Hospitality Does Not Have a Discovery Problem. It Has a Promise-Keeping Problem.
Picture a restaurant on a Saturday night.
The dining room is full. The band is playing. The promotion worked. The manager watches the room with the proud expression of someone who has cracked the secret code to revenue.
Then the wheels start to wobble.
The host stand is overwhelmed. Drinks take twenty minutes. The kitchen falls behind. Nobody has told the servers which menu items are sold out. A guest with an allergy gets three different answers from three employees. The washroom looks like it has applied for independent nation status.
By 9:30, the room is still full.
But the experience is empty.
The business solved its discovery problem. It also introduced a large group of new customers to every operational weakness it had.
That is the part of the hospitality conversation we keep skipping.
I recently read an article from the Alberta Hospitality Association.
It makes a fair point: operators invest time, energy, and money into live music, trivia nights, tastings, seasonal menus, comedy shows, and other events, yet customers may never discover them. It argues that consumer attention is fragmented across apps, websites, social platforms, newsletters, and recommendation sources.
Absolutely. You cannot sell a ticket to someone who does not know the show exists. But the article goes further. It says Alberta does not have an experience shortage; it has a discovery problem. It suggests the challenge is not creating great experiences, but making sure the right people know they exist.
That is where I part company with the argument. Discovery matters. But discovery is only the opening scene.
Hospitality businesses do not build sustainable revenue simply by getting found. They build it by making a promise, delivering that promise, and giving people a reason to return with friends.
Visibility may create the first visit.
The experience creates the next one.
An event is not an experience
- Live music is not an experience.
- Trivia is not an experience.
- A wine tasting, comedy night, patio party, or seasonal menu is not an experience.
Those are ingredients.
The experience begins long before the customer hears the first song or tastes the first bite. It includes how easy the event was to find, whether the website answered basic questions, how smoothly the reservation worked, how guests were greeted, how long they waited, and whether the team seemed ready.
It includes the room, the washroom, the timing of the food, the confidence of the staff, the bill, and, most important of all, the way a problem was handled.
Experience centers on how the guest felt.
- Did they feel welcomed?
- Did they feel rushed?
- Did they feel like a valued guest or an interruption with a credit card?
Hospitality is a chain of moments. Every moment either strengthens the customer’s trust or quietly chips away at it.
A sold-out comedy show can leave guests saying, “The performer was great. We will never go back to that venue.” That is not a marketing victory. That is an expensive audition for your competitor.
Discovery is not the same as revenue
The AHA article correctly connects visibility to ticket sales, reservations, and filled seats. But getting someone through the door is not the same as building a profitable customer relationship.
Revenue in hospitality is shaped by more than traffic. It depends on what guests spend, whether they return, whether they bring others, and how they describe the business.
The journey looks more like this:
- Discovery leads to expectation.
- Expectation meets delivery.
- Delivery creates a memory.
- Memory shapes the story customers tell.
That story influences advocacy, reputation, and return visits.
Most marketing conversations stop at discovery because discovery is easy to count. We can count clicks, reservations, and ticket sales.
It is much harder to count disappointment. Disappointment does not always complain. Sometimes it smiles politely, pays the bill, leaves a reasonable tip, and disappears forever.
There is no confrontation. No manager gets called over. No one throws a Caesar salad.
The customer simply decides, “Not again.”
That silent decision is one of the most expensive outcomes in hospitality because the operator may never know why the customer vanished.
Marketing turns up the volume
Good marketing is an amplifier.
It does not fix the operation. It makes the operation louder.
When the experience is strong, greater visibility can accelerate growth. More people discover the business, enjoy it, talk about it, and return.
When the experience is weak, greater visibility accelerates something else.
More people encounter the delays. More people see the confusion. More people notice that the advertisement promised an intimate evening while the actual room feels like organized dodgeball.
The promotion did not cause the operational problem. It exposed it. That is why operators must ask a difficult question before launching the next campaign:
Are we ready to be discovered?
Not, “Is the poster ready?”
Not, “Did we create the Facebook event?”
Are our people, processes, and environment ready to deliver the promise at full capacity?
The answer requires more than optimism. It requires operational discipline and operational strategy.
Your existing customers are not yesterday’s news
The article says many hospitality businesses already have loyal customers and that the bigger challenge is reaching people who have never heard of them.
New customer acquisition is important. But existing guests should never be treated as the audience we have already “handled.”
Loyal customers are not merely repeat buyers. They are your most credible marketing channel. They write reviews, share photographs, invite friends, and recommend your venue for birthdays, business lunches, and the annual family gathering where Uncle Larry explains cryptocurrency despite nobody asking.
A customer recommendation arrives with context and credibility. It says, “I have tried this place. I understand what you like. I think you will enjoy it.”
No advertisement can reproduce that perfectly.
The question is not only:
How do we reach strangers?
The stronger question is:
How do we create an experience our current guests cannot stop talking about?
When customers become advocates, discovery is no longer a separate marketing activity. It becomes a result of the operation.
The frontline is where the promise gets tested
Hospitality marketing is often created in an office.
Hospitality trust is created on the floor.
The guest does not experience the strategy document, brand standards binder, or beautifully written mission statement hanging near the staff entrance. The guest experiences the employee standing in front of them.
That employee may have received excellent training (but in my experience, that is one component woefully missing) and the authority to solve problems (maybe I am just wishful thinking). Or they may have started three days ago, been shown the coffee filters, and been wished the very best of luck.
We cannot advertise our way around an unprepared team.
