When something goes wrong, how do you react? Do you throw your hands up in frustration and surrender, or do you try to fix the problem? 

Misha Bedner, President of Agency 967, advises to remain calm when things go haywire, because he knows the best thing you can do is approach the situation with a positive attitude and focus on the customer experience. Check out the podcast for more great insights like the ones you see below!

Takeaways:

• Hospitality is about service. A great customer interaction can be more impactful than outstanding design or furniture fixtures. 
• Misha credits his dad Michael with introducing him to the hospitality industry, & how to create a shared experience with customers - “If a client invites you to do karaoke, you go out and do karaoke!” 
• When something happens that’s out of your control, it’s how you approach the problem that creates a good or bad experience. Relying on policy can make service feel automatic, when the focus should be on the customer’s experience.
• When you go to a new destination, take in something that is culturally unique to where you are. Visit a museum or landmark, try local food, find something that you’ve never done before & try it!
• It’s important to bring a sense of mindfulness to hospitality & be intentional in the space, in the interaction, in the connection.  
• Misha learned how to deal with tough customers by serving bodybuilders at the Firehouse in Santa Monica. But being aware, specific, & mindful about specific customers’ needs can help build stronger relationships.
• “S#!& is gonna happen, it’s all about how you fix it.” - Misha 
• New projects are starting to return in the post-pandemic world, but there’s a bottleneck in the supply chain that affects timelines. Patience is important, because we’re moving onwards & upwards, even if it’s not as quickly as we’re used to right now.
• Advice for Misha’s younger self: Take more risks

Quote of the Show: 

"The process of a hotel coming into being is so many people working, designing, and coming together and combining their forces to make something beautiful. I think it's spectacular. And there's people who are involved on the design side. And if you, look over their shoulder and they're, space planning a guest room, or they're drawing out what light fixture that's gonna fit next to the bed. All those, those million different little facets of how a hotel comes together. That's so beautiful to me. The sad thing is, that's like 2% of how a hotel comes together. All that, all that fun design, all the sexy stuff. It's such a small little thing in the whole big picture." - Misha

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/misha-bedner-0868b85/
• Company website: https://www.ninesixseven.com/

Shout Outs: 

5:27 - Justin in Santa Monica

10:23 - Michael Bedner

19:30 - National Museum in India

35:57 - The Firehouse In Santa Monica

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HbcIcdw9_g