I have attached a hand written note I recently was given that was included my bill from a server by the name of Natalye. She was a pleasant server who was unremarkable except for the fact that she genuinely cared about our experience and wanted to create a positive association with her services and her restaurant. It’s worth noting that she is not on staff at Morton’s or Ruth Chris and instead was our server at an Olive Garden. Natalye was able to transform a typical and very run of the mill dinner out into something we talked about all evening.
For the record, going to the Olive Garden was not my first choice for dinner and yet we all left with smiles on our face. What she did with something unexpected was to reframe everything about the meal, her service and it modified her tip in a pretty dramatic manner. I have long advised anyone who waits tables to introduce themselves, learn the name of at least 1 person at the table they are waiting on and then deliver the final check with a handwritten note thanking them for coming in and then signing their name in a way that can be read. This has been proven to create a bigger tip for the simple reason that you are now tipping someone you know and that raises the amount you will leave. Most people have what can appear to be a fairly mundane and boring profession and some prefer it that way.
I had a good friend who was a Thoracic Surgeon and did nothing but bypass surgery and when you asked him what he did professionally he said he was a plumber. He does not want to talk about what de does and is doing nothing to increase his footprint or level of influence. This isn’t true for most of us.
What can you change or modify to make your self remarkable? What story can you tell that makes you memorable? If you work for a company how can you reframe it so they believe they are working with you personally?
Not all owners will like this idea but all will profit more when their staff uses this approach. If you are the owner what can you do that accomplishes the same thing? What about a private e-mail address that only certain people are given access to or your personal cell phone number? If you do service work and you do something for free I would invite you to bill that free service out and then write it off so your customer doesn’t relate that the service was free and instead sees the service as a $47.06 cost that you gave them for free. They now have something to measure the gift against and this differentiates what you did and adds tons of value.
I coach people and help them determine what makes them special and why their customer should be using them over any and all other options they might have. I show them how to produce results that are uncommon for most. Call me at 916-230-0176 or e-mail me at steve@assaultmarketing.com