Jo-Jo, the customer service master-shifu (right)

Spaghetti with Extra Sauce!

Sometimes we are able to identify a customer service champion the minute we meet them. We call that gut feeling. Others take slightly longer; often it only happens when you get to discover their thoughtfulness and their character over time. I am contradicting myself here; customer service has everything to do with discovering what the customers want, not about you as a service provider. But I have a point to make.

Jo Jo, the veteran manager of Fratini Restaurant understands all these things, which is why he has a huge rolodex of customers in his list. Chances are, over the years JoJo would have seen three of the girlfriends that you brought to Fratini before marrying your wife. Jo Jo’s job is not just turning over tables and smiling and asking customers to come again in the future. Jo Jo makes it a point to get to know you and your family, to remember that you like your spaghetti with extra sauce, and that you cannot take nuts.

He also knows when to pretend never to have met you when you bring your wife instead of your mistress. Jo Jo is in the people business that happens to be delivering fantastic food. It had been more than a decade since I last saw Jo Jo but when I came in and ordered my bowl of chips, he intuitively brought along the Thousand Island, and asked if I still preferred Thousand Island mixed with the Maggi Chili Sauce!