During our recent Maldives business travel we met Steven Ferry, chairman of the International Institute of Modern Butlers. Steven and his team focus on redefining “hospitality butler” for today, in addition to introducing butler-style service and standards to other industries where high levels of service are required.
Dear Steven, can you explain what the difference between a “Modern Butler” and the old-fashioned English butler is?
Certainly. The old-fashioned English butler is just that: an invariably white, English male who believes that the only right way to be a butler is to do what butlers have done for centuries before, because that has stood the test of time. The Modern Butler, however, recognizes that time does not stand still, and nor do the employers and guests who enjoy their services. We, at the Institute, not only beat the drum about our profession needing to modernize in the face of a changing cadre of clients and their changing needs and demands, but have defined the Modern Butler as someone who keeps what is valuable of the traditional Anglo-Saxon male butler, who honed his skills over centuries of service to British and European royalty and nobility and later, the extremely wealthy, and adds to it the skills and knowledge needed to operate in the 21st Century, in the service of an international clientele.
We think of great butler service as intuitive, when guests don’t even notice the butler. What are the main characteristics of a “Modern Butler” for you?
I would say no different in essence than yours! I would call it “invisible service,” but it adds up to the same discreet and solicitous service that is founded on love of others and being of service. We actually identify 15 key characteristics in butlers or other consummate service professionals, which I won’t list here, but they do include such concepts as trustworthiness, discretion, the ethical management of all situations in the direction of calming the waters and putting all involved at their ease, and never crossing the line between being the service provider and the person who is receiving the service.
WOW customer service will become even more influential over the next decade and highly important to ensure repeat business. How do you define WOW customer service and which basics should EVERY SINGLE hotelier consider?
It is my opinion that the concept of “wow’ing” the guest started to appear in hospitality at the same time that butlers did; that is because butlers reinforced the existing concept in good hospitality practice, of pushing beyond the simple provision of “good service” to a guest with extra creativity and caring to achieve a special/memorable moment for them. This can only be achieved by those who truly care about others, as opposed to pretending to, or being obliged to by hotel policies. This explains why the last two hotels with which I am working—our mutual client in the Maldives, and one of the grand Old Dames of European hotels—have had as a key criterion in the hiring process, the taking on of staff with what has been termed “a service heart.”
Our world is moving into an increasingly mechanistic and electronic age and lifestyle. In view of this fact, where do you see the future of superior service and the modern day butler service?
Your question is one after my own heart. I have written much over the last decade or more about the need to push back against the ghastly drive to robotize the majority of human work, with the need for us humans in hospitality (and private service) to jettison any hints of robotic behavior and claim back our strengths: our compassion, humanity, caring, etc. One can program a robot to sound caring, and it sounds about the same as any hospitality employee who lacks passion and real interest in the guest. Until all guests are robots, we should treat them as humans, because that is what the majority of them appreciate, and the very foundation of good service. So, I would say that as the world continues to disappear up its own exhaust pipe of technological innovation and mechanization, the butler and service professional who focuses on emotional engagement, developing his or her human qualities, and providing superior service, will become increasingly valued by guests. Not to say they do not use their smart phones and technology to facility their service, nor even that they do not utilize forms of automation to improve that service, but the key is to put their interaction with, and focus upon, the comfort and well-being of the guest front and center, with the automations and technologies solidly in the background—providing their own invisible service to the service provider!
We at MA people are specialised in crafting innovative hotel concepts and brands: what makes a hotel experience a truly outstanding one for you personally?
Well, it would be a clearly thought-out branding that identifies the intended guests and their needs and wants, and identifies and puts forward clearly, the ways those needs and wants are to be satisfied—and ensuring thereafter that the hotel walks the talk, of course. Pretty well what you have done with our mutual client in the Maldives. You identified some excellent, unique points for the resort that aligned with the guests’ discovered desires, and communicated them very well to the management and staff. Being responsible for training one element of that vision, the butlers/island hosts, I aligned the training with the brand, coming up with ways for the island hosts to reinforce and bring that vision into the guest experience. As the island moves beyond its opening and coalesces its identity into a reputation, I have no doubt that it will become an outstanding destination for its target guests.
About Steven Ferry:
Steven Ferry is chairman of the International Institute of Modern Butlers and the author of bestsellers Butlers & Household Managers 21st Century Professionals and Hotel Butlers, The Great Service Differentiators—and the soon-to-be-published, two-volume, Serving the Wealthy, The Modern Butler’s and Household/Estate(s) Manager’s Companion. He trains, consults and advocates for the profession around the world.
Photo credit: Marcia Laurenzano
ke time for prosecco ke it happenke it meaningfulke good coffeeke it matterke funny jokeske it kindke it simpleke it countSign up for the MAp newsletter for practical insights on hotel branding, marketing, and sustainability, plus fresh thinking from our projects and new tools from our sustainability platform. Let’s move #onwards together.
