It’s rare that I spend a beautiful sunday afternoon in front of the computer blogging, but I had to get something off my chest. There’s no doubt that every industry has been greatly impacted by social media in some way, and the restaurant industry is no exception. Business is won or lost by customer feedback and now we have multiple tools at our disposal to give our opinion on the food, service, experience, and whatnot.

During my seminars and workshops, I often encourage businesses to ask for reviews from happy customers. It’s human nature to be a bit more motivated when we feel mistreated or disrespected than when we are pleased with an experience. Take yours truly. I’ve meant to write a good review about Kruse and Muer for sometime because they are really kid-friendly and go out of their way to make our experience enjoyable. But sadly, I’ve always forgotten.

But not today.

It’s a perfect Michigan day. It’s 80 degrees, the sun is shining and we have a million things to do. But nothing is getting in the way of this blog or my review. Not a chance. Because what happened was simply mind-blowing.

And it all started with a simple hug. We were meeting some friends for brunch at Kruse and Muer in Troy, MI and my wife went to hug a friend she hadn’t seen in awhile. That friend unknowingly had a bee hanging out on her back. My wife’s hand landed right on that spot and WHAM! Jessica did the ‘I got stung by a bee’ dance. I know that dance because I did it last year around this same time. She handled it well and the server immediately got her some ice. Now understand, this bee could have been riding with our friend for some time – who knows where or when it decided to hitch a ride.

So that made the responses from the servers and manager at Kruse and Muer that much more impressive. They had bag of ice in a matter of seconds and people were there to make sure she wasn’t going to have an allergic reaction. Jess is not allergic and so she was going to be just fine – just in a lot of pain for the rest of brunch. Once the staff knew that we weren’t in danger, they just wanted her to have an enjoyable experience. The manager came right over and said, ‘your brunch is on me today and what beverage can I get you? I recommend a mimosa or if it really stings, a long island ice tea.’ We were all taken aback by the generosity. They didn’t need to do that, but got us all smiling and got Jess’s mind off the onset of her hand swelling.

But it didn’t stop there. The manager overheard me trying to figure out where the closest drugstore was so I could grab Jess some Benadryl. He then disappeared for about 15 minutes. Jess had decided she’d be ok till we got home so I went back to overindulging at probably one of the best brunch buffets I’ve had in a long time. All of a sudden the manager, his name is Brent, came back in with a brand new package of Benadryl. I said, ‘hey, that’s ironic, did you guys have some back there?’ He nonchalantly said no, but he knew of a 7-11 down the road. ‘Wait a second, you left the restaurant, drove a mile down the road and bought us Benadryl?’ He responded, ‘well, I wanted to make sure your wife was comfortable.’

What? Holy shit. Sorry, but holy Shit. I couldn’t believe he did that.

He also had no idea who he was messing with. That’s right, he didn’t know that I intend to make sure that thousands upon thousands of people hear this story. I will blog, tweet, google, facebook, check-in – Brent will be a chapter in my next book.  I’m going to stand on the highest virtual mountain and scream at the top of my lungs – Kruse and Muer ROCKS!  Why? Because I just figured out the surefire way to get customers to leaving raving reviews. Do something remarkable. Do something memorable. And in my mind, that’s exactly what this was. Brent, in his own way, did something remarkable that I will never forget and neither will my wife.

And it comes in both gel, cream, and liquid form.