Why Unreasonable Hospitality Works for Almost Any Business 

If you run a business, chances are you’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about marketing. 

How to get noticed. How to attract the right customers. How to stand out in what feels like an increasingly competitive market. 

But there’s another factor that often matters just as much as marketing, and it’s something many businesses overlook or take for granted. 

The experience customers actually have when they interact with you. 

Think about the businesses you genuinely recommend to friends or colleagues without being asked. It’s rarely just because they delivered a service adequately. More often it’s because something about the experience stood out in a way that stuck with you. Perhaps they were: 

• Unusually thoughtful in how they handled things 

• Genuinely easy to deal with at every stage 

• Willing to go slightly further than you expected 

Those moments stay with people. And those are the moments that turn satisfied customers into people who actively recommend you. 

What is Unreasonable Hospitality? 

This idea is often described as Unreasonable Hospitality, a concept made famous by restaurateur Will Guidara in his book. The phrase originally came from the restaurant world, but the thinking behind it applies to almost any type of business – from accountants to therapists to marketing agencies. 

At its heart, Unreasonable Hospitality is about deliberately creating experiences that customers remember and want to tell other people about. 

Not through expensive gestures or elaborate surprises that aren’t sustainable, but through small, thoughtful actions that make people feel genuinely valued rather than just processed. 

Why people remember experiences more than transactions 

When customers buy something from you, they’re rarely evaluating only the product or service itself in isolation. They’re also forming an impression of the entire experience around it – often without consciously realising they’re doing it. 

Questions running through their mind: 

• Was the process clear and straightforward, or confusing and frustrating? 

• Did someone take time to understand what they actually needed? 

• Did the interaction feel thoughtful and human, or purely transactional? 

Psychology plays a big role here. People tend to remember experiences that contain small moments of surprise or genuine care far more than they remember straightforward transactions. These moments create what behavioural scientists often call emotional “peaks” – points in an experience that stand out in memory long after the details fade. 

A business that simply delivers what was promised will usually leave a customer satisfied. Nothing wrong, nothing particularly memorable. 

A business that adds a small but thoughtful moment often creates something stronger: a story worth telling to someone else. And stories are what actually drive recommendations, not just satisfaction. 

Why this matters far beyond restaurants 

Because the idea came from hospitality and specifically from a high-end restaurant, many people assume Unreasonable Hospitality only applies to restaurants, hotels, or travel businesses. 

In reality, the principles translate easily into almost any industry if you think about them properly: 

• A consultant might follow up a meeting with a thoughtful summary of ideas discussed, saving the client time and showing you were actually listening. 

• A fitness coach might remember a client’s personal milestone and celebrate it meaningfully. 

• A professional services firm might design a smoother and more welcoming onboarding process that makes new clients feel confident rather than uncertain. 

None of these things are dramatic, expensive, or require massive investment. But they make an interaction feel genuinely different from what customers experience elsewhere. Over time, those small differences shape how people perceive your business and whether they talk about you positively to others. 

They also influence one of the most powerful drivers of growth for small businesses: word-of-mouth referrals from people who genuinely believe in what you do. 

The businesses that stand out plan these moments 

One of the most interesting things about businesses that are known for exceptional service is that their experiences are rarely accidental or just the result of “good people.” 

They’re designed deliberately. Someone has actually thought about them and made conscious decisions. 

Leaders think carefully about the journey customers go through when interacting with their business. From the first enquiry or website visit to the final follow-up after the work is done, every stage offers an opportunity to make the experience: 

• Clearer and easier to navigate 

• More welcoming and reassuring 

• More memorable in positive ways 

This is where marketing and customer experience start to overlap in really practical ways. 

Clear marketing attracts attention and builds initial interest. But what happens after someone becomes a customer – how that experience actually feels – often determines whether the relationship continues, whether they come back, and whether they recommend you to others. 

