I was listening to Andrew’s weekly video podcast and he spoke of a recent trip to a local Outback Restaurant. When Andrew and his wife checked in with the hostess they were informed that the wait was 45 minutes. Right then in the that moment of hesitation the hostess did something remarkable. She offered them a complimentary drink on the house. Andrew and his wife accepted and guess what . . . they gladly waited the 45 minutes while enjoying their free drink.

Nice job Outback. No rules . . . just right.

#292. We dined there for lunch on a recent visit. I was served my lunch which included fries which I thought were perfectly good. When the waitress stopped by with a drink less than 5 minutes later, she handed us another plate of fries and said, “Here, these are fresher.”

#293. Later that night, I was taking a picture of my partner under a sign next door to the cafe. The maitre d (who sits out front at a station), who had no idea that we had eaten there earlier, said, “Y’all need to be in that picture together.,” came over and took our picture.

Taken from an article in the Fairfield County Business Journal:

Ken and Dina Houser decided to do something different with client gifts. “After many years of wine and the usual gifts, you don’t stand out”.
This spurred the idea of creating jars of granola for their clients based on a recipe that Dina’s Mom had passed down.
The granola was well received and has now become its own business for Ken and Dina.
Check them out at http://olagranola.com/

#282. Hotel Gansevoort, New York, NY – Fun and games at the Gansevoort. Free Sony PSP and Nintendo Wii use for guests. Or, check out a Digital Book Reader.
#283. W South Beach, Miami Beach, FL – The Whatever/Whenever® service gives you a free lift about town in the hotel’s Acura MDX.
#284. CuisinArt Resort & Spa, Anguilla, Caribbean – “You might just find a bottle of great rum in your room…and a bowl of their home grown cherry tomatoes.”
#285. Hotel Max, Seattle, WA – “I loved the “pillow menu” with such options as “body,” “reading,” and “U-shape,” along with the more conventional soft, firm, medium firm, etc. I also liked the “spiritual menu,” with a list of religious reading matter they would provide.”
#286. Lisloughrey Lodge, County Mayo, Ireland –
“..a Wii room, Wellies, umbrellas and walking maps for guests, which I thought was a really nice touch.”
“child-sized bathrobes, and gourmet cookies with names iced on each for all 3 kids!”
#287. Hotel Erwin, Los Angeles, CA – “‘Ink & Stay’ package, with a $100 tattoo voucher to use at a neighbourhood tattoo shop. I even got a free bottle of Patron tequila…”
#288. Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston, MA – “The Fairmont Copley has something that no other hotel in the area has – the beautiful dog (black lab) named Catie who hangs out in the lobby to greet guests – what a sweet dog.”
#289. Opus Hotel – Vancouver, BC – “The room had some fun and funky features that included a peek-a-boo window from the bedroom into the washroom, brightly painted walls, and comic books for reading. It also had unusual minibar amenities that includes a logo’d hat and plastic-wrapped novels. Best of all, our dog was welcomed with a surprise package that included treats, accessories and Modern Dog magazine. The hotel oozes personality.”
#290. Hotel Monaco – Chicago, IL – “The staff is friendly and helpful, even going so far as to hand us umbrellas as we headed out the door on a rainy day. Rooms are clean, and boast a hip decor. I especially loved the plush animal-print bath robes, available to each guest. Turn down service was a bonus. We arrived back to the hotel each evening to find ice in our ice bucket, the bed turned down with chocolates on our pillows, relaxing jazz music playing in our room, and the lights dimly lit. WOW! In addition, the wine hour each evening made our stay over the top.”

#276. Doubletree Hotels – Gives away delicious cookies to all guests
#277. Reef Sandals with bottle opener on the bottom
#278. Bolt Bus — Free Internet service and $1 fares — https://www.boltbus.com
#279. Olive Garden — Free salad and breakdsticks
#280. Fuddruckers Fixins Bar or Baja Fresh Salsa Bar
#281. Blimpy Burger (Ann Arbor, Michigan) gives change in $2 bills — http://www.blimpyburger.com/

At Sportsvite, (#282) we give out headbands at every meeting that we go on as our own little marketing lagniappe.

Sportsvite
http://sportsvite.com

Success Tutoring

“Hi Stan, Thanks for the wonderful presentation. I send welcome cards to the parents when they choose me as a tutor. Then, I am sure to send birthday cards to each of my students (and long after they are no longer my students). I also send graduation cards.”

Amy L. Kaplan
Success Tutoring, LLC

http://www.SuccessTutoringLLC.com
Amy [at] SuccessTutoringLLC.com