Last weekend, I was at my mastermind meeting in San Antonio, TX. Absolutely beautiful city. We did the whole River Walk thing and got to see the Alamo (It was smaller than I thought it would be).

Since we were there for 2 nights, we ate out all of our meals.

Some were ho-hum.

Some servers were down right awful.

Me: “Can you tell me about your local beers?”

Server (who needs more training): “Not really”.

Me: Is there someone here who can?

Server (who really should not be doing this job) “Probably not”

But then there was Andrew at the restaurant we had lunch in on Saturday.

He was superb!

He began by telling us his name, but what made it special was that he went into a story about how he is from Ireland and that his family is in a blood feud with another family / clan. He then asked us if it was the first time we were dining at the restaurant. “Yes, it was a first for all of us”.

Of course, we had questions about the menu, which he answered with ease and great knowledge of the ingredients. The menu even had a disclaimer that said some of the menu items were “Gluten-Free-ish”. He agreed that that was a bit of a joke that did not sit well with guests who wanted Gluten Free.

About a minute after he left to place our orders, an appetizer arrived that we did not order. The waiter explained that since this was our first time here, he wanted to treat us to one of their signature menu items.

WOW!

Once our meals were served he was attentive, but not over bearing.

He then started talking about his favorite football team from back home; The Glasgow Rangers (for the Protestants). He absolutely hated the Glasgow Celtic’s since they were for the Catholics.

One of my mastermind members, the great copywriter, Kevin Donlin (also Irish, and Catholic) decided to NOT say anything for fear Andrew would sabotage his lunch.

Throughout the meal, he kept joking about football and kept us very entertained.

At the end of the meal, Kevin revealed that he was a Celtic fan amid hooting and hollering and many hand shakes with Andrew.

What does this have to do with your business? What would Walt do?

First, Andrew had the Authority / Permission from management to create an experience for his guests and give out a free appetizer if he so deemed. What authority do you give your front line employees to create a great experience for your customers?

Next, Andrew was Personable. He brought his culture, energy and enthusiasm to work with him. He did not “check it at the front door” when he arrived for work. Are your employees robots, or do you let them be human and genuine?

The best feature about Andrew was that he was Knowledgeable. He knew the menu inside out and backwards. He was trained. The restaurant obviously taught their servers well, giving them tastings of the menu items and had the chefs describe the ingredients and cooking methods. This restaurant has a daily stand up meeting that reviews the menu in detail. How often do you meet with your team to review standards of service?

Finally, this was a Tellable experience. We will talk about it for a long time and will compare other meals to it. Will your clients or patients be telling others about their experience with you?

Remember, you won’t profit unless you implement,

Vance “Tellable” Morris