The Little Things

I don't know what it is about little things, but they seem to make quite a bit of difference.

I can't tell you how many times we get callbacks at work from people who ordered takeaway and have missing items.  It's not a steak or a chicken or a salad that get forgotten.  It's the salad dressing.  It's the potato toppings.  It's the au jus or horseradish for prime rib.  It's the butter for the bread.

Why do customers get so upset when you forget little things?  Because the little things are important.  They make the meal just that much better.  Yeah, you can open your fridge and pull out a bottle of salad dressing.  But it doesn't have the same flavor that a homemade salad dressing has, especially when you ordered that salad "just for the dressing."

So if it's so important, why do we forget the little things then?

I find that this goes beyond the walls of a restaurant.  Think about the last time you did something that you thought was a "little something" for someone.  Text someone to say hi.  Smile at someone on the street.  Say hello.  Do the dishes when it isn't your turn.  It makes a big difference.  It says that you were thinking about someone.  You were looking outside yourself.  

Why does that make a difference?  It's validation.  It's saying that someone else matters.

I'm still taking this grain of sand and spinning it into something more well-formed, but I've been thinking about it so much that I thought I would start formulating it out in the real world.  

Little things.  Interesting.