Dollars & Sense

Hospitality 🍽

Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio, a software company valued at $28 billion, was recently interviewed in the Wall St. Journal. When he shared who his advisors are, I was surprised to see Danny Meyer, the restaurant kingpin who owns Shake Shack (another publicly-traded company).  Mr. Lawson read Mr. Meyer’s book “Setting the Table” and was impressed to learn about the difference between service and hospitality. Service is the delivery of the technical aspects of running a restaurant. Hospitality is making the customer feel like you are emotionally on their side.  Mr. Lawson believes applying these two traits at a technology company is important. I agree.  

Bridge's ‘service’ is a website platform that members use for retail. Our ‘hospitality’ is having customers feel like we are rooting for their store and fighting for it. We want stores to know that we are on their side.  Sure, Bridge could just provide the service, but that would be like a waiter not smiling, not asking you about your dining preferences, and not chatting with you. A good waiter is your advocate when you have a question or lobbying for you should something go wrong. You enjoy the restaurant more when you know the waiter wants you to enjoy your experience and acts on that.  We want our customers at Bridge to feel the same: we cheer them on and take their problems to heart. This makes them happier customers.  

I wrote an email last week sharing details about our Product Pass service for retailers. I could have simply shared that the service provides unlimited product syncing. Yet, I started by saying: "Our job at Bridge is fighting for indie stores.” With this intro, I helped members know that we’re emotionally on their side. 

Recently, I shared a cartoon image of a person working on their Bridge website surrounded by fun, supportive friends (View the image here: https://marketplace.bridgecatalog.com/news.cfm/21455/Lets-Make-E-Commerce-Fun). Our coaches are this support. This image is a visual representation of our hospitality. 

You may ask, “What happens when Jeff Bezos comes into our ‘restaurant’?” Do we dump a plate of metaphorical spaghetti in his lap? Yes! Just kidding. We actually had an interesting situation in 2020 when Walmart Canada invited us to give them a quote to build their gift registry software. Covid prevented that from moving forward, but it posed an interesting conundrum: can we advocate for indie businesses and big-box stores?   Danny Meyer has not only one-of-a-kind restaurants like Union Square Cafe but also a global chain of burger restaurants (Shake Shack).  In considering the Walmart project, I thought about ways to use Walmart to help our indie stores. I thought Walmart, for example, may be able to help us grow the number of brands participating in Bridge's Product Syncing service. 

Why is Bridge a champion for indie stores? Indie stores are important because: they employ people, often pay more in taxes than larger entities, help connect a community, and make people happy.  In this digital age, they are often getting left behind. I wrote the Bridge Ethos to sum up the obstacles facing indies stores. (Please read the Bridge Ethos poster here.) We want Main Street businesses to know we believe in them and support what they do.  When our coaches chat with accounts, we let them know we're advocates for them.

Our coaches do a great job.  Similar to a restaurant, I wish we could have a digital tip jar. I imagine clients would fill it up with their appreciation for what they do!  While it’s not money, our customers have left some very nice reviews about how great our team is here: https://marketplace.bridgecatalog.com/reviews.cfm

Mr. Lawson and Mr. Meyer, if you ever need an online store, I hope you'll consider Bridge. I think you'll find our service standards are in keeping with yours. When you're ready, your table is ready.  We trust you'll enjoy your stay with Bridge. 
 

Tags:
WSJ Jeff Lawson twilio amazon Walmart Danny Meyer bridge ethos

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