Being Memorable-Lessons From A Truck Stop Waitress
When I was a senior in High School my Dad decided to take my bother and I to Spring Training in Arizona. We went with a group of our extended family. On our way down we stayed one night in Vegas, woke up early, and then decided to eat breakfast at a truck stop just outside of Kingman, Arizona. When we were seated, and meet our waitress, she looked straight at me and in a nice firm voice told me that I was not allowed to wear my hat in the restaurant. I immediately took it off. The rest of the people in our group not knowing what to think of what just happened immediately took of their hats as well. While the waitress was getting our drinks we were wondering what we had done swrong, since everyone else was allowed to wear their hats, while they were eating. It wasn’t until the waitress came back with our drinks, and began to laugh when she noticed that we had all taken off our hats, that we found out the reason that I had been asked to remove my hat. You see the reason was simpleI was wearing a Denver Broncos hat, and her beloved Packers, (Why anyone ever publicly claim to be a Packers fan is beyone me) had just lost to my Broncos in the Super Bowl. (Long Live Elway!!!) We all had a great laugh, felt like idiots, and laughed about it the rest of the trip.
Now fast forward one year, and this story becomes even more remarkable. We decide to make a return trip to Spring Training, with the same group. We stop at the same truck stop joking while walking in about our experience from the past year. Well we are seated, and meet our waitress, and the first words out of her mouth were, I’m glad you smartened up, and are not wearing your Broncos hat this year. Un-freakin-believable!!!! She had remembered our group despite the fact that a year had passed. Do you realize how many thousands of people she had served during the previous year? Yet despite that she still remembered our group. (As a side note, I still choose to believe that the reason that she remembered our group is because of my rugged good looks, not because she made me look like a fool)There are two lessons to be learned from this experience. First is what are you doing to make sure that everything you do is memorable? And second what are you doing so that your clients know that you think they are important?
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Category: Marketing Musings
