How to Get Your Shift Together

Regular guests are incredibly important, but people will never become regulars unless their first and second experiences are incredible.

For 15 years, I worked at the front door of popular restaurants and a jazz club in New York City, and one of my favorite things was taking care of first-time guests, especially tourists.

I know that may surprise people who've been to New York. But that’s exactly why it was so rewarding. Expectations were often low, which made it even more powerful when we went out of our way to make someone feel welcome.

Sometimes it was being extra accommodating. Sometimes it was helping with a problem outside the restaurant. Sometimes it was simply making someone feel seen.

And when you did that well, you knew they’d remember it forever.

Every once in a while, I’d save a great table for someone visiting from out of town after noticing an out-of-state phone number or hearing they were staying at a nearby hotel. Small details like that helped us create better experiences.

Even something as simple as, “Where are you visiting from?” would completely change the interaction.

It’s not complicated. You don’t have to work that hard.

You just have to be empathetic, curious, and disciplined enough to turn those instincts into a process.

Because when you combine empathy with curiosity and use it to take care of people, you create customers for life.

And that’s how you get your shift together.

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