalent of
12:00hotel lobbies, social gathering places.
12:04Free Wi-Fi, free coffee, yoga, whatever.
12:07He invited the community in.
12:09Whether you had to do business with the
12:10bank or not, you were welcome.
12:13He made a bet that if he was able to
12:15connect with his customers on a human
12:17level,
12:18removing the transaction part of it,
12:20which is the necessary part that he
12:21still had to do, but really connecting
12:23with them on a human level, it would
12:24make a difference.
12:26Well, he was right.
12:28350 locations from six, added some 50
12:31million bucks on his balance sheet of
12:32deposit, he got it right. We're talking
12:35about banking here. It doesn't get any
12:37more transactional than that.
12:39This is the stuff of Harvard Business
12:40Case Studies.
12:45My industry is very focused on service,
12:47as is every industry, frankly. It
12:48doesn't matter what business you're in,
12:50you have to provide good service.
12:52Service, sadly, has become very
12:55transactional.
12:56It's a checklist.
12:58We tell our people in hotels when
12:59someone checks in, use their name three
13:01times, exactly, because that's what
13:03we're supposed to do.
13:05Ritz-Carlton, once the gold standard for
13:07service in the hospitality industry, has
13:10a credo card that every employee had to
13:12carry and memorize,
13:14and practice that credo with every
13:16guest.
13:17It doesn't get any more checklist than
13:18that.
13:20You definitely need service in your
13:21business, but service is what gets you
13:23in the in the game. Service doesn't win
13:25you the game. It's your ability to make
13:27human connections is what ultimately
13:29will win you the game.
13:34When we all focus on making connections
13:37with the people around us, it makes us
13:39healthier, happier humans.
13:42Of course, there's monetary benefits out
13:44of making those connections.
13:47But as a human being, as a citizen of
13:49the world, I believe understanding our
13:51need for making those connections will
13:53make us want to make more of a
13:55difference in the lives of others.
13:58Religion, politics, hashtags aside, it
14:01brings us back to the core of humanity.
14:04The decency we all deserve as human
14:06beings living under the same sun,
14:09breathing approximately the same air.
14:14So, my challenge for you in this room
14:15today
14:16is to go out there and find your
14:17blackish moment.
14:19And it literally doesn't matter what
14:20business you're in.
14:22Find that moment that allows you to
14:23connect with a customer, with a partner,
14:26with anyone. Those are the things that
14:28are going to set you apart from your
14:30competitors.
14:33Here's what I believe.
14:34I believe there's dignity, opportunity
14:37in a handshake.
14:39In keeping an open door, an open mind,
14:41an open heart.
14:43In sitting across from someone, looking
14:44them in the eye, and making that human
14:46connection.
14:47That's the only way we're going to be
14:49able to deal with all the havoc in the
14:50world right now.
14:52Empathy, intimacy, quiet respect,
14:56one-on-one, eye-to-eye, cell-to-cell.
14:59A kind of poetry of our species.
15:02This poetry is going to help us make
15:04sense out of the chaos.
15:06It's going to help us find beauty and
15:08poetry out of the madness in the world
15:10today.
15:11Buildings can't do that. We here in this
15:13room can.
15:15So, go out there, make some serious
15:17human connections,
15:18wreak some havoc on the havoc, and
15:20remember, we're all people first and
15:22fill in the blank second. Thank you.

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