Every business has the chance to surprise and delight their customers. Most miss their chance. Don't be like most.
REGULAR AUDITS WITH A DISCERNING EYE
CREATION OF IDEAS TO WOW YOUR CUSTOMERS
TRAINING YOUR TEAM TO BRING THIS MINDSET TO LIFE
In certain situations, we provide financing to businesses we believe in, as well as present to organizations about the mindset of hospitality.
Unforgettable
We've stayed at some of the best properties in the world, gathering inspiration along the way.
We are obsessive entrepreneurs who know what it takes to make great ideas work commercially.
An endless personal curiosity about what people notice, value, and remember.
Don’t just take their braces off.
Create a graduation. Play music, hand them a diploma, and send them off with a note congratulating them on completing this journey. Show them that you understand the weight of this moment.
Don’t just incorporate their business.
Hand them a beautiful plaque with a single coin mounted on it. Beside the coin it can read: “We’re looking forward to counting the rest with you. Congratulations on starting.”
Don't just send them their annual report.
Acknowledge their birthday, too. Mail them a single printed share certificate from their favourite company. It's a gift from you, reminding them that as they get older, so too does your understanding of them.
Don't just scan their loyalty card.
Recognize its their tenth visit. Bring out a white tablecloth and put it over whatever table they’re sitting at. Bring the coffee on a silver tray and a handwritten note: “10 visits. We thought it was time we started taking this relationship seriously."
We help you create delightful moments that turn customers into storytellers. This drives word of mouth, and a brand people remember.
By making every touchpoint more thoughtful and enjoyable, we help turn a transaction into an experience. People return for experiences.
By being a second set of eyes, we help you catch the things you've stopped noticing. The things that truly matter.
I am driven to put a dent in the hospitality universe. Big words, but sincere ones. I’ve loved hospitality - hotels, restaurants, customer-facing experiences - since I was a kid. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand why. Hospitality brings together values I find meaningful. Delight. Care. Love. It’s also where my greatest strengths lie. I notice things. Tiny things. I can walk into a space and quickly discern what’s working and what’s getting in the way. I can zoom out and articulate how those tiny decisions shape the way someone feels. And I can dream up small yet powerful ideas that aspire to blow people away.
While I’ve spent years building businesses, developing a deep appreciation for what makes commercial sense, Next Letter is ultimately an expression of what I love. I’ve travelled the world, stayed at remarkable properties, and experienced hospitality at its finest. Along the way, I’ve found endless inspiration and seen what the best do differently. I always ask: What would make this more beautiful, thoughtful, memorable, or delightful? And just as importantly, does it make business sense? These are the questions I want to ask, and help answer, for every business I work with, every single day.
With care,
Jeffrey Fenton
There are a few values we embody that we believe distinguish us from the rest.
We are empathetic. We embrace our introspective side to your benefit. Many consultants tell you what they see. We tell you what we feel. About your experience, and your offerings.
We hate fluff and buzzwords and the stiffness of mystery shopping reports and standards compliance. We share with you ideas that actually move the needle. Less about manuals and service times and more about welcome rituals and how you celebrate your customers. We tell you what will actually change how someone feels, or what will actually make someone's day.
Some of the most important parts of a business's experience fall between the cracks. The music, menu, tone, how someone acknowledges you when you walk in. These rarely belong to one person in an organization, yet together they shape how a business feels. We care about those details.
Every business should ask themself: what would our business look like if we obsessed about our experience and each customer the way a five star hotel does? We help any customer-facing business reimagine their experience through an obsessive and discerning lens.
You regularly review your P&L and sales dashboards. Pest control and public health regularly inspect your space. But how are you reviewing the vibe at your location? How are you keeping tabs on staff morale? That’s what we help monitor. We help you see what you can’t, or what you’ve simply stopped noticing.
We have what we believe is a rare combination of commercial sense, taste, creativity, and imagination. We can dream big and stay practical. We know when to be quiet and when to speak up. We’re observant, but proactive. We notice the smallest details without losing sight of the business.
