Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Jessica Parker are sitting in a small café shooting an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Their meal is winding down and the subject of the check comes up. Sarah feigns picking up the check and asks, “Are you waiting for me to offer up some cash?”
They have a laugh and then Jerry says, “Okay, the check is $37. How much tip would you leave?
Sarah considers the question for a moment and then answers, “Ten.”
Jerry sputters. Jessica responds, “That’s not enough?”
“No!” Jerry exclaims.
“Wait! You move the decimal. It was forty dollars. You would leave… eight dollars would be twenty percent.”
Jerry face palms and Sarah says, “No? Am I… Somebody help me!”
Jerry laughs and responds, “I’ll help you. Because everyone is going to ask her. ‘OMG, you waited on Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Jessica Parker. How much did they tip you?’ What do you want her to say?”
Sometimes it isn’t about doing the expected thing. It’s not about fulfilling an obligation or checking off a box. It’s about sending someone away with a story about you–about how they interacted with you or your business.
Sooner or later, people are going to talk about you and your business. They’re going to have something to say, either good or bad. It doesn’t matter to them that you are having a bad day. They don’t care if your coffee was cold this morning or if the cat scratched you or if you were late to work.
All they care about is how you treated them. They care about how you listened to them when they had a problem; how you responded to them after they asked for help.
You are writing your own episode of that interaction right now. What story do you want people to tell?
© 2021 Charles Marshall. Charles Marshall is a nationally known humorous motivational speaker and author. Visit his Web site www.CharlesMarshallSpeaker.com or contact him via e-mail at Charles@CharlesMarshallSpeaker.com
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