When I was a Domino’s pizza manager, I was able to get Coca-cola at a seriously low price … so I stocked up on all that my little store could hold. I then coupled that with an unusual coupon. I observed that, on the way to taking the first late of the night and in the hour or so after the final one, service times would gradually decline and gradually restore. That’s the nature of the business … it’s built around ‘rushes’ that absorb your extra man-power. So I sent each customer in the hour before the first late and the hour after the last one a ‘manager special’ in which I acknowledged that we had probably met -their- service expectations but we hadn’t met -mine-. The postcard was good for two free Cokes with their next order of any size pizza.

Their response gave my crew and I the second highest award the company offered in my very first accounting period. During that time period a driver had ‘dishonored’ a late to one of our mystery shoppers. That should have knocked us out of the running. But we still got the award because that postcard, sent blindly, changed the reviewers mind about who they were dealing with.

That plaque means a LOT to the crew who were there when it was earned. And that level of service, obviously, means a lot to a customer.