So, last night, I took my wife and daughter to Gratzi’s italian restaurant in Spring, Texas.
Now, some of you may know… I decided late last year to finally get my physical fitness under control. What that means to me (30lbs. since November 15, thanks), is just be realistic. I exercise, reduce my portion size, don’t do anything colossally stupid, and I never withhold something I really crave.
Well, this night, I wasn’t particularly ‘craving’ anything, and didn’t want to do anything ‘colossally stupid,’ but I just couldn’t find a good way to do that. I mentioned that to our server, who promptly brought out the chef to discuss.
Richard White is both the owner and chef at Gratzi’s (yes, yes, I know that’s not the italian spelling, but it IS the restaurant’s name); he arrived at our table, discussed my concerns, and offered several options — none of which were even close to “on the menu.”
He “gets it.”
It’s not that I had “special needs,” or something. Frankly, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world had I just ordered some available dish off the menu, and avoided those things I didn’t want on the plate.
Instead, I left there delighted, versus simply satisfied. He saw a customer need, knew he had a solution he could pull off, and did so. Almost matter-of-factly.
Richard White “gets it.” We’ll be back, that’s for certain.
Does your management staff “get it?” If so, great! Tell ’em they do, pat ’em on the back, and continue… If not, teach them to “get it,” or whack ’em, reload, and start over. Good clients and customers are hard to find, and easy to lose.
