Hospitality lessons come in the strangest form. Last night was no exception. This is the story of Mike the Auto Detailer, who can teach us all about showing hospitality.  These are the lessons I learned from him.

Answer the phone.

The story starts when I arrive 30 minutes after closing time. Since the doors were locked, I called and Mike answered the phone. It was thirty minutes after closing, he didn’t have to answer and he didn’t have to be friendly. He could have said, “sorry we are closed, I can help you tomorrow.” Instead he worked quickly to resolve the situation. Come to think of it, every time I have called this shop, the phone rang only twice before picking up. Everyone was helpful. Everyone was kind. I even heard Mike later in the evening ask one of his employees if they had missed any phone calls. He was concerned that they didn’t miss anything.

Invite people into your space.

One of the shop workers quickly opened the door, and Mike on the other side of the shop invited me in from the cold. He could have left me out in the cold, they were closed and didn’t have to invite me in. But he did. Hospitality isn’t a 9-5pm job. Hospitality is a lifestyle, and we should be ready to serve at any moment.

Shake their hand and know their name.

When I walked up, he shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and asked for my name. He had been working hard in the shop all day, he didn’t have to care about my name. But he did. This was reassuring to me, that  I wasn’t just wasting his time or that I was bothering him. No, he cared enough to know my name.

Offer them  a drink.

After realizing that my car had about ten more minutes until it was finished he asked if I wanted a soda. When I said sure, I thought he was going to go to the fridge and grab one, instead he pulled out cash from his own pocket and went to the soda machine to get a drink for me! Not what I was expecting, but this was above the call of duty.

Find them a comfortable space.

After handing me my drink he showed me a few chairs that I could sit in, or told me I could sit in the lobby where the basketball game was on. In a funny way, I wanted to stay in the back to see the guys at work. It brought me back to the time I spent in the screen print shop. The space was not pretty, it is a shop. However, Mike took the time to make sure that I was comfortable in the space I was in.

Genuinely care about people’s lives.

Mike saw that I had California plates, and asked me if I was from California. He didn’t stop there; he continued to ask a few questions, wanting to know how long it took to drive out, etc. You could tell that he wasn’t just making small talk for small talk sake. He wanted to know who I was, and what my story was. In this conversation, I found out that he was actually the owner of the shop. He was staying late to help finish up as they detail 200 cars a month!

Serve people.

You could tell that Mike serves his employees. When I asked about the business, the first thing out of his mouth was, “I have a great team that does great work.” He knew them all by name, and I watched him get to know his employees by asking them questions. Though we are not all in a situation where we have people reporting to us, we should always seek to serve those who are around us, no matter our position or title.

Invite people back again.

After the car was completed, they pulled it out front. I was walking around it, taking some pictures and Mike came to look with me. He showed me a couple areas of the car which had lots of tree sap. Being the cheap guy, I got the lowest detail on GroupOn, which did not come with sand blasting the two year old sap. As Mike looked at it, he described what they could do to get it all off. Without being pushy he was showing me ways that I could improve the look of my car. Regardless of whether or not I did that, he invited me back again. In hospitality, we want people to know that they are always welcome back.

Mike’s Hospitality

I never thought that I would be writing this after picking up my car from the detailer. But, that is the best thing about hospitality. When you are least expecting it, someone takes the time and energy to serve you. I was blessed by Mike, and reminded of the importance of hospitality.

Oh, and by the way, when I left the shop Mike was washing the floor. He owns the shop, he has employees, but he was washing the floor.  Take that lesson and run with it.

Who has been the best example of hospitality in your own life? How can we become more like Mike? (Leave your responses below).