AUDIO OF THIS BLOG POST

Not too long ago my girlfriend and I went to a local pizza joint in Carrboro called Pizzeria Mercato. It’s been in town for about a year now, and on any weekend night there’s a line out the door.

We’ve been there maybe a half-dozen times, and each visit has been a better-than-average experience. And I’m not just talking about the food, either. Fact is, it takes more than food to be something memorable.

Our best visit ever was this most recent one.

We started the meal with some red wine. This is rare since we’re both beer people. But we were feeling wine, so we ordered something that sounded fancy and sipped it like we knew what we were tasting.

We got some marinated olives as an appetizer, then ordered two servings of field greens topped with balsamic.

For the main course we ordered a vegan pizza. I asked our server to load it up with whatever fresh veggies they had in the kitchen. She was cool with this sort of order, but still asked if there was anything in particular we hoped to have on the pizza. I said mustard greens and Katie said tomatoes and onions.

“Ooohh,” our server said, “this is going to be fun!”

I have to admit that though I was already having fun, her comment bought it to the surface. So Katie and I poured more wine as we settled into our cozy two-top in a nook near the restaurant’s front window.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, our server neared with the pizza. We cleared a space in the center of the table. She set it down and watched our reactions.

No doubt, it looked delicious.

“Isn’t the pizza beautiful?” she asked us.

“It definitely is,” I said. Katie nodded in agreement.

“The chef used tomatoes, onions, roasted garlic, green olives, and a chopped mixture of steamed and pan seared spinach and mustard greens,” she said.

“Awesome,” I said.

“All those colors look so nice together, don’t they?”

“Wow,” I said. “Sure do. Perfect.”

“Just gorgeous,” she said. “OK, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be back in a few to make sure all’s well. Can I get you anything else in the meantime?”

I looked at Katie then said, “No, I think we’re good.”

After she left, Katie and I both used the words our server used. Beautiful and gorgeous. We dived in. And yeah, it tasted as good as it looked.

Our server could have easily set down that delicious pizza and we would have raved about how tasty it was. But instead she used language that raised the bar a little bit higher and made for a more quality experience.

She added an emotionally charged element to a pretty standard meal. By singing the pizza’s praises, she put the dining experience deeper into our worlds and probably even made everything taste better.

One thing’s for sure, she definitely made us happier.

From a business perspective, the server did exactly what needs to happen for a retail environment to be (or remain) successful. First of all, she showed that she cared about offering good product and service. But where she totally killed it was by adding evocative imagery—I mean for crying out loud, she said my pizza was gorgeous and beautiful.

By doing this, she made me feel better about my decision to go to Pizzeria Mercato. She made me feel better about myself.

And that’s what good retail does.

 

Tom Griffen is a highly sought after presenter and educator whose message and impact transcends industries. He’ll help you (and your team) alter your personal and business narrative in a way that adds joy, satisfaction, and overall success to your life. Contact him to make the change you’re ready to make.

Coming soon…Purposeful Vulnerability, Tom’s book on altering the narrative you’ve been telling yourself for years.

Also…More to come on Tom’s 2018 storytelling walk across the USA!