Going the extra mile on Route 66

Recently, we were fortunate enough to have a trip on Route 66 in America. There were lots of great things that stood out for us, and I would like to share one that was really special.

Dinner at the Ariston Cafe.

The café was founded back in 1924 on the route that preceded Route 66 and a guide book we had mentioned the café as a great place to stop, so as we pulled over into the car park we were anticipating great things.

We got much more than that. The staff were warm and welcoming, friendly, fun and engaging. We were met at the door with a friendly hello, asked where we wanted to sit then taken to our table. Shortly after, one of the owners came across with complimentary postcards and fridge magnets, she asked where we were from and mentioned their guest book and said it would be nice if we could fill it in. Before she left us she insisted we have our photo taken behind the counter (we did and they look great). By the way the guest book was packed full of lovely comments from previous intrepid Route 66 visitors from all over the world.

There was one thing that really stood out for me. It was something very simple and at the same time highly effective.

We had arrived on Thursday evening and Thursday evenings are all you can eat fried chicken nights. Well, what else could we order than two plates of fried chicken? They came with the great level of service that The Ariston serve up, with lots of checks if we were happy and did we want any more.

It was then that the really simple and really special thing happened. The owner's husband came by with a friendly hello and thanked us for visiting, and it was the thing he started his introduction with that caught me off guard.

"You folks are from England having our fried chicken, is there much call for fried chicken in England?"

Did you spot it?

Either his wife or one of the staff had taken the time to relay that we were from England, so his initial greeting was specific to us.

Did that make us feel welcome and special? Of course it did.

It was a tiny, simple thing that so many people would miss, but it stood out almost as much as the huge mound of fresh fried chicken.

Engaging your customers and making them feel special doesn't need to be costly or complex, just simple and friendly like this example.

It's the only place I took the time out to write a review on Trip Advisor (Best welcome on Route 66) of all the places we visited on our trip.

That one tiny act made us a huge advocate of The Ariston Cafe. We call this putting customer "on the green line".