by Jody Blencowe
At Think Up, we often say hospitality is a big part of who we are. With a third of our Thinkers coming from a background in the industry, hospitality is very much ingrained into the way we do business—from a focus on customer service and ownership to the way we treat clients, vendors, and fellow Thinkers. This instinct is something that translates into everything we touch, and we’ve found it’s helped us build better partnerships and solutions for our clients.
We define hospitality as a welcoming approach to service that is motivated by compassion, generosity, and a desire to help others. Hospitality is first and foremost about the customer. While several of Think Up’s core values support this commitment to service, I think two demonstrate this point especially well:
BUILDING CLIENT LOYALTY BY EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS & TREATING EACH CLIENT AS THE ONLY ONE
This value underscores our approach to engaging with clients. We seek to understand our clients’ needs and do everything we can to acknowledge and address them. We always want to ensure we give each client the focus they deserve while really listening to them and delivering above and beyond expectations. It’s a high bar, but we’re very serious about it.
TAKING OWNERSHIP AND RISKS WHILE LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES
Embracing hospitality goes a step beyond understanding our clients’ needs and seeking to exceed their expectations. We also take ownership of the problems they’re facing and have a vested interest in finding the right solutions. We push ourselves and our clients to do what will bring them the most benefit—even if it’s not exactly what they had in mind at the beginning of the process—taking risks when it’s the right thing to do. Adopting our clients’ goals and objectives as our own ensures we deliver the best possible service and results.
With a heart for hospitality, compassion and empathy are essential for us. We partner with clients to solve their toughest challenges while recognizing they’ve trusted us to help—something we don’t take lightly. I truly believe that level of sincerity shines through at Think Up. Our engagements are never just transactional but are thoughtful, interactive, and meaningful. I think this is directly connected to our ability to stand in our clients’ shoes. The fact that many of our current Thinkers are former clients is not lost in this—and I speak from experience as a former client myself. Think Up always addressed my needs and made me feel like they understood my goals and had my best interests in mind. Now, I can honestly say this still rings true in the work we do and the values by which we live.
The principles we embrace from the hospitality industry are now an intrinsic part of the way we operate. Not only has hospitality added value in our everyday interactions, it elevates our work by enabling us to understand our clients’ needs and to meet them with a quality of service that is only matched in value by our solutions.
