Have you ever had any trouble with the law?
Well, PAUL seemed to think I had.
Last week, I was returning from two months on the road full of fun, family, and adventures. I went to Canada, Bellingham, Virginia, Kentucky, and Northern Michigan, all by road travel.
I’m nomadic by nature and have a “truck rig,” so road-tripping is my speed. With so much travel, though, I end up working odd hours or when I have access to good internet.
I was sitting at an all-night diner, working at 2am to finish a client project.
For all the creatives out there: Is there any better time to design or create than in the middle of the night!? I think not. It’s distraction-free and by far my favorite creative time!
Also, I’ll take a greasy-spoon diner any day.
I don’t get super hungry when road-tripping long ways, but I’m always game for breakfast.
Pro-tip: Penny’s Diner is scattered across the West and always open 24-hours, with free internet!
In general, I’m healthy, active, and eat well. BUT, I will eat breakfast and love it at pretty much any diner… extra side of bacon, please, and another refill of whatever coffee they are brewing.
I’ve never been much for fancy lattes, anyway.
My love of breakfast came from my dad. We grew up in the remote woods of Northern Michigan, and it was a half-hour drive into the nearest adequate town.
I remember, on rare occasions running errands with my dad or some other town trip without the rest of the family, and he would sneak in breakfast with me at one of the downtown diners. I have no idea if he did this once or many times, but it has remained my favorite meal to go out for. Thanks, Dad!
So, on this particular night, I was somewhere in Nebraska on my way back home to Colorado. There was only one staff person on duty at the diner playing every role: Cook, server, cashier.
His name was Paul. He approached my booth and gave me an almost inaudible speedy ramble of the special and his recommendations. Actually, he mostly told me what NOT to get.
Luckily, breakfast was on his good list. I thanked him for his candor and ordered.
For the next few hours, he religiously refilled my coffee cup and found me a table with an outlet when my computer ran out of juice.
Out of the blue, Paul asks, “Have you had any trouble with the law?”
Huh…!?
I know it was the middle of the night, but I didn’t think I looked THAT disheveled.
Shortly after that, four police officers entered, and Paul seated them at the table next to me. It turns out he had been watching out for me (there was a back door, after all, if I needed a getaway).
He gave me a slight shrug and grin and said, “You never know with the late-night crowd.”
I know this all too well.
Despite my desires to be a morning person and part of the 5am club (and occasional bouts of being successful at this), I’m a through-and-through night owl.
I LOVE NIGHT.
It’s when I feel expansive, creative, and almost invincible.
But it also exposes me to everything odd, weird, and inappropriate that happens under the cloak of darkness. Luckily, I have learned to navigate nights rather well and tend to stay out of any trouble.
At this point, most of the people had emptied the diner, except me and the table of cops. Paul was sitting at the table next to them, making friendly conversation, knowing them all by name even though they said they were from the town down the road.
At 4am, it was finally time for me to move on (project submitted, thank you!).
I started packing up my computer. Noticing my movement, Paul let me know that he turned up the heat to make the temperature more comfortable for me.
He goes on to say that he turns the heat down while the “drinking crowd” is in so they don’t stay forever. But he was happy for me to stay as long as I wanted.
I tell him I still have 5 hours to clock on the road and need to get going. He packs me a to-go cup of coffee (despite the probably full pot I already drank – good thing it’s not super strong coffee).
I pay my bill, and Paul continues his friendly banter and thanks me for my patience that evening.
He says he’s frustrated that Penny’s Diner expanded their menu to things that he can’t do well as the only staff (mainly the 24 variations of milkshakes he’s expected to have time to make).
He says that he loves being a chef and does his best with the current resources of the diner.
Paul is a half-glass-full type of guy.
I just smiled.
We always hear, “You can take pride in any job,” whether a janitor or CEO. But Paul executed this sentiment.
Here he was working at a non-fancy diner, serving us “vagabonds” of the night, and he hustled all night to make each of our experiences bespoke, comfortable, and fulfilling. He seemed to know what each type of person needed and helped them get it.
I will always love this about travel: Sharing a few hours with a stranger that I most likely will never see again. It’s a lovely exchange grounded in being present. Nothing more or less.
So simple, yet meaningful.
You best be sure that I pinned that particular diner location in Google Maps, so I can hopefully revisit Paul on my next trip East.
Are you creating memorable experiences and “seeing” your clients?
Use Paul as an example and remember that small things go a long way.
When I help my clients craft their offer suite in my Signature Program Incubator, I ensure that each offer supports their ideal audience in just the right way.
A considerable part of getting this right is clarity on the audience you serve, their pain points, and how you can uniquely help them.
Your messaging should always speak directly to your audience. Less than 20% of your messaging should be about you (minus story-based newsletters, of course!).
If you want to improve your offer suite within your sales funnel (we are talking both front-end offers and back-end upsells), contact me and let me know your biggest challenge in this area.
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