Tonight I had an interesting 'turn of events' that turned out to be a positive experience.
Waiting for a dear friend for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in NYC–"Ethos 51"
I arrived early and while waiting was treated to a lovely glass of Prosecco and talked with Stamatis, the head of Hospitality Development.
Calling my friend, when I realized it was 15 minutes after our agreed time-I knew something must have happened because she is never late. It turned out that she became ill and had forgotten to call me. (Fast forward, she is fine- and on the mend.)
What was very touching to me was the exceptional customer service I received while waiting. Here it was a busy Saturday evening ( they are always packed) and yet Stamatis made sure that I left with a gift of my favorite Greek salad and soup.
As we all know, the customer experience is always key- and in this case, I have become even more of a Raving fan. Not only is the food fresh and superb– the service is also above and beyond and I saw it in action again tonight.
The bonus was that as I was waiting- I started a conversation with the couple sitting next to me at the bar and it turns out that the woman runs a consulting firm much like mine and we've already exchanged cards and emails to sit down and talk about the possible synergies we can create.
So– tonight was a gift, even though I didn't get to have dinner with my friend (we have rescheduled) , and it truly shows that 'networking' is life and customer service is always in style– a case of turning 'lemons into lemonade'.