Hospitality, Matt Lettelleir contends in his new book The Open Door, has all but gone the way of the dodo and the passenger pigeon. As the cost of living goes up, and the hustle for bucks becomes more competitive, the unhurried, personal experience gets lost.
Always, Lettelleir insists, there is hope that generosity, civility and a genuinely welcoming environment will return.
“Anyone that comes across anybody that is a customer, a client, someone that walks through the door of your business – or even your house – you are managing their experience while they are in your presence,” he believes.
“And how are you making it so that experience is pleasant, and memorable, and something that they want to experience again? And that they’re going to tell people about?”
Subtitled A Philosophy of Welcome for Leaders, Cities and Everyone Who Opens a Door, the book (from Theodore Foley Press) combines hospitality suggestions with thoughts on public policy, civic leadership, community planning … and common sense.
A St. Petersburg native, Lettelleir is Local Government and Public Policy Manager for Orlando Health. Formerly President and CEO of The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce, he also served as Advocacy Manager, and Vice President of Advocacy for the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce from 2017 to 2022.
How to succeed? The first order of business, he says, is to create a welcoming place.
“I kept thinking back to, what did St. Pete do 100 years ago, when it was a boomtown? Everyone was buying down here but also, people were coming from the Northeast, for the winter.” Hoteliers, restauranteurs, saloon keepers and other business owners cultivated a sense of familiarity and friendliness with their customers.
In The Open Door, Lettelleir talks about the city planners of the early 20th century, how they established the permanent greenspaces along the bayfront with the future in mind.
“When it comes to cities, are you just moving people through or are you giving them an experience that is where they want to stop and take a look around?
“I’m not saying everyone needs to do every idea in this book, but if you find one, two, three things in this book that you can apply to your business, it’s going to make your business or your organization better.”
A business, or a city, needs to be mindful that it is, in the most profound sense of the word, a host. The Open Door introduces and explains five pillars of mindfulness and execution:
Radical Welcome (Every person who crosses your threshold is received as if their presence genuinely matters).
Generosity Beyond Expectation (Not extravagance. Generosity. The precise move that tells someone you were thinking about them).
Personal Connection (Remember the name. Know the story. Make clear that who they are matters more than what they want).
Community Creation (Turn a transaction into belonging. The best organizations don’t just serve people, they connect them).
Stewardship of Place (The physical environment is not a neutral container. It’s an active participant in the experience).
“By using those,” says Lettelleir, “it opens your mind up to all the different facets that go into running any organization. And all the touchpoints where you can affect, positively or negatively, an interaction with somebody.”
Hospitality – the business of making someone feel wanted and welcome – is in Matt Lettelleir’s DNA. His grandfather and his brothers owned and operated several of the city’s earliest hotels, including the Bond (now the Hollander), the Pennsylvania (now the Courtyard by Marriott), the Princess Martha and the Ponce de Leon.
His other grandfather had Lettelleir’s Bakery, on 4th Street, for 30 years, then spent 15 more creating recipes for Publix Bakeries.
Lettelleir’s uncle ran the annual Festival of States parade. His father, Joe Lettelleir, was president of the St. Pete Chamber of Commerce, a builder, a banker and a resort owner.
“Obviously, there are some places that still give that very personal attention when a regular comes in,” the author explains. “It’s Norm from Cheers. But they’re few and far between.
“And I think that people are craving that in this world. Where you have AI, and you have things that are so automated. You don’t talk to a receptionist to make a reservation for a restaurant any more. You do it online.
“So what I talk about is how to get back to training, and just imbuing that sense in people to make it real. And that if you do so, the results will be tenfold.”
He is immensely proud of his hometown and the way it’s grown without losing the small-city vibe that he believes makes it stand out.
Letelleir gives props to City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Partnership for their progressive but mindful stewardship.
What he would like to see, however, is a big, one-for-all and all-for-one parade, a massive celebration of who we are, where we’ve been and where we just might be going.
“I think we can do better,” he says. “You stand up for your city. You be proud of it. You say, we are going to celebrate the things that make St. Pete great.”
A launch party for The Open Door: A Philosophy of Welcome for Leaders, Cities and Everyone Who Opens a Door is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 25 at Book + Bottle, 17 6th Street N. RSVP for the free 5-7 p.m. event here.
The Open Door is also available at Tombolo Books and through Amazon.
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com