Recently I hosted a dinner for some associates, friends, relatives, and prospective partners for this site. We dined at the River House in Louisville, KY. It’s a great spot overlooking the Ohio River (which should really be called the Kentucky River because Kentucky owns the river all the way to the northern bank) and had a great time. . .  good food, good exchange of ideas and good Kentucky Bourbon.

One of my associates, Diane Karem, an extremely bright young lady and a marketing savant, brought approximately 15 pages of information about entities that perform customer service training and certifications for larger corporations. This was information that I really needed to review and digest. After dinner, my wife and I are in the car and I ask her to hand me the articles Diane collected on my behalf. They are not in the car. I accidentally left them in the restaurant.

Darn it.

We go back to the restaurant, and we cannot get in because it is closed.

On the way home, I call River House and speak to a gentleman named Tony Shaw, the beverage manager. The mere fact that he answered the phone is a minor miracle considering the phone tree universe we now live in,  but that’s neither here nor there. After hearing about my mindless act of leaving the material in the restaurant, Tony informs me that River House will be closed the following three days due to flooding!

Darn it!

Just as I am getting ready to ask Tony if he could copy and scan the papers to me he says, “Mr. Karem, why don’t I bring the documents to you tomorrow? We can meet at a spot convenient to you.”

I was floored.

I am also forever dedicated to River House,  AND THE YOUNG MAN GAVE ME HIS PERSONAL CELL NUMBER, SO WE COULD MAKE SURE TO CONNECT.

In this day and time of inconsiderate, thin-skinned behavior, this young man went out of his way to accommodate a customer he had never met. In this day and time of sullen, haughty, and even resentful behavior, he takes the time to convenience me in many ways—including meeting me at a spot suitable to me, which I later found out was out of his way. Extraordinary customer service in a time when customer service has left the planet.

Tony Shaw-Beverage Manager-River House

Tony Shaw—Customer Service Excellence Provider