The Wobbly Table Of Good PR

Italian and Greek restaurants are renowned not only for their excellent food but for the attentiveness of staff and the warmth of welcome.

One of the ways they have built up the great customer service reputation is through the “wobbly table” stunt, which gives customers a feeling that they are being cared for and looked after from the moment they walk through the door.

Too many people think that good PR is about doing everything perfectly and promising people the best in the world. In fact good PR is about under promising but over-delivering and that is where the “wobbly table” comes in. Has it happened to you?

You walk into a restaurant (almost always Italian or Greek) and a smiling person greets you and escorts you towards a table. Just as your party are about to sit down the greeter moves the table and finds it wobbles.

With a great deal of fuss and palaver the greeter makes a huge point of finding a beer mat or piece of cardboard and folding it. The greeter crawls on the floor and shoves the card under one of the table legs and won’t let you sit down until – with profuse apologies – the table is as solid as a rock.

Your party sit down and are handed menus and already you are impressed. This is a restaurant that really cares about your comfort during your stay – you study the menu while already convinced it will be a meal to remember.

After your meal you leave a generous tip and the greeter kicks the piece of cardboard out in preparation for the next party to arrive – so that the over-servicing pantomime can take place again.

Businesses should all look for ways that they can create the “wobbly table” effect for customers. Always be willing to do that little extra that people didn’t expect when they bought the product or service.

A small “free” added extra can go a long way towards customers coming back again and – more importantly – it gives them something to say about you when they talk about you to others – creating the most vital of all public relations phenomena: word of mouth recommendation