- April 26, 2018 -
I can't help but enjoy passing on a bizarre restaurant story.
It was way past noon the other day, and the thought of heading back to the office to my "same old, same old" bag lunch was not very appealing.
So I stopped at a local Subway shop to grab a sandwich.
I'm eating my turkey with provolone while catching up on my emails...and the restaurant phone rings.
Normally, it wouldn't even phase me...but the one-sided conversation (I'm assuming the manager took the call) caught my attention.
Keep in mind, this is one-sided - but it's not difficult to fill in the rest of the conversation:
“Good afternoon, Subway - how can I help you?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, sorry, this is a small restaurant. I can't do that.”
“No, that would be impossible."
"Sir, we only have seating for 20, 25 max. It's just too small and besides...that would take a lot of work to prepare for that many.”
“Sir, you must not be hearing me correctly, I cannot do what you're asking. There are only two of us working this shift.”
“NO, THERE IS NO WAY WE CAN SERVE 125 PEOPLE IN THIS RESTAURANT.”
“Absolutely no way. I'm afraid we can't do it for takeout either. Listen sir...I cannot prepare 125 sandwiches with only ten minutes notice. We just don't have that capacity.”
“Sir, please stop screaming at me. I'm sorry, but you need to call another restaurant.”
“Ok, good-bye.”
After the manager (I'm guessing) hung up, the other woman working asked the manager what that was all about.
“Some tour manager of a group that's going to be performing at Heinz Hall tonight wanted us to cater to their entire group with only ten minutes notice. Isn't that crazy?”
“Yeah, crazy!” Both women shake their heads...and eyes roll.
End of story.
Had YOU been the owner of that restaurant and you received a call from the manager of a visiting band...
...or the director of the cast and crew in town shooting a movie.
...or the handler of a circus toupe that came to town.
And they called your establishment wanting enough food to feed their entire crew with little notice, how would you have handled the call?
What would you have said?
Not one to "look a gift horse in the mouth" my reaction probably would have been:
"You betcha! Let me get Cheryl on the phone to take care of the details with you."
Then I would have gotten "the look." Lol
But everyone would have gotten served.
+ A full menu would not have been offered.
+ Calls would be made to any warm body who had pitch-hit in the past.
+ Credit card details would have been collected and a small deposit made to validate the cc before any prep started.
+ The park a block away now becomes our seating overflow area.
+ And I'd probably stood outside with those waiting to place their order...going through my repertoire of jokes 🙂
I'll leave with you with this story...not sure of it's origin, but it's a good one:
This guy was trying to get a job at a certain company, and he couldn't get an interview to save his life.
There was a board meeting one day with all the executives sitting around the corporate table.
So the guy sends a package into the meeting.
The execs opened it up, and in the box was a shoe with a note that read:
"Now that I've got my foot in the door, can I have an interview?"
(Classic Dan Kennedy GKIC shock 'n awe package.)
As a business owner...if you can't get in through the front door, you go in through a side window.
As a business owner...a competitor's "this is too overwhelming" opportunity can be your "let's make it rain" opportunity.
As a business owner...you don't always have to have the "how" in place before you say, "Yes, we can help you!"
There's always way to serve a customer well.
If you've got an challenging situation and everyone else is telling you "Nope, can't be done"...we can help.
Schedule a free consult today.
Talk soon,
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