Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp, founder, president and chief executive officer, is an autobiography woven into the history of the renowned five-star Four Seasons hotel chain. Isadore Sharp started out as a builder and ended up as a global five-star hotel management magnate.

Four Seasons created a brand name based on delivering impeccable quality and service, and it did so by creating the culture within the company to make it possible while building a globally recognized brand in the process. His business model is based on these four pillars: quality, service, culture and brand. By following the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated, the company prioritizes employees, including frontline workers, knowing they will take care of customers. The company lived the talk. Employees were given authority and flexibility to make decisions that took care of customers.

Like the most successful brands and companies that are built to last, Isadore Sharp looked to other best-in-class companies to identify products and services that could be transported to his organization. He looked to other industries and countries for best practices. And he paid attention to details; the devil is always in the details. He introduced the concierge service, an idea he borrowed from a European company. He first tried the service in Washington DC, and it was so popular that he introduced it to other hotels. Soon after, competitors followed suit.

In 1968, after his wife Rosalie returned from a spa, he remarked that spa food tasted better, so Isadore did research to find out what guest consumption trends were and what his competitors were doing.

In addition, after a brief vacation with Rosalie at Canyon Ranch in Arizona, a top-tier spa and fitness resort, he asked two vice presidents overseeing six hotel projects at the time to investigate the feasibility of including spas. Being the first to introduce fitness centers in hotels, the VPs reported that the spa would be a good addition to fitness.

Over the years, the Four Seasons had many firsts in the industry: bathrobes, shampoo, non-smoking floors, hair dryers, makeup mirrors, healthy cooking, etc. When it copied what was being done in other industries and countries, it made substantial improvements.

Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy is divided into four parts:

Part I: The immigrant’s son

Part II: Starting at the top

Part III: Community and Culture

Part IV: A New Approach

Part V: Global Excellence

Part VI: In a league of its own

Part VII: Staying ahead

And each part includes several chapters chronicling Isadore Sharp’s journey and those he interacted and worked with while building a global brand. Sharp provides many examples to demonstrate what his team did and how he did it. He speaks candidly of his successes and failures. He filled in the missing skills by hiring the right people. And he allowed people to do his work by trusting and respecting them.

The organization expanded primarily through joint ventures, which were created by building long-lasting relationships based on mutual benefit and trust. The company had established such a reputation that deals were constantly being filed, facilitating the organization’s rapid expansion into hard-to-penetrate regions. It includes the expansion process of many of the regions, the problems the company faced, how they overcame them, and the final results.

In order to become a global brand in the hospitality industry, there are many things Four Seasons did, some of which are listed below.

Things that make the Four Seasons unique

1. Hire local talent and promote from within.
2. Each hotel is unique and captures the nuances of the area in which it is located.
3. Each hotel is better in every way than the last.
4. Have very unique spas.
5. Hire the best chefs for a first-class dining experience.
6. Sign long-term management contracts for impeccable service and continuity of the business model.
7. Hire for personality and train for technical skills.
8. People come before profit.
9. Leaders and innovators.
10. The brand pre-sells the hotel, its potential joint venture partners are constantly pitching opportunities.

five big ideas

1. Don’t make judgments and decisions in a vacuum, also look at how they will affect others.
2. Continuous minor improvements, when added up over time, ultimately lead to major changes.
3. Challenges and setbacks are often opportunities in disguise.
4. Delivering true value to customers generates profit.
5. Be flexible, make decisions quickly, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

In Four Seasons: The Story of Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp there are countless examples that are duplicable for those who wish to excel through quality and service. To start the journey, ask yourself the following two questions.

1. What would customers find important?
2. What will customers recognize as value?

while i read Four Seasons: The Story of a Business PhilosophyI noticed clear similarities between him and Nordstrom’s Path to Customer Service Excellence. The similarities make a lot of sense as both companies compete on quality and service in their respective industries. For those interested in quality, service, and entrepreneurship, below are some older posts for your perusal.

I recommend Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp because there are so many ideas you can use. And Apple’s Steve Jobs introduced the Concierge Service in the Apple Store based on the Four Seasons Concierge Service.