Some of you may know I am a little bit fond of a burger (chips and beer).
To fuel my enjoyment of smashing cheeseburgers, colleagues have known me to champion the Friday burger lunch, an In-N-Out stopover (in transit to Seattle), Homemade burger challenges, and more.
However, this isn’t a story about just the burger. It is a tale about the impact of THANK YOU. So, posing a challenge to all to take the time, stop, and say THANK YOU.
Our kids spent most of the recent school holidays locked down here in Sydney. Restrictions also meant I was working from home for weeks. So when the changes to regulations allowed us to ‘picnic’ outside, I jumped on it.
I asked who wanted to join me for a burger picnic lunch? All three kids were in (my wife had a zoom!). I was celebrating the idea of eating somewhere other than our home. I was more excited than the kids, with the anticipation of consuming calories clamped between two toasted buns and outside! Unfortunately, their excitement level plummeted when I rejected all requests (demands) for a McD burger.
It was a fantastic picnic. We parked ourselves on a local headland overlooking the beach and proceeded to put sauce all over our shirts and even attracted the odd seagull. The seagulls must have migrated to Qld with no picnics, chips and takeaway in NSW.
Anyway, as I’ve said, this story is about challenging us all to stop and take some time to say THANK YOU. So let me get to that.
I told the kids I was calling the burger shop on the drive home. My daughter said, “what are you going to complain about? my burger was the best”. I said, “I’m going to tell them we thought the food was terrific and say thank you. Then I heard the shout of “hashtag cringe, dad”. The hands-free call immediately overrode the backseat DJs Dua Lipa playlist.
The shop assistant was quick to answer the call. It is a local regular feed point for me. So I knew the owner who was always where he does his best work, on the grill. I started by saying, “I recently picked up an order for McLucas”. I sensed there was a nervous feeling, perhaps fear. The immediate response was, “Hi Peter, yes, was there something wrong with your order?”. The owner overheard and yelled, “what happened with Pete’s order?”.
I said, “no, no, nothing’s wrong. I wanted to ring to say THANK YOU, our burgers were awesome. The assumption it was a complaint call quickly jumped to surprise. I continued “, it was the best burger I’ve had this month. The best I’ve ever had from your shop. THANK YOU”.
The owner responded with, “thank you. It’s Tim’s first week. You’ve made our day. It’s rare to get a call with positive feedback and a THANK YOU. Particularly this year! See you soon”.
I reflected while Dua Lipa kicked back in.
The lack of positive feedback isn’t a reflection of product quality. On the contrary, customers returning for more is a worthy and vital acknowledgment for any hospo venue.
My thank you call made an impact. The outcome was the burger shop team were stoked, proud, and energised.
The kids and I felt good for surprising them, reconnecting with others after the lockdown and hopefully, why using manners is essential. I haven’t been back yet. I can only imagine the love that will go into my next order and burger.
Today, stop and look for opportunities to say THANK YOU. You might just be blown away by the impact it could have on someone else’s day.
Peter McLucas – Chief Sales & Marketing Officer
