All businesses in the world have one thing in common: they provide services. Everything, including products, entertainment, education, and non-profit initiatives, is a form of service. Given its economic importance, it is vital to reflect on what service means and how it can be used to build company value. One of the most powerful philosophies and practices of service is omotenashi, the Japanese concept of hospitality. This article explores the concept of omotenashi and how it can be applied, not only to client relationships, but also to make companies run better.
The Concept of Omotenashi
Anyone who has visited a store or restaurant in Japan will no doubt remember being enthusiastically greeted with the word “Irasshaimase!” This is an honorific form of the verb “to be” or “to come.” Honorific forms of verbs are used in Japanese to elevate the status of the person being spoken to.
In essence, the greeting “Irasshaimase” means “your honorable presence is acknowledged, welcome, and appreciated here.” You will hear this greeting regardless of who you are, how important you look, how busy the shop attendant is, or how far you seem to be outside of their direct line of sight.
This greeting is a small component of the larger Japanese concept of omotenashi. Omotenashi literally means “without face” (omote means face and nashi means without). Doing something without face is deeply significant in Japan because, in Japanese culture, there is well defined and practiced difference between what is called tatemae and what is called honne. Tatemae means one’s outer posture, and honne means one’s inner essence. Very clear distinctions are made between tatemae and honne throughout Japanese society. Through omotenashi, one offers one’s heart to the customer without reserve or artifice. A more detailed explanation of the difference between tatemae and honne is found here.
Omotenashi expresses the concept that one offers one’s heart to the customer without reserve or artifice.
Japanese Tea Ceremony and the Origin of Omotenashi
Omotenashi has its origins in the Japanese tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is the stylized preparation and sharing of Japanese tea with a small group of people.
A key figure in the history of the Japanese tea ceremony is Sen-no-Rikyu, who lived from 1522 to 1591. Due to his influence, the Japanese tea ceremony gradually shed ostentation and came to embody the principles of simplicity, the concept of wabi-sabi, the use of local materials and attention to detail.
Japanese tea ceremony is not only focused on tea but also on fostering positive human relationships. The preparation for the tea ceremony, room decorations, the utensils that are used, the pace of the tea ceremony, the conversation that takes place and of course the sharing of tea are all meant to create a harmonious atmosphere where people feel comfortable, connected, and cared for.
An important tea ceremony concept integral to omotenashi is “ichi go ichi e“, which literally means “one life, one time.” This concept, originally from Zen Buddhism, means that every instant in life, including every meeting with someone, will only happen once, so that moment should be treasured. An article about ichi go ichi e is here.
Elements of Omotenashi
Omotenashi has several components.
Wholehearted preparedness. Many people view service as the period from when a service request is made to when the request is completed. However, when applying the concept of omotenashi, hospitality begins long before the customer arrives. Service to the client of tomorrow begins yesterday.
Omotenashi begins long before the customer arrives.
Take, for example, a hotel business. One might view service as the interaction with guest that begins once the guest has arrived. However, even before a guest makes a reservation, the hotel owner can work as diligently and sincerely as possible with the guest’s comfort in mind to ensure sure that the hotel grounds are pleasant and orderly, the hotel is clean, and the hotel staff is ready.
More profoundly, as omotenashi views hospitality as an expression of one’s inner nature, it also represents a constant challenge to grow as a person so one’s level of service can also improve. Personal growth and external service create a mutually reinforcing virtuous circle.
Treating each customer as special. A second element of omotenashi involves identifying what makes every customer unique rather than building a sales approach based on the assumption that all customers are the same. Even in high customer traffic businesses, such as supermarkets, no two customers are exactly alike: each client has different shopping preferences, needs, budgets, time frames and perhaps challenges in locating different items and bringing them home. In omotenashi, these differences, which at times can be easily overlooked, become the bases from which to create experiences that are unique for each customer.
One way to create individualized customer experiences is through a proactive, continuous customer service approach. This means noticing specific things about customers, asking questions, listening carefully to what is said, and remembering what is distinctive about them.
