PEAK, 2nd Edition

Chapter EightCreating Commitment

We should be able to institutionalize all the democratic, communicative, respecting, loving, listening customer satisfaction kinds of things in the future by using the advantages of technology. In other words, keeping all the benefits of smallness but also capitalizing on the benefits of bigness.

Abraham Maslow¹

The bigger you get as a company, the more you need to create forums for engagement with your customers. Even if you're big, act small. People are more likely to trust you when they can relate to you. And being humble usually means you're a more empathic listener.

One of the unique methods Joie de Vivre employs to learn the longings of our customers is to hold a series of town hall meetings in the community where we're developing our concept for a new hotel. Joie de Vivre's goal is to create individual landmarks that are a reflection of both the aspirations of a certain customer group and the personality of the community in which the hotel is located. For example, in Sacramento, California, we are creating the city's first luxury hotel, called The Citizen, out of a historic high-rise office building across the park from city hall.

After we received our city approvals to move forward with this project, we hosted a series of town hall meetings where locals could help us develop the concept and unique features of this hotel. I even volunteered ...