I try to have dinner monthly with two of my good friends, Jeff and Walter. For tonight’s restaurant, we picked this particular place in Washington, DC‘s Dupont Circle area because of its beautiful outside patio, which typically has an hour-long wait or more. While we were walking to the restaurant, the sky turned dark, realllllyyyy fast. While at the host station, Tony, the Maître d’, overheard me saying to my friends, “it’s going to rain, let’s sit inside instead.” He sort of chuckled at me and said, “no way is it going to rain.” Short story of what occurred next — a bet over dessert was made. Here’s the conversation.
Me: “It’s going to rain, let’s sit inside.”
Tony: “No way is it going to rain.”
“C’mon, the sky is practically black,” I responded a bit incredulously.
“My dad was a meteorologist–it won’t rain for an hour,” Tony said in a very confident manner.
Thinking to myself, “I really don’t want to sit outside and risk losing an inside table. My friends don’t care where we sit. I decided to be bold and have a little fun.”
“How about a little wager?” I proposed.
“Sure,” Tony replied without missing a beat. “What do you suggest?”
“How about dessert?” “It rains, dessert is on you. It doesn’t rain for an hour, we’ll buy dessert and come back for our next night out.”
“You got it!” Tony popped, again very confident.
It was a friendly bet. And it was bet I was going to enjoy with each bite of scrumptious dessert.
5 minutes later… no rain.
10 minutes later… no rain.
15 minutes later… still no rain and the sky grew even darker.
20 minutes later… we are enjoying the pizza and calzones.
“I should stop worrying. Tony is right. It’s been 20 minutes and not a drop. My friends are making fun of me.”
25 minutes later… I see more and more people on the street carrying umbrellas. The sky is ominous. It just screams rain. I see Tony beginning to move people from the outside patio to inside seating. I now have a big smile on my face. My friends stop making fun of me.
30 minutes later… no rain.
35 minutes later… Yeah! Rain. Heavy rain. My two buddies were prodding me to get Tony’s attention. And I did. And at the end of dinner, all three of us shared a delicious dessert. Me, I wolfed down my chocolate cake dessert. I got to brag. I promised Tony we will be back–and we will!! Because of the great food, great service, and great friendship. I’ll remember this dining experience for a long time.
Can you remember the last few meals that you REALLY loved? Was it the food or was it the experience you remember most? If I was a betting man, and I am, I will always put my money on the experience you have and that it is the experience you remember most.
Here’s the moral of this story: have some fun with people and enjoy your relationships. Business is of course business. It is totally up to you to make it more enjoyable, fun, and something to look forward to doing. If you can, really, really consider the experience side of working with them. How can you improve the experience? With great experiences, comes loyalty, referrals, and deeper trust. Next time, “Offer Chocolate Cake.”
Note: This is an example of a Today Story, with a fun and memorable Better Tomorrow Message™ of, “Offer Chocolate Cake.”
Further Reading on Relationship Building, Leadership, and Storytelling for Leaders
- Tip – An Easy Way to Start a Presentation, Share a “Today Story” (read)
- Great Leaders are Great Storytellers – 5 Tips to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness (read)
- Save Your First Starfish – Ignite Passion with a Good Story (read)
- No is Yes in Disguise – Why No is Better than Yes (read)
- Business is Personal – 3 Tips to Accelerate Relationship Building with Small Talk (read)
- Survey Shows it Pays to Take Your Customer to Lunch (read)
- Interest Questions, Your Key to Conversation Success (read)
Photography Header Source: DepositPhotos
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