Last week, while I was waiting to be served coffee in one of our local malls, the story of the New York cabbie (Tom Peters: Crazy Times call for Crazy Organizations) suddenly sprung to mind.
Why think about that, you may well ask. The reason was plain and simple: poor service … again! Or should I say, NO Service. I could have crawled to Colombia to harvest my own coffee beans. Roast and grind it and made a cup of coffee before the waiters even condescended themselves to approach my table. The waiters and manager in this particular shop definitely never heard the story, for if they did they would have given their customers a WOW service! They would have made my experience special! But they did completely the opposite!
As the story goes, Harvey Mackay was taking a cab ride to La Guardia Airport. When he got in the cab the driver gave him a piece of paper that said: Hi, my name is Walter. I’m your driver. I’m going to get you there safely, on time, in a courteous fashion.
After that he offered him a choice between newspapers and what music channel he would like to listen to. He also offered a snack basket and a cellular phone for his use.
This cab driver took a common experience and transformed it into something special! Not so with the staff of the coffee shop.
Luckily I had my own WOW experience at the small Greek Taverna Yamas in Somerset West later that week.
It was an experience that lived up to all my favourite adjectives: WOW, remarkable, great, awesome and unforgettable!
The food at Yamas is amazing and affordable. The menu is small and so is the taverna. The cutlery doesn’t match and there is no fancy signage that hangs above the main entrance. But if you want to go and eat there, you have to book in advance for there is a waiting list to get a table at Yamas.
Why? The key to this question lies with the owner/front of house/waiter/dishwasher, Barry.
I don’t know if Barry is familiar with the story of the NY cabbie, but he provides the same having a good time feeling to his restaurant. You enter as a stranger but leave as a friend and fan.
What can my useless friends in the coffee shop learn from Barry?
- It’s not just the food or venue. It’s the service! Take time to spend personal time with your customers and talk to them like real people without thinking what you can make them buy. Make a connection to the heart of your customer.
- Surprise the customer with spirit, character, personality and last but not least, energy. Try to look if you enjoy what you do.
- Go beyond what the customer expected. Deliver more than what he thought he will get.
- Make it fun! Make it an experience. Make it WOW!
There is a saying: Go big or go home. I want to change it to: Go GREEK or go home!
Thank you Barry for showing that I don’t have to go to NY to take a cab ride to experience WOW.
I will be back. Soon.
Yamas!
A really intriguing examine, I may well not agree entirely, however you do make some quite valid factors.
Thank you for reading, P&J!
Thanks for good information that comes out to read.
Thanks for the ideas, I think I may have to try this sooner rather than later. But I have read somewhere else that this may not work and no offence to the poster but I need someone to confirm this
Brilliant!
It is about having the cahoonas to go BIG, people need to think how they (their companies, projects, whatever) can become Wizards of WOW, Magicians of Magic, Purveyors of Perfection…
Unfortunately many still have a long way to go.
As an end note everyone will be gald to hear that Tom Peters is actually coming to SA in Nov! Search Twitter #TPC2011 or theprogressconference.com.
Bring on the WOW!
Great news about Tom P! Thank’s for reading P&J!
Thank you! Still trying.