Busted! Four Seasons Sales Tactics Exposed

Four Seasons wants your money. And in order to get it they will pamper and woo you into submission. Perhaps their most divisive method is to make you feel like a celebrity by one degree of association. This manipulative technique comes across in chatty conversation, when your defenses are down. So be careful! And hold on to your expense accounts and contract-signing pens.

The Four Seasons Hualalai is a deconstructed hotel in fine form built to emphasize the ocean and landscaping. Any Hawaiian hotel worth anything greets guests with an open, breezy lobby with direct views of the ocean the moment you step out of your car.

At Hualalai, when you get out of your car there isn't even a building to get in your way. Before you slopes a mall of manicured lawn, a rectangular pool and the Pacific. And if you must, reception is off to the side built into the slope. Each wing of the hotel, "crescent" in the local dialect, of condo-like rooms, is built to draw guests out to the ocean.

And by the ocean is where the sales team will get you.

Step One: Share personal stories about hotel-enabled adventures

"Isn't the water amazing? Last week, I went deep sea fishing with the Four Season's exclusive outfitter." Pause. Directional indication with upturned palm: "The port is just a five minute walk to your left." Resume: "I caught a yellow fin tuna. The moment we reeled it in, I called all my friends and neighbors and we had steaks and sushi at my place! Do you like sushi?"

Step Two: Tactfully introduce money and celebrity into the conversation

"Four Seasons is known for its discretion." (Didn't you know?!)."But I will tell you on general terms that executives and film industry guests prefer this particular crescent. We only have a plunge pool here, and hammocks. They just adore the privacy." Walking now: "This would be an excellent crescent for the top guests in your program. Perhaps even for you. And you could also hold a smart cocktail here for about fifty."

Notice the not-so-subtle transition. They are beginning to make you feel as if you might be a celebrity or at least involved in a famed institution by offering rooms and a cocktail venue in the "exclusive crescent".

Step Three: Mention celebrities by name

"Isn't that ocean breeze divine?!" With a lowered voice and much leaning: "Now I can tell you this because it was all over the newspapers. . .that spot on the beach just there, by the plumeria, is where Megan Fox and Brian Green held their wedding ceremony a few weeks ago. . ."

This gossipy tidbit is delivered at the moment of maximum impact. It will usually be towards the end of the site inspection, leaving you with the billowy feeling that you not only have seen the place where the rich and famous enact their fabled lives, but that little-cubicle-bound you shares the tastes and lifestyle preferences of the stars.

Touring three Four Seasons properties in one week convinced me that this three-step process is a legitimate corporate-wide sales technique. In short form, here are three further examples of the pattern:

1. Personal story: Golfing on the Challenge at Manele Bay course Four Seasons Lanai
2. Introduce celebrity: Favorite course of PGA stars and executive golfer types
3. I can tell you this because it was in the news: Bill Gates wedding at 12th hole.

1. Personal story: Trying out infinity pool at Four Seasons Maui
2. Introduce celebrity: You'll bump into celebs every day at pool
3. I can tell you this because it was in the news: Owen Wilson swam here

1. Personal story: Safety, security and exclusivity of Lanai Four Seasons
2. Introduce celebrity: Heads of state vacation here
3. I can tell you this because it was in the news: Jenna Bush honeymooned here

While I am interested to know exactly what instruction sales members receive on celebrity gossip, who can complain that end goal is to make guest and clients feel like celebrities for choosing and staying and paying at the Four Seasons? Oh, yea. The Finance Department.