A couple of weeks ago, I was getting home from running errands with my wife on a Thursday afternoon when my phone rang. It was one of our lead sales reps, Scott Goss.
I picked up, and he started with a laugh: “You’re not going to believe this one.”
He’d just gotten off a call with one of our clients who had a 40-person happy hour scheduled, or so we thought, for the next day. Every contract, every email, every communication said Friday. But apparently, the client meant Thursday at 4 p.m.
It was 2:30.
Now, we had every right to say, “Sorry, but the contract says tomorrow.” But Scott knows me well enough to call and ask what I wanted to do. And honestly, it wasn’t much of a question.
I kissed my wife goodbye knowing that her afternoon just changed as well, with little more than a knowing nod, called Chef Angel and headed to the kitchen. Luckily, Angel and the crew were just finishing up prep for that event. Instead of packing it away, I told them to go ahead and finish the platters and I’d be there in a few minutes.
We pulled everything together – platters, linens, plates, forks, the whole setup and got on the road. The venue was about 45 minutes away (with good traffic… which doesn’t exist in D.C.).
Scott threw on his black shirt, jumped in the car, and played bartender for the night while we called in a couple of servers to help. He arrived right before 4:00, just in time to greet guests and start pouring drinks. I got there around 4:25 and set out the hors d’oeuvres, cheese and charcuterie, and everything else they’d ordered.
The hosts were gracious, a little embarrassed, sure, but thrilled we’d pulled it off. From a 2:30 phone call to a full event rolling by 4:30, it is surprising how it came together so beautifully. Half of that time was spent in traffic – haha. The guests had no idea about the behind the scenes action and that is just the way we like it.
Moments like this remind me why I love what I do. Hospitality is not about being “right” or pointing to the contract — it’s about doing the right thing for the client. Pretty sure EcoCaters has got a client for life and I still made it home to read a bedtime story and knock out the dishes once our girls were asleep.