Pizza Today - September 2020 - 39

$70. I gave the server a $40
cash tip.
Just a few moments later,
as I was driving home, my
cell phone rang. It was the
server. I could hear the tears
in her voice as she thanked
me. She said things had
been very rough for her
and that the tip my family
"blessed her with" would go
a very long way. It was only
$40, but the impact on her
situation was nonetheless
large.
Just moments later my
cell rang again. This time it
was the owner. She told me
she was very sorry that the
server forgot to bring the
drinks I had ordered to my
car. She informed me they'd
bring them to my house
right away if I'd give them
the address.
I live 15 minutes from
the restaurant, and it was
raining. I knew they forgot
my drinks and didn't care.
I didn't want her running
them back out to me in
the rain the first time, and
I certainly wasn't going to
have her drive 30 minutes
round-trip and miss more
tips from other callers just
to bring me beverages.
As my family talked
about the phone calls I
had received on the way
home, it dawned on me
that the pandemic had
helped make me, personally, a more empathetic
customer. Pre-COVID I
would have been upset at
the restaurant's carelessness.
I would have wondered,
possibly aloud, how it was
so difficult to double-check
an order before taking it to
the customer.
It wasn't long before I
was noticing small acts

of kindness everywhere I
looked. Friends and
co-workers were telling me
stories of supporting this
business or that restaurant
because they knew things
were tough and did not
want to see these small
businesses go under. The
community, at least the one
I live in, rallied to support
its own. That was immensely refreshing.
Then the stories from
pizzeria owners started
pouring in. Yes, many
were devastated by the
effects of COVID-19 and
the requisite down time.
Yes, many closed up shop
permanently. But, having
said that, for every message
we received along those
lines, we received several
more saying the opposite.
The number of pizzeria
owners telling us sales were
actually up were eye-opening. How could this be?
We all knew pizza was
ideally suited to carryout
and delivery. So while other
restaurant segments struggled to figure out how to
survive without dine-in, the
pizza industry already was
accustomed to generating a
large portion of its business
from takeout or delivery.
The pizza industry already
had a product that travels
well, already had packaging figured out, already had
procedures figured out.
But, still. This was a new
animal that was drastically
changing the game in an
instant. How did pizzerias
fare so well?
I believe it's partly
because pizza people are
"people people." You understand hospitality. You know

how to tell a good story about
your product. You cultivate
a family atmosphere. You're
collegial. You're genuine. You
give to your community. And,
as a result, people want to
support your business.
Just like my family started
being more conscious of
who we supported and how
we supported them, it turns
out the rest of the country's
consumers reacted in much
the same way. Your success
today is a direct reflection of
your community involvement
yesterday. I truly believe that.
So, with that said, let's
go back to the phone call I
received on my way home
that night when my family
decided to step out from the
fear and order food for the
first time in a very long time.

That call touched me. Why?
Because the gratitude was
sincere. They meant it when
they said "thank you," and I
felt it. And it made me want
to order from them again and
again.
It's quite possible that
you've been twisting your
brain into a thousand different knots lately in an attempt
to figure out how to market
or what menu items to offer
during a pandemic. I get it.
That's important. But ... have
you paused to simply look
your regular customers in
the eye and deliver a sincere
"thank you" to them? It might
go much further than you
think. n
JEREMY WHITE is
Editor-in-Chief at Pizza Today.

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Pizza Today - September 2020

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