Mistakes are the “Greatest Natural Resource”
By Isaac French
Quick update
Hello from spectacular South Africa!
Helen, Lucas and I are here visiting friends and family for a few weeks. We’ve absolutely fallen in love with this place and the people here.
Last week, I fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit my favorite landscape hotel. It took my breath away for two entire days. I’m still somewhat speechless from our profound experience there, so I’ll save writing about that for a future newsletter.
Mistakes are the greatest natural resource
As I cruised the spectacular Garden Route from Cape Town to Sedgefield, I listened to Danny Meyer chat with Patrick O’Shaughnessy on this pod. It’s chalk-full of wisdom, and I highly recommend you give it a listen if you haven’t already heard it.
One profound lesson Danny discusses, both in his book and on the pod, is about how to deal with mistakes. As Danny sees them, mistakes are the greatest natural resource.
Why?
Because we’ll never run out of them, and they can always be used for the positive, some way or another. No matter how hard anyone tries, they’ll never ever be perfect. In fact, the pursuit of perfection is nothing but a recipe for unhappiness. Perfection simply doesn’t exist.
But excellence does. It’s a journey. And in part, excellence has to do with the way you respond to mistakes. This is where true growth happens.
Now let me tell you about a mistake I made—one among countless—that changed me and my approach to hospitality.
It happened right after we launched Live Oak Lake, maybe 3 weeks or so.
It was February, and we had a cold spell come out of nowhere. The temperatures plummeted below freezing for several days which is unusual for us in central Texas.
Bookings had finally started trickling in on Airbnb.
A 20-something college student booked one of the cabins for a few days. Almost $1,000. Nice booking. Despite some red flags in her profile, such as dubious reviews and an uncertain demeanor, every booking was precious.
A day before she was supposed to come stay, the cold came. A few folks reached out and asked to cancel their reservations because of driving conditions. I successfully negotiated some reschedules, and no revenue was lost.
But then miss-20-something messaged. She demanded I cancel her stay because she was concerned about the potential of driving on ice. I checked the weather, and though it was cold, made the stupid decision to argue a bit with her. In the nicest way, I thought.
There is NO nice way to argue with a customer. Seems quite obvious now. But I thought I was being reasonable. I asked if she would consider coming at a future date. No way. She wanted her money back, and all of it, now.
I suggested she reach out to Airbnb and see if they’d refund her, because my cancellation policy didn’t allow for a full refund on a last minute cancellation with no rebooking.
She called me some really nasty things, and next thing I know, I’m getting messages from another woman through the Airbnb app. This girl had sic’d her mom on me. Her mom, with all respect, was nothing short of ferocious.
This woman threw a tantrum, threatening all manner of scary outcomes if I refused to refund her daughter. I sheepishly refunded a partial payment and again politely (I thought at the time, at least) suggested they contact Airbnb to resolve the matter. Then I told them I wasn’t going to communicate further unless there was a change in tone.
Next minute Airbnb began an investigation and quickly suspended the Mom’s account for some of the stuff she’d written in her tirade against me. They promised to remove any review the girl tried to post on the platform, even though she never stayed.
I thought the storm had passed. I was wrong.
Google reviews are super important, especially to a property that prioritizes direct bookings. I’d spent plenty of time crafting the perfect Google profile and optimizing for search and validation.
A few hours later, a barrage of scathing 1-star Google reviews began pouring in. Full of awful garbage, but with at least somewhat believable narratives, when and if readable. This mom had enlisted her own troop of associates, armed with carefully crafted—albeit sometimes incoherent—arrows aimed to take me and my property down.
I’ll spare you my elaborate defenses I valiantly tried to use then. They were pathetic. I was pathetic. Refusing to immediately fully refund this woman was a gigantic mistake. And it almost cost me my entire reputation for Live Oak Lake, almost before we’d even begun.
Google wouldn’t take the reviews down, so I had to live with them. A few of the folks ended up taking theirs down several days later, but the damage was done.
In his book, Danny lays out the “5 A’s” for effectively addressing mistakes:
Awareness: Recognize the mistake promptly
Acknowledgment: Admit fault graciously
Apology: Express sincere regret
Action: Swiftly rectify the error
Additional Generosity: Going above and beyond by offering something extra or unexpected as a gesture of goodwill can help turn a negative experience into a positive one.
The first mistake in this ordeal was arguing with her when I sensed anger and frustration. But the much bigger mistake was my refusal to humble myself and do the 5 steps listed here. Never again.
Thankfully, two years later we have 319 Google reviews, with a 4.9 star average. Impressive, I think, for a 7-unit property. But the scars to my psyche will not soon be forgotten. Never again have I argued with a guest, especially an angry one.
I embrace airing on the side of generosity when things happen. Life is too short not to, and that is part of what it means to be in hospitality.
Moreover, I learned a life lesson in how to use mistakes to be better. As a person, as a team and as a brand. This is the path to excellence.
The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled.
Don’t fear mistakes. Make new ones each day, and make sure you learn something permanent each time!
Thanks for reading. And thanks for your responses last week. Seems like the consensus to my question is to post a mixture of general and tactical hospitality nuggets. I’ll do my best to continue to add value.
Have a great week!
—Isaac
P.S. I just launched a free 7-day email course called the Experiential Hospitality Crash Course. It's a free, lite version of the masterclass. Click this link to opt-in and get it now!
Could also be a great gift for a friend. Forward the crash-course with the link below and earn rewards!