Last Friday evening Matt and I were in Khushi's Indian restaurant in Mid Calder, near Edinburgh.
We had a glorious meal.
But what made it really memorable was the waiter, as he processed Matt's credit card, doing a hugely exaggerated double-take and announcing, "You're under arrest!"
He pretended that this message had come up on the PDQ machine as the credit card details went through to the bank!
That touch of humour made us feel that he was really glad to be there and to help give us a really good experience. So we'd definitely go to that restaurant again - and not just because the food was delicious.
Have you noticed (with a nod in the direction of the Chief Happiness Officer) that only employees who are really happy with what they're doing will make jokes with the customers?
And (providing of course that your customer isn't a stuffed shirt) humour is a great way to cement a business relationship.
I still remember going to a Japanese restaurant in Piccadilly where the chefs came and cooked your food at a hotplate in the centre of the table.
The chef at the table next to ours just cooked the food without a word.
Our chef, on the other hand, juggled mushrooms, cracked eggs in midair with a blow of his knife, and plied the bottle of soy sauce over the sizzling prawns with an exuberant cry of "Japanese Coca-Cola!"
I noticed the customers at the next-door table watching him too, with a certain amount of wistfulness...
He clearly enjoyed what he was doing - and so did we!
Sometimes you have to be careful though. Last week I was in a bank and the advisor asked me what I did for a living. When I answered chartered accountant he laughingly said "Oh an accountant. Not a dodgy accountant I hope?".
ReplyDeleteHe thought it was funny. What he didn't notice was how unimpressed I was with his joke.
At least he didn't ask if you were a turf accountant :-)
ReplyDeleteBut point taken, making fun of them isn't a good way to introduce humour into your customer relationships.
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