Anticipating customer needs, wants, and interests. A third element of omotenashi is anticipating a customer’s needs, even if they are not expressed. For example, let’s say you have a hotel and a guest comes from far away. It is likely that after a long journey they will be very tired and anxious to check in so they can rest. By being conscious of and showing empathy for their situation, one can make a special effort to make the person more comfortable, such as quickly meeting them as soon as they arrive, making it easy to check in, providing them with a welcome beverage, taking their things quickly to the room, and asking if anything special can be done so they can recover from their trip. To provide service to a guest one needs, in a sense, to become the guest and see the product or service or experience through their eyes.
The same concern applies to customer interests. For example, assume that a hotel guest comes to a city to attend an art conference. It is highly likely that they would appreciate being told about other art exhibitions in the city, local artists or other art events that they might not be familiar with. Moreover, this effort to share things with a guest does not need to end once the guest leaves. By keeping the guest’s interests in mind, one can also share things that the guest might be interested in knowing in the future.
Responding to customer requests. A fourth element of omotenashi is responding to specific customer requests. In the course of a typical customer relationship, the customer will ordinarily have questions or ask for certain things to be done. A core part of omotenashi is doing everything possible to meet and, if possible, go beyond those requests.
Each customer request is an opportunity to make a lasting customer service impression.
Each customer request is an opportunity to make a lasting customer service impression. For example, assume that you are a consultant and have been asked to prepare a report for a time-sensitive matter within three days. One can do everything possible to try and produce the report in two days rather than three to indicate that you are making a special effort for what is special for the customer.
Quickly addressing issues and problems. In any service business, mistakes and problems of one type or another are inevitable. These mistakes may be due to the customer, the company, or some third-party factor. One way of dealing with negative issues that arise in the client relationship is by concentrating on who should be blamed for the problem. However, the concept of omotenashi encourages people to not focus on the cause of the problem but rather on doing everything possible to find a solution. Even if the problem cannot be completely solved, many customers will remember the effort that was made.
One example of omotenashi in the hotel industry occurred during the Covid pandemic. Many hotels allowed people to stay at their hotel for free or at reduced rates because they recognized that many guests could not travel but also could not afford to pay high hotel rates for extended periods of time.
Not expecting anything in return. Finally, an important concept of omotenashi is giving your best without expecting anything in return. Many people believe that service is simply an economic commodity, and the more service that is provided, the more that should be paid for it.
This can be an economically short-sighted perspective because trying to maximum short-term service income can lead to losing long-term customer loyalty. The economics of service are reflected in the power of relationships rather than transactions. While omotenashi does not suggest that service should be provided for free, as this would not in the best economic interests of companies or even customers, it does mean that people should not be charged extra for going above and beyond what is expected. Going above and beyond should be viewed as an expression of the customer’s value and importance to the business.
With omotenashi, going above and beyond should be viewed as an expression of the customer’s value and importance to the business.
Applying Omotenashi in Companies
While omotenashi is often thought of as a philosophy that only applies to external clients, it can also be applied inside businesses. This is because companies are comprised of many what can be thought of as “internal client relationships,” meaning people who are required to carry out tasks for another person or department to implement the company’s business model and carry out the company’s corporate mission.
For example, a firm’s internal lawyer or legal department must constantly respond to the requests of people throughout the firm for legal guidance or for the preparation of different legal documents. From the perspective of omotenashi, these internal clients are exactly the same and require the same level of support and dedication as external clients.
By applying the principles of omotenashi, predicting internal client needs, and doing the best one can to exceed those needs, it is likely that more people in the firm will seek legal guidance (instead of taking potential risky actions without legal oversight), which apart from helping to manage legal risk will build internal trust and improve the organization as a whole.
Omotenashi can also be applied in inside companies.
The executive function and internal client service. Omotenashi can also be applied to the CEO or other company leaders. While some may view firm employees as serving the CEO, from an omotenashi perspective the CEO is also serving every employee of the firm, regardless of their position. How executives can apply omotenashi will be discussed in more detail in a future article.
Omotenashi can be applied by every person in a company. Even for employees who have very limited contact with outside or internal parties, omotenashi can still be practiced. Trying to do the best job one can, being prepared, remaining attentive to firm surroundings, developing a spirit of willingness to help if asked, and proposing new ideas, also creates a positive work environment that can have a very large impact on firm growth.
Conclusion
Service is a crucial element of business and can be used to create long-lasting competitive advantages. One of the most powerful service philosophies is omotenashi. By putting this philosophy into practice, firms can strengthen client relationships, make organizations run better, and build firm value.
The photo for the article was taken from here.