Staying in a business district means that many cafés aren't open on Saturday mornings until later, if at all. The lion's share of their trade takes place between Monday morning and Friday lunch; after running this type of business for 7 years, I'm bound to be very understanding of this, right? Yes, of course! But it doesn't take away from the java-fix need early on a Saturday morning, and who among us wishes to forfeit caffeine on one's birthday?
We passed many closed spots before seeing a slightly opened door at Cosi, a coffee chain in DC. We were optimistic that we'd found someone open for business when a young woman told us that the café was not yet open; they were merely setting up to open at 9 a.m., which was almost 90 minutes away. D'oh!! We didn't fuss; my husband joked that this must be their 'sleep in day' as it was 7:30 and offices were closed. "We don't open until 9" she told us, and we said, "Too bad". The 'wired to delight' in this person kicked in and she asked, "What are you after?" "Coffee, and maybe a muffin, nothing too complicated would be great," I answered, the Washington Post under my arm a reminder of how value-adding coffee would be to our digging into the paper.
"We can do that," (yes, we can! :-) ) said she. We were told to sit wherever we liked and she told us jovially we were lucky today to have a pick of all the seats in the house, because on a week day, they'd be packed. We were given large, fresh cups of delightful java (and I know about this from experience, too), our pick of the muffins, and told not to worry about paying right away, she'd collect from us later on. We sat back and noshed, drank our 20-ouncers while pouring over the 'foreign' press, then walked back at the hotel to prep for our separate adventures ahead.
On my way out again, I detoured by Cosi and inquired after the young woman who helped us. "That's Charmaine, " said one of the baristas, "she's the manager, but she's up to her elbows in soap and water in the back right now."
I asked him to give her the following message:
"Thank you, Charmaine, for your reflex to be kind and helpful this morning. It made our day, and it made my birthday. Please know that what you did this morning set us up for a better day than we'd have had without you, and the ripple effect of your energy and attitude will last for a very long time."
What did it take? Ensuring that two paying customers got what they wanted, there was very little cost involved as we were not in the way. A sale was made, but so much more was generated.
Thanks, Charmaine - may you be the leader of your team for a very long time. The world needs more of you!
And when I'm next in DC, I'll be sure to return to the Cosi locaton at
1919 M St Nw, #1, Washington, DC 20036 Cross Streets: Between 19th St NW and 20th St NW Neighborhoods: Dupont Circle Washington, DC, Northwest Washington, DC (202) 466-9671
No comments:
Post a Comment