Businesses that understand this connection and design for both tend to see: 

• Stronger loyalty 

• More repeat business 

• More genuine word-of-mouth referrals that don’t need to be incentivised 

A growing conversation in business 

In recent years, the idea of Unreasonable Hospitality has moved well beyond the restaurant industry and into mainstream business thinking across sectors. 

More companies are recognising that while competitors can relatively easily copy your pricing, your products, or even your advertising campaigns, they really struggle to replicate a genuinely thoughtful customer experience that’s been properly designed and embedded into how you operate. 

This is one of the reasons why marketing agency STORY22 has been exploring these ideas alongside marketing clarity frameworks like StoryBrand. 

While StoryBrand focuses on helping businesses communicate their value clearly so people understand what you do and why it matters, Unreasonable Hospitality looks at what happens once customers actually choose to work with you – how that experience unfolds and what they remember about it. 

The two ideas work together surprisingly well: 

Marketing helps people understand why they should choose you in the first place. 
Customer experience proves that choice was the right one and gives them confidence to recommend you. 

Learn more at the London workshop 

For businesses interested in exploring this further, STORY22 is hosting a workshop in London focused specifically on how to apply Unreasonable Hospitality principles to your business. 

You can learn more about it here 

The workshop explores how organisations can design more thoughtful customer journeys and build cultures where great service becomes part of everyday operations rather than something that only happens when someone’s paying special attention. 

Small changes often create the biggest impact 

One of the reassuring things about Unreasonable Hospitality is that it rarely requires dramatic overhauls or massive investment. 

Often the biggest improvements come from simply paying closer attention to the experience customers already have with you and asking some honest questions: 

• Where do people feel confused or uncertain? 

• Where might a personal touch make a genuine difference? 

• Where could something be made simpler, clearer, or more welcoming without adding complexity? 

When businesses begin looking at their customer journey through this lens – really examining it honestly – opportunities tend to appear quickly. Things you could change tomorrow without spending much money or time, but that would make a noticeable difference to how people feel. 

And the results can be surprisingly powerful. Customers feel more valued and respected, teams take greater pride in their work because they can see the impact and businesses start to build reputations that competitors find genuinely difficult to match. 

A simple way to start 

If you’re curious about applying this idea to your own business but aren’t sure where to begin, start with a simple exercise. 

Think about the last time you were genuinely impressed by a service experience – something that made you want to tell someone else about it or go back again. 

What made it memorable? What specific moment or detail stood out? 

Now ask the same question about your own business: 

• What small moment could you introduce that customers would genuinely remember in a positive way? 

• What would make them feel like you actually care rather than just processing them efficiently? 

It might be a clearer, more welcoming first contact. A thoughtful follow-up that shows you remember them. A smoother process that removes unnecessary friction. Something small that shows you’ve thought about their experience. 

Often the most powerful ideas are also the simplest – and the most sustainable to actually implement. 

FAQs 

What is Unreasonable Hospitality? 

Unreasonable Hospitality is the idea that businesses should go beyond delivering a service and instead create memorable experiences for customers. The concept was popularised by restaurateur Will Guidara and focuses on thoughtful, unexpected gestures that make customers feel valued. 

Why does customer experience matter so much? 

Customer experience influences how people remember your business. When interactions feel smooth, thoughtful and positive, customers are more likely to return, recommend you, and speak positively about your brand. 

Can small businesses use Unreasonable Hospitality? 

Yes. In fact, small businesses are often in the best position to apply these ideas because they can build personal relationships with customers. Small gestures, personal communication and thoughtful follow-ups can make a big difference. 

Does this require a big budget? 

No. Many of the most effective examples of Unreasonable Hospitality are small actions that show attention and care. Remembering customer preferences, responding quickly or sending a thoughtful follow-up message can create a memorable experience without significant cost. 

How can I start improving my customer experience? 

Begin by mapping the key moments in your customer journey, such as first contact, onboarding and follow-up. Look for simple ways to make these moments smoother, more personal or more thoughtful. 

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