Last weekend Jayne and I travelled to Melbourne to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert.
We had seen him last time in Australia in 2016, and we figured that at age 81, this was most probably going to be his final visit to Australia.
We chose to go see him in Melbourne because the Melbourne venue, Marvel Stadium, was the only venue with a retractable roof, should the weather change and fans required shelter.
Every other venue on his tour was open-air only.
Spending a lot of money to sit in the rain to watch a concert certainly is not my idea of a fun time.
And guess what? Last Saturday, the roof at Marvel was closed for the concert, and a good time was had by all.
One of the challenges of traveling to Melbourne for this concert was the question of where would Jayne and I have dinner before the concert.
We needed to dine early, and we needed to dine at a restaurant close to the stadium so that we could still arrive at our seats with plenty of time to spare!!
We also wanted to dine somewhere where we knew that the food was going to be good.
So what did we do?
We knew that we had the option of Google searching for a restaurant, but I though that the best thing to do was to ask a friend for a recommendation.
Fortunately for Jayne and me, I have a good friend who works nearby to Marvel Stadium, so I was able to reach out to her.
I asked my friend:
“Can you recommend a good Thai restaurant near to Marvel Stadium for Jayne and me to dine at next week?”
My friend replied:
“Hi David. Do you want something within walking distance? In Docklands I would recommend Thai Thani. The Pad Thai and Pad See Ew are very good there.”
And so Jayne and I dined at Thai Thani.
At Thai Thani the food was exceptional and the service from the owner and from the waitstaff was also excellent.
The staff were courteous and polite, and nothing was too difficult for them.
I am so glad I reached out to my friend for her recommendation. It was definitely worth asking for.
At the end of our meal, I asked the owner if she could please bring me a toothpick.
The owner told me that the restaurant was unable to receive any toothpicks this week from their supplier, and then, within an instance, she had gone out to her car and sourced me a container of dental floss for me to use….
Problem solved!
It was a response I wasn’t expecting, and it was certainly a response I was pleased to receive.
When we told the owner that our friend Dr Pia had recommended her restaurant, she was very grateful of the recommendation, and she let us know that she had known Dr Pia for a very long time and that they were good friends.
The familiarity of the recommendation from our friend Dr Pia had a very positive effect on our interaction with the owner.
In your business…
When we coach dentists and dental practices, one of the things we always reinforce with the dentists and their teams is how important it is to acknowledge a new patient’s mention of any relationship or recommendation that they have that has brought them to our dental practice.
Recognition.
We all know that babies cry for it, and grown men die for it.
Recognition is so important.
Our visit to Thai Thani was great, but with the recognition of Dr Pia’s recommendation, our visit has now become INDELIBLY FOREVER MEMORABLE in our minds.
At your dental practice, are you taking the time to connect with each new patient who lets you know that their very good friend has recommended your services to them?
It’s so important to pause and give thanks.
Because the new patient will pass that expression of gratitude and thanks back to the referrer.
And the effect of that? It’s PRICELESS….
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Dr. David Moffet BDS FPFA CSP is a certified CX Experience coach. David works with his wife Jayne Bandy to help SME businesses improve their Customer Service Systems to create memorable World Class experiences for their valued clients and customers. Click here to find out how David and Jayne can help your business