A promotion can attract the customer. Only a confident, supported employee can make that customer feel cared for. This is why employee experience and customer experience cannot be separated.
Frustrated employees create friction.
Confused employees create uncertainty.
Unsupported employees become cautious, robotic, or defensive.
Then management wonders why the service feels transactional.
The team must understand more than what is happening. They must understand why it matters, who the event is for, what has been promised, what may go wrong, and what they are empowered to do about it.
My philosophy is simple:
If you are not serving the customer, you had better be serving someone who is.
Every department plays a role.
The kitchen affects the server. The schedule affects the host. Purchasing affects the bartender. Maintenance affects the guest. The manager’s preparation affects everybody.
A hospitality experience may happen in front of the customer, but it is built behind the scenes.
Hospitality is live theatre
This is where my theatre background keeps barging into the conversation without buying a ticket. A hospitality business operates much like a live production.
The customer sees the performance. They do not see the rehearsal, cue sheets, lighting checks, or the frantic person backstage holding everything together with gaffer tape and controlled breathing.
When theatre works, the audience experiences ease. That ease is manufactured through preparation. Nobody says, “What a wonderful evening. I especially enjoyed how everyone clearly understood the emergency procedures.” They simply feel that the experience was smooth, confident, and intentional.
Hospitality is the same.
The guest should not have to see the systems. But the systems must be there. Selling more tickets to an unrehearsed production does not improve the show. It simply gives more people a chance to watch the scenery fall over.
Before you promote the next event
Platforms that help customers discover local hospitality experiences can be useful. The Association article is sponsored by RELVO, an online ticketing platform designed to connect venues with people looking for activities. There is value in helping operators reach beyond their existing audience.
But no discovery platform can answer the operational questions for you. Before promoting an event, I would ask five questions.
1. Who is this really for?
“Everyone” is not an audience. It is usually a sign that nobody has made a decision.
Be clear about who will value the experience and why. A young couple looking for an energetic Friday night wants something different from a corporate group, a family celebrating a birthday, or a group of friends hoping to talk without shouting over a speaker the size of a Buick.
2. What exactly are we promising?
Is it excitement, belonging, exclusivity, relaxation, discovery, or celebration? Customers do not buy an event description. They buy the feeling they expect the event to create.
That promise must be clear enough for the entire team to understand.
3. Can our team deliver the promise when we are full?
The test is whether the operation still works when the room is packed, the phone is ringing, and table twelve has invented a new dietary restriction.
Have employees been briefed? Do they know the menu, timing, offers, layout, and expected guest questions?
Do they know what to do when something goes wrong?
Hope is not an operating procedure.
4. Where could friction appear?
Walk through the experience from the customer’s point of view.
Search. Booking. Arrival. Parking. Greeting. Seating. Ordering. Payment. Departure. Follow-up. Every transition creates the possibility of confusion, delay, or disappointment.
Check out Marc’s Free Customer Touchpoint Assessment
Operators often focus on the event’s centrepiece while overlooking the moments surrounding it. Yet a wonderful meal can be overshadowed by a thirty-minute wait for the bill.
5. What do we want guests to do next?
- Return for another event?
- Join an email list?
- Book a private function?
- Recommend the venue?
- Bring a friend?
Do not leave the next step to chance. Discovery starts the relationship. A strong operation gives the relationship somewhere to go.
The real hospitality revenue chain
Hospitality businesses may need better ways to be found. But we should resist the temptation to reduce a complex business challenge to a single marketing diagnosis.
Some operators have a discovery problem. Others have a differentiation problem. Some have a leadership problem, a training problem, a capacity problem, a consistency problem, or a “we advertised half-price wings and forgot to order enough wings” problem.
Most have a combination. The real revenue chain is not simply:
Promotion leads to attendance.
It is:
Discovery creates an expectation.
Operations deliver—or break—the promise.
The experience becomes a memory.
The memory becomes a story.
The story brings the customer back or sends them somewhere else.
Great hospitality experiences cannot drive revenue if nobody finds them.
That is true.
But being found is not the finish line. It is the moment the house lights dim and the audience begins paying attention.
Marketing fills the seats.
Your people and processes determine whether anyone applauds, returns, or tells a friend to buy a ticket.
Hospitality does not merely need to become easier to discover. It needs to become worthy of being discovered.
Is your marketing promise stronger than the experience your operation can consistently deliver? Explore how Marc helps hospitality leaders turn everyday operations into extraordinary customer and employee experiences.
About the Author
Marc is a customer experience expert, keynote speaker, consultant, and author of Lights! Camera! Action! With more than 25 years of experience in hospitality, retail, and other customer-facing industries, Marc has created unique frameworks to help organizations build lasting connections to become THE brand of choice.
Marc’s energetic, humorous, and authentic delivery makes him relatable and fun. He empowers business operators with unique tools to create jaw-dropping, show-stopping experiences their customers and employees deserve.
Marc’s podcasts, Marc Haine Live and Experience Leadership: The Small Business Podcast, have over 250,000 views worldwide.
Marc is the 2023 Community Spirit Award recipient in his local community. He is the co-founder and president of several non-profit organizations, such as: Walk the Talks and East of 60 Productions Society. He sits on the provincial and national boards of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS).
Marc Haine
Marc is a service expert and a master of experiences. He's also an author, speaker, facilitator and coach. He will help your teams ignite their passions, enable your leaders to recentre their focus, and drive continuous improvement through connected and engaged employees. This will allow you to realize your competitive advantage with a connected purpose and consistency of customer experience across your brand. He will dare your people to cultivate a generous attitude and lead with love and kindness first.
