Guest Post: Crafting a Michelin-Star-Worthy Client Experience

I recently re-read Unreasonable Hospitality, by author Will Guidara (the keynote speaker at Orion's 2025 Ascent conference — be sure to visit Janus Henderson at booth 709), as a restaurateur and how he and his team accomplished their goal of becoming a 3-star Michelin restaurant. There are only around 3,000 restaurants around the globe that have earned at least one Michelin star, with only about 150 that have earned the rare and coveted 3-star rating.

Reading this book again (which, if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend) got me thinking about how working toward this type of culinary accolade might translate into the wealth advisory world.

What if a critic were to come into your office and observe your team in action? Would you earn a Michelin star? Or would your level of service and client experience be deemed so exceptional to designate you as a 3-star advisory practice? Let’s look at where you objectively place yourself and your team on the Michelin scale and consider what it might take to reach each level.

1-star Michelin practice: High-quality cooking, worth a stop!

When an establishment earns one Michelin star – as opposed to, say, a one-star review on Yelp – it is considered quite the accomplishment. It essentially means that it is “a very good restaurant in its category.” But for top performers such as Will, it is just the beginning.

I equate this to a lot of the wealth advisory teams that I observe throughout the country, where they like working with each other, have some common processes, but lack intentionality as a team. They are still attempting to figure out their journey and pull everything together to create efficiencies and deliver an exceptional client experience. Usually, they have moments that set them apart from their competitors and deliver WOW experiences to their clients. But their consistency is often compromised by all the “tasks” and “urgent items” because they lack focus.

If that sounds familiar, here are some questions to think about if you are a 1-star practice to begin your journey toward two stars:

• What does success look like for the team as well as each individual?
• How can we create consistent processes where each client receives the same experience?
• What are the values we can uphold to give us direction, focus, and intentionality with each other and our clients?

2-Star Michelin Practice: Excellent cooking, worth a detour!

As a team and leadership coach, these “2-star” firms might be my favorite teams to work with as there is passion, drive, and a collective need to continually better themselves. These teams have established processes and documented standards that help the team understand the “Why” behind everything they do. They’ve achieved consistency in their interactions with clients, so they leave an impression focused on trust, commitment, and ownership.

If you would rank your team as a 2-star practice and want to achieve the prestigious and elusive three stars (remember, only around 150 restaurants in the entire world achieve this recognition), here are some questions to focus on with your team members:

• How can we focus on creating a consistent experience for our clients that turn them into raving ambassadors?
• What can we do as a team to elevate our skills together to focus on the things that matter and be proactive in connecting emotionally with our clients and prospects?
• What is our standard and how can we hold each other accountable through a lens of support?

3-star Michelin practice: Exceptional cuisine, worth the journey!

Truly elite 3-star practices have special attributes that impel clients and prospects to go out of their way to work with them. Among these attributes are humility to know that each person on the team does not have to know everything because they can lean on each other, vulnerability to admit when they need assistance or made a mistake, and courage to try new things focused on how they can elevate the experience they provide to their clientele.

When I pose the question of where they would rank their teams, I’ve yet to have one claim they are a 3-star practice, although one recently did give themselves 2 ½ stars after a team discussion. And they are a pretty stellar team. They work together with cohesion, meaning they understand their roles and how each one contributes to the success of the practice, knowing that everyone plays a critical role.

Challenge yourself to work toward a 3-star rating

There have only been a few cases where a restaurant has gone from a 1-star to a 3-star Michelin ranking and, shocker, Will’s restaurant Eleven Madison Park was one of those establishments. 3-star rankings are rare and earned. They are not received solely because of an exceptional chef; they are bestowed upon those teams that elevate their strengths together, set a standard to aspire to, and understand that if they rely on each other, the experience they deliver to clients will be “worth the journey.”

Within the pages of Unreasonable Hospitality, Will describes how the team would communicate each morning to set the expectations for the day, discuss new ideas, and empower each member of the team to uphold the standards they have set through hours of learning, development, and support.

With that in mind, I want to challenge you to discuss where you would rank your team at your next meeting. How many stars would you earn if the critic walked in to open an account tomorrow? And what would your gameplan be to reach the status of a 3-star wealth advisory practice?

This is not meant as a challenge to fear or stress about; it’s meant to be a source of inspiration to get you thinking about how to take your practice to the next level.

Should you need any assistance, feel free to reach out and we can offer our guidance – not as a critic, but as a coach to support your further success as a team.