Unreasonable Hospitality: what agencies can learn from Will Guidara

At first glance, the book appears to be a (very good) book about a restaurant. Specifically, about Eleven Madison Park, the New York restaurant co-owned by Guidara, which grew to become one of the finest in the world. About flawless service, exceptional guest experiences and the kind of attention to detail you'd expect in that sort of establishment. But anyone who reads it through the lens of the agency world quickly realises it's actually about something far more fundamental: making people feel seen.

And that is precisely why it's so relevant for us, the account managers and client services directors. Because agencies, in their own way, are also in the hospitality business. We just don't serve tasting menus or a glass of fine Barbaresco Montaribaldi. What's on our menu instead: trust, strong ideas and sharp strategies. A client rarely chooses an agency solely for a strategy, campaign or design project. They also choose the feeling that they — and their brand — are in good hands.

That is the core of Guidara's thinking. Service is what you do. Hospitality is how you make someone feel. That distinction sounds simple, but it changes everything. In an agency context, service is sending a clear timeline. Hospitality is ensuring the client never feels like they're chasing updates. Service is preparing a presentation. Hospitality is understanding that the client will need to defend that presentation internally and arming them accordingly. Service is delivering a contact report. Hospitality is bringing the project back into focus.

For account managers, this represents an important shift. The job isn't only about follow-up (literally: managing the account), but about client experience. Not only about deliverables, but about trust. Not only about being available, but about sensing what a client needs before they've even asked.

One of the best-known anecdotes in the book involves guests who, during their dinner at Eleven Madison Park, mention that they still haven't had a proper street hotdog in New York. The team overhears the remark, sends someone outside, buys a hotdog, and serves it with full restaurant flair. A gesture that says: we're really listening.

That story translates beautifully to our world. Because the real brief often isn't found in the client brief alone. It's between the lines. In a client who mentions there's some internal nervousness. In a marketing manager who lets slip that 'the HR people aren't quite on board yet'. In a CMO who says the CEO likes to 'keep things straightforward'.

Those are our hotdog moments. A strong account manager turns them into a proactive brief. An extra idea. A short piece of reasoning for management. A summary the client can forward internally. A phone call before a difficult meeting. That's the difference between executing and guiding. And it's precisely that difference that makes an agency valuable. But don't be mistaken: 'unreasonable hospitality' is not the same as boundless people-pleasing. Too often, client-centricity gets translated as 'anything goes', 'everything is urgent' and 'it's all included'. That isn't hospitality.

Guidara's philosophy holds up because it is built on excellence, discipline and deliberate choices. You can only be exceptionally generous when the foundations are solid. Timelines must be met. Budgets must be clear. Expectations must be stated. Feedback must be properly interpreted. Scope must be guarded more rigorously than, say, a president at a dinner with the press. Without that foundation, every extra gesture becomes suspect or cosmetic. A client gains nothing from a thoughtful gift if the invoice is unclear, the work is half-finished or the presentation feels unprepared.

Hospitality is not about saying yes to everything. A strong account manager doesn't agree to everything but creates the conditions in which good work is possible. That requires empathy and a backbone. In this sense, a good account manager is rather like a maître d'hôtel. Not someone who simply shows you to your table, but someone who reads the entire room. Who needs extra attention? When should you step forward, and when should you step back? In a restaurant, that's about guests, dishes and timing. In an agency, it's about clients, stakeholders, decisions, energy and trust.

The best client services directors do precisely that, at that level. They don't only map out processes — they map out experiences. They ensure clients feel carried along throughout the entire journey. From brief to presentation, from feedback to delivery, from invoicing to evaluation. Every touchpoint tells the client something about the agency. Are we sharp? Do we understand their reality? Are we thinking beyond the brief? Or are we primarily focused on our own output and hours?

At Cartel Agency, 'unreasonable hospitality' isn't a layer on top of how we work. It's a way of looking at client relationships. A status meeting is not just a status meeting, but a weekly moment to build — and give — trust. A presentation is not only a showcase for the agency, but also a moment at which the client should feel more confident about the next step.

Anticipation is everything. A client who has to remind you of a deadline doesn't feel in control. A client who has to ask for a project update doesn't feel at ease. Think ahead. Not out of panic, but out of care. Satisfied clients are not automatically loyal clients. They could leave tomorrow for an agency that seems cheaper, faster or more exciting. Loyal clients stay because they feel that someone understands them, keeps watch alongside them and shares in the responsibility.

And that starts internally. You cannot bring exceptional care to clients if your own team is constantly working in chaos. Clear briefs instead of forwarded emails. Context instead of loose tasks. Honest expectations about timing, budget and responsibility.

When I take 'unreasonable hospitality' seriously, I'm not creating an 'everything for the client' culture. I'm striving for 'everything for the right relationship, the right process and the best work'. A world of difference for both sides of the table. When I lead my team well, the client feels it. In the calm of meetings. In the quality of presentations. In the way we receive feedback. In the speed with which ambiguity disappears. For me and my team, that is the most meaningful ambition. Not to be the person who forwards emails, but the one who gives meaning to what's happening. Not the one who collects feedback, but the one who understands what lies behind it.

AI forces me to look honestly at what client service is today. Much of what we think of as service — follow-up, status updates, building decks — is being done faster, more cheaply and often better by AI. The question isn't whether that work will disappear. The question is whether it was ever our real added value. That's confronting. But our added value does lie somewhere else entirely. Understanding context. Seeing what's really going on inside an organisation. Connecting interests, sharpening decisions, providing direction when everything is moving faster and becoming more diffuse.

The strong account manager doesn't become a better 'manager' — they become a right hand. Someone who doesn't just help deliver what's been asked for, but who helps determine what's actually needed. That's something we at the agency have been committed to for longer than most in our sector. That shift plays to our advantage. We're not called an agency by humans for humans by accident. Because the easier it becomes to make something, the more valuable it becomes to know — and feel — that it's heading in the right direction.

If you translate Unreasonable Hospitality to the agency world, you ultimately arrive here: don't just make clients satisfied with the result, make them grateful for the way they got there. Because agencies that give clients that feeling build truly human relationships that are hard to replace (by AI, for instance). And perhaps that's precisely what the best client services directors and account managers have always known. The work remains the product. But the sublime experience surrounding it determines whether clients come back.