Between youth baseball and youth basketball and youth football – games and practices – our two sons kept us running from park to gym to field for years. There were very few weeks when we weren’t in the middle of some youth sports season. The day they were finally able to drive themselves was an official day of family celebration.
One of the results of that hectic pace was that we ate out a lot . . . usually on the way to or from somebody’s game or practice. There weren’t a lot of choices of restaurants in our area at the time, so many of those meals were at a local restaurant called Taco Mac – great cheeseburgers. I’ve estimated that for a period of seven years during my sons’ late elementary and middle school years we probably ate at Taco Mac twice a week.
Do the math . . .
We’re talking about close to 700 meals at Taco Mac during that time – that’s a lot of cheeseburgers! We didn’t even have to order . . . they knew what we wanted.
My kids are grown now. A few years ago, my wife and I were eating at another local restaurant (we have more choices now) – one we eat at with some regularity . . . nothing like the old Taco Mac days! She was comparing our dining experience at the new place with our old days at “the Mac” . . . “you know what they should do here? They should comp our meals sometimes like they used to do at Taco Mac.”
I was a little surprised . . . a little amused. It had been seven or eight years since our youngest son had required transportation to or from practices. Regular evenings at “the Mac” weren’t recent history. But what really struck me was not that my wife was still recalling Taco Mac’s expression of appreciation for our patronage. No . . . what caused me to smile was the fact that I knew how many times Taco Mac had in fact comped our meals in the course of those 700+ evenings we shared . . . once.
It’s amazing how little is required to make a lasting positive impression on a customer. All it takes is an unexpected extra . . . extra care, extra service, extra attention . . . something that exceeds their expectations. Do that for a customer and they will remember and they will talk.
What’s even more amazing is how infrequently we take advantage of the opportunity those “extras” give us to enhance relationships with our customers. How about your customers? Which ones are still talking about your surprising extra? Not sure?
May be time for a free cheeseburger
