Concierges Are The Original Influencers - Sarah Dandashy - Episode #008

How do you stay positive when you’re emotionally drained?

Sarah Dandashy of AskAConcierge likes to remember that every guest interaction is a chance to be a part of someone’s positive memory. Listen to this week’s episode as she shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• Though she first found success on Instagram, Sarah finds LinkedIn is a powerful way to grow her network. It’s not just a great way to connect with others in #hospitality and #travel, it’s a platform that values substance. 
• The concierge is the original influencer. They take their first hand experiences in travel and introduce others to new opportunities.
• “Sometimes thoughtful things don’t cost that much. It could be a handwritten note or a cocktail.” - Sarah Dandashy. It’s the time invested that’s meaningful to your customer. 
• Anticipation is a powerful tool for great guest experiences, but presentation matters. Too much personalization can be creepy, so aim for thoughtfulness. 
• The most impactful ways to provide hospitality are often simple. Most of the time, people just want to feel listened to. 
• “If you change your mindset and just get creative about it, it’s amazing what you can do.” - Sarah Dandashy
• Recommendations are better when you take the time to understand the guest. Talk with them to find out more about their desired experience. 
• We need to take care of the frontlines of our industry. If you want people to treat this as a profession, you need to treat them like professionals.
• “if we just always keep our mind open and we just have these real conversations with our colleagues in whatever field they're in, it's amazing what we can learn from each other.” - Sarah Dandashy
• Sarah’s advice to her younger self: always remember you get to be a part of somebody’s positive memory

Quote of the Show:

13:15 - “But it was this intersection between human connection and thoughtful experience because really when you, when you look at it, hospitality, it is all about the human connection. Yes. There might be a digital aspect, but it's all about connecting on that human level. That's where hospitality comes from, you know, way back when, where people inviting people to their homes, like they're breaking bread over, over a meal, that's all hospitality and that's a human connection.

And then the thoughtful experiences. Are what make it unique and make it special? You know, it's more than just inviting somebody into your home or having somebody over for dinner. It's having those conversations and, and it is finding those thoughtful experiences, whether it's playing on something like, oh, I know . That you really love XYZ and tying that into it.

So all of that kind of ties in into really what I think makes hospitality that. The good stuff that we love.” - Sarah Dandashy

Links: 

• Sarah’s Profile - linkedin.com/in/sarahdandashy
• Websites
  • www.askaconcierge.tv  (Company Website)
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  • www.sarahdandashy.com (Personal Website)
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• Twitter
  • Sarahdandashy
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  • AskAConcierge
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Shout Outs: 

18:14 - Le Clefs d’Or Concierge

13:58 - Ritz Carlton in Berlin

43:19 - Christian Giordano (from Defining Hospitality Episode 7) 

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
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrpt8C461L_9n_6vezzZtkQ