The Appetizer.
It was approximately 8pm on a Friday night and my buddy and I had a desire for Asian cuisine. We had just scoped the scene at Alton Bay, NH, enjoying the atmosphere, ambiance and the cool breeze blowing off the water.
We found this restaurant just a hop skip and a jump across the lake in Wolfeboro called "East of Suez", (one of the oldest pan-Asian restaurants in NH, possibly the US!). They closed at 10pm so we figured we had a few hours of good dining left before we would be shooed out.
We arrived around 8:15pm.
First impression of the restaurant was it was unlike anything we had experienced before. The restaurant was set back from the road and looked like We had driven into someone's yard and walking into someone's house! But the restaurant was there and from the first area into the screened in "porch" dining area we were transported away from New Hampshire.
Decorations from various Asian countries lined the walls and shelves (think Chinese Dragon statues, lucky cats, and Japanese scrolls to name a few), and the smell of fried, steamed and sauced dishes greeted our noses. We were in for a treat! If only we could find someone to sit us at a table. My buddy grabbed the closest empty table and sat while I went off to find the bathroom and someone to let them know we were there.
Success! I found someone popping out of the kitchen and she asked if i had a reservation.
Uh-Oh. This looked bad and we might have had to find other places to eat if she hadn't said it was OK, she'd make room for us and have someone drop by with menus.
8:40PM and we were still waiting for menus, water, anything. get up again to find someone and all of a sudden someone shows up with menus and glasses of water, apologizing over and over again.
The Main Course.
She was insistent it wasn't too late to order even as my watch crept well past 9PM and we knew they closed at 10. They hadn't cooked our dishes yet!
We had our food delivered around 9:40PM and it was some of the best Asian food we had ever tasted! From the delicate fusion of Goat Cheese in a crispy shell to the noodles in the Pad Thai and chow main in the Pancit Canton (ordered because it was "moms original pan-fried noodle"!), there was not a single bite we didn't enjoy. And did I mention the portions were large?! We definitely needed boxes to go! A word of caution to visitors that prefer to have a drink with their meal: bring your own! There is no alcohol here.
10PM rolls around and we are extremely happy to have found a place that was willing to accommodate and able to cook some extremely delicious food. A waitress (which we later discovered was one of the managers daughters) came over to check on us and offer us the check as well as dessert! WHAT?! Its past closing time and you're still offering us food?! What's going on here?!
Simply put, some of the last impressions a customer has of a business will be the ones that a customer will remember and decide whether or not to do business with again.
The Dessert.
Initial impressions were not favorable as time dragged on and we were not served, or even acknowledged. We were both thinking of leaving and grabbing a burger at McDonalds since that would probably be the only food place open that late on a Friday night, and was close by.
But the manager acknowledged the lack of attention and made accommodations for us so we could enjoy the food and atmosphere without feeling rushed. Time and time again after we received our dishes she checked on us to make sure everything was good.
During the meal time we were eating we both observed her and the staff interacting with a birthday party, sharing congratulations, handshakes, and hugs as if they were all old friends. (Hearing the patrons say they've been coming to the same restaurant for over 30 years I can get a sense of why everyone was so familiar with each other!)
This behavior contributed to the sense that we were being taken care of and fed by our own moms.
Once we paid for our meals, the manager was curious about where we were from and how we found the place. Now keep in mind this is 10:30PM now and the restaurant had closed a half-hour ago. She then urged us to explore the different rooms of the restaurant and gave us a tour. The rest of the staff seemed happy to oblige as well.
We left at 10:45 PM after getting the grand tour and discovering a little more of the history of the restaurant.
Takeaway.
A frustrating situation turned into a positive experience. Feeling ignored to feeling like VIP's. These are the factors that changed our minds from leaving disappointed to raving about the restaurant and making it a top recommendation to anyone visiting Wolfeboro, NH.
The culture set in this work space is that taking care of the customer is top priority, followed by serving delicious dishes. The employees all seem happy to be there and it shows. Staying well past closing to share stories about the restaurant and the employees isn't behavior shown by someone that doesn't truly want to be there.
Restaurants (or businesses in general) that have employees that aren't happy where they work or are not customer- centric, those employees will display behaviors that convey the attitude that the customer is infringing on the business and come off as being inconvenient. This will be felt by the customer and possibly result in creating a brand detractor and negative word of mouth advertising.
Bottom line is: cultivate an atmosphere where employees want to be there and it will show in all they do in front of the customer. Having that mentality can overcome almost all negative situations, even those where a customer considers going to the competition! It ultimately shows that employees of the business care about and values the customer and will treat them the best way possible.
When the customer feels valued, they will want to visit repeatedly and spread word of mouth advertising (for free) of their positive experiences, and attract new customers to the business.
It all starts with that mentality of "value the customer".
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