You don't need new ideas. You need impartial audits from someone plugged in. We visit your space and provide a detailed, heartfelt report.
You want your customers to feel like a valued guest, even if you're not a five star resort. We help non-hotels think and act like hotels.
When you lack the time or headspace to think about how to wow your customers, we come in and help you fill the gap.
From offsites to town halls, I share the stories, examples, and tiny details that show what happens when a business treats every moment as hospitality. I draw on my professional and personal experiences. Your people leave with ideas they can use the very next morning.
Invite me to speak
A collection of things we've made, noticed and done in the pursuit of making people feel something.
Gruvi
Alcohol-free drinking often felt like a compromise. We helped build GRUVI to make it feel fun and social. Through a deep understanding of our target and the development of a customer-obsessed brand, we helped create one of the fastest growing beverage brands in the continent. Today, we remain advisers, and enthusiastic consumers.
Business
GetGruvi.com
A FULL-CIRCLE PROPOSAL
When my then-girlfriend moved in, I knew she disliked the bedroom's painting. So I surprised her with a commissioned illustration of where I said 'I love you'. The twist? The sun in the top right was actually a ring in disguise. Years later, when I asked her to marry me, I had an entire gallery of paintings made for her. The finale was this piece.
Life
De Mello Coffee
We co-owned and operated De Mello cafes with a focus on making the experience as special as the coffee. We identified the importance of maximizing every touchpoint and built special and inspired spaces. The result was a collection of award-winning shops across Canada.
Business
HelloDemello.com
LOVE FOR A LOVED ONE
A loved one was facing a brutal health battle. She also happened to love Headspace. With the help of its founder and unmistakable voice, Andy, I arranged for a meditation to be created just for her, narrated by him. She opened the app expecting another ordinary session. It didn’t take long for her to realize this one was different.
Life
Moment Coffee
We built Moment Coffee around a belief: the experience matters as much as the coffee. From ordering online to opening a delivery, we found small ways to surprise and delight people. The result was a much-loved direct-to-consumer brand with a devoted following. It got acquired for its robust and engaged customer base.
Business
EnjoyMomentCoffee.com
AN EXPRESSION OF SUPPORT
How do we express our love for people when words are not enough? For a few members of my family, I decided to make them custom compasses. To show that for the toughest moments in my life, they've served as a source of direction for me. And underneath each compass houses the coordinates of one of the most important locations of our relationship.
Life
Leaside Sports Medicine
As Leaside Sports Medicine grew, its founder needed a brand that did justice to the clinic it was becoming. We helped shape that brand and rethink the experience, both online and in the clinic, supporting its growth into one of the city’s most respected sports medicine practices.
Business
LeasideSportsMedicine.com
RE-LIVING A MOMENT
The night before a wedding is usually spent eating and drinking. I had our hotel room turned into a mini-movie theatre. Why? To surprise my wife with a screening of our proposal, to re-live the moment I secretly had filmed.
Life
Beaches Athletic Club
Beaches Athletic Club had an ambitious vision for fitness and recovery. We helped turn that vision into clear positioning, storytelling, and messaging - giving the club a distinctive identity package to help future members understand what made the experience worth joining.
Business
BeachesAthleticClub.com
Prosthodontics on Avenue
The transformations Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds created for his patients were remarkable, but his online presence wasn’t capturing their impact. We helped bring that work to life through a refreshed brand and website, with compelling case studies that made the possibilities of his care easier to see and understand.
Business
ProsthodonticsOnAvenue.com
Magris Resources
A mining business might be focused on commodities, but its experience should be anything but. Magris brought us in to help revamp their online experience and customer-facing touchpoints.
Business
The Coffee Bean
Touring coffee farms in South America, I learned from the farmers that even the way a coffee cherry is picked can shape the taste of the final cup. Every tiny detail shapes someone's experience.
From mystery shopping to idea generation, let's have a conversation about how we can help you harness a hospitality mindset to transform how people experience your business.
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