Brand new guest rooms, sleek kitchenettes, minibars and bright, new bathrooms were only the start of the boutique hotel’s story. The ‘dream pillow menu’ gave me six choices from buckwheat to hypo-allergenic, duck down to Swedish memory foam.

And yet…..there was no chance of an early check in after a 30 hour journey. No mechanism to anticipate or to care in a way that the competition doesn’t.

Anyone can take instructions. Every business can get customer to tick boxes and say exactly what they want. The thing that’s scarce is what the customer didn’t know they needed or wanted in the first place.

The brands that succeed understand that the ability to anticipate, and act upon what isn’t already known is what makes them stand head and shoulders above all the rest.

Image by Amanda Tipton.