I was backstage at a large hotel ballroom getting ready to keynote a large conference. Wondering around in the “employees only” back of the house,” I stumbled onto a small hotel employee meeting. When I heard the meeting leader, obviously a supervisor, ask: “Tell me how we will flower this meeting tonight?” I could not help but eavesdrop. The word flower is not typically used as a verb.

Later that day as I was getting ready to leave after my speech, I ran into the supervisor and explained why I was backstage and asked him to explain, “flowering a meeting.” Here was his answer, almost verbatim.

“When you walked into our hotel lobby, you saw a massive bouquet of flowers. It was a why to welcome you in a colorful way. And, it said a lot about the quality of the hotel by the quality of the bouquet. We want our staff to continue that same high quality, colorful welcome even if they are skirting a stage or serving a banquet dinner or greeting a guest in the hall.”

His answer made me think about how we flower. A couple celebrates the birth of a child or a special anniversary and there are flowers at the front of the church. Flowers celebrate, affirm and show we care. How can you flower your customers today?