Within a couple of years of setting out to become the Four Seasons of pet care, the Four Seasons called us.
I’ll get to that. First, the line I bring into rooms full of owners: “Become the Four Seasons of your industry.”
I watch half the room jump to the wrong conclusion.
They hear: charge more. Go luxury. Put a marble lobby on a plumbing company.
That isn’t it.
You can be priced in the middle of your market and still be the Four Seasons. You can be the most affordable option in town and still be the Four Seasons. It was never about the price tag. It’s about the standard.
Your industry already has a reputation. You probably earned part of it.
Think about what people expect when they hire a contractor. The no-show. The arrival window from eight to four. The callback that never comes.
Pet sitters who flake. The lawyer who answers your email three weeks later.
Customers walk in braced for disappointment. That expectation is your opening.
Be the company that breaks it. Not once. Every time.
The card in every pocket
Years ago, a large company I worked for brought its managers to an event at a Ritz-Carlton. It was a big deal. They were clearly spending real money on us, and we felt it.
What stayed with me wasn’t the ballroom or the food. It was what we learned about the staff.
You could walk up to any employee, front desk or housekeeping, and they could pull a small card out of their pocket. On it were the company’s credo and its service standards. The motto read: “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”
Every person carried the standard. Not just the general manager. Not just the brand team. Every person.
A standard that lives in a binder is a wish. A standard every person on your team can recite is a business.
The coffee test
Advance work put me behind the scenes with people most of the world only sees on a stage or a TV screen. Behind the scenes is where you learn who someone really is.
People like President George H. W. Bush and Senator Elizabeth Dole. The real deal. Gracious. Grateful. They learned your name. They thanked the person who brought the coffee into the room with the same respect they gave the person running the meeting.
Bringing the coffee doesn’t make you less than the person with the title. Customers feel how a company treats its own people.
The Four Seasons standard starts inside, with how you treat your team.
The client should never be able to tell who showed up
When we built my pet services company, the goal was never to be the cheapest, the biggest, or even the most expensive.
The goal was to become the Four Seasons of the industry.
The turning point came when our systems, operations, protocols, and procedures were finally down pat. That’s when the real goal came into focus. Every client should get the same experience, no matter which person on our team walked through the door.
In a service business, that is the whole game.
We never wanted robots. One team member was outgoing. Another was quieter. One had every client laughing. Another was all business. We wanted each of them to be themselves.
Underneath the personalities sat a standard every one of us signed up for. Everyone knew what an amazing experience looked like, and everyone delivered it.
Once that took hold, the standard stopped being my rule and became the team’s. We were elevating the care together, and proud to say it out loud: this is how we show up.
When you hold a standard that exacting, people notice.
That’s when the luxury properties started calling. The Four Seasons. The Ritz-Carlton. The Jefferson. The Mandarin Oriental.
The brand we had modeled ourselves after was now calling us.
Word travels fast when you raise your standards.
Here’s what one of those calls looked like.
A hotel guest was in town for a high-pressure week on Capitol Hill. Long days, and no dogs allowed. They always traveled with their dog, and they were worried about their furry companion sitting alone in a hotel room all day.
The hotel brought us in through our pet concierge service. The guest expected somebody to walk their pup twice a day.
We came back with a better proposal. With the owner’s permission, their pup joined our daily dog adventures, right alongside our regulars.
Then we turned the week into a photojournal. Several stops every day, all over the DC metro area. The White House. The Washington Monument. The Lincoln Memorial. Theodore Roosevelt Island. And a fresh set of photos for the owner every evening.
The owner told us they felt like they were living the whole week right alongside their pup, one adventure at a time.
While they got through one of the most stressful weeks they’d had, their furry companion was having one of the best weeks of their life.
And every night, the two of them settled into the hotel room together to relax and watch TV. A tired, happy pup, curled up next to the person they love. No pacing. No “you were gone all day, now entertain me.”
They still talk about that week.
Nobody asked us to do any of that. That’s the standard.
We built that company to seven-plus figures on about $3,000 in paid ads. The rest came from people talking. That’s what a standard does.
You can’t deliver the Four Seasons alone. You build the bench, and then you raise it.
The 3 percent that costs you the customer
A standard covers how you charge, too.
Here’s the deal. You quote the service. Then the customer reaches for a card, and suddenly there’s a 3 percent surcharge.
In that moment, you’ve told them your price wasn’t your price. Your service has tiers, and they just found the hidden one. It reads as nickel-and-diming because it is.
Just stop. For the love of God, stop.
Set your service. This is the entire service. This is the best of the best. This is what we do, and this is the price.
Want to reward cash? Great. “If you’d like to pay in cash, we’d love to give you 5 percent off.” Same math. Completely different feeling. A discount is a thank-you. A surcharge is a penalty for paying you.
And stop dressing it up as “we have to cover our fees.” I know card fees are real. That’s exactly why they belong in your price. They’re a cost of doing business, like rent and insurance. You deduct them as a business expense, like the rest of that list.
I’ve had it with companies that nickel-and-dime their customers to death. When I see that charge, I make a note of it, and I do all I can to never go back.
The Standards™
Here’s my version of that card. Eight rules. They spell the word.
S: Show up. When you said, where you said.
T: Talk like a professional. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. My pleasure. Certainly.
A: Anticipate. Take care of the need before it turns into a question or a problem. The best service is the call your customer never has to make.
N: Name every person. Learn their name and how to spell it, including the person who brings the coffee.
D: Do what you said. If you said you’d call back by three, call back by three. And end every visit, call, and email with when they’ll hear from you next. Nobody should have to ask what happens now.
A: Above and beyond. Under-promise and over-deliver. Then go past that.
R: Repeat it, no matter who shows up. Personalities can differ. The standard can’t.
D: Don’t nickel-and-dime. Price it once. Price it honestly. Reward cash if you want. Never penalize a card.
Screenshot it. Print it. Hand it to every person on your team.
Why I take this into rooms
This is one of the talks I give to owners and leadership teams, because the bar has never been lower.
Press 1 for billing. Press 2 for support. Press 0 and start over. Ask a chatbot a real question and get a link to the FAQ you already read.
Those loops aren’t an accident. Someone designed those systems for the company’s convenience, not for the person on the other end. Nobody asked who they were actually serving.
The Four Seasons starts with that question. The company that shows up, picks up, and follows through wins without discounting.
If your team or your audience needs to hear this, bring me into the room.
The question
What’s the standard your business is known for?
Be honest. If you can’t name it, neither can your customers.
Write it down. Put it in every pocket on your team. Then make it true every single time.
People don’t shop the Four Seasons. They book it.
If you’re a woman building a business and want to work on this with other builders, it’s the focus of our November 17 session inside Women Build & Own.
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