I’ve been lucky enough to eat at some of the finest restaurants in the world. For the most part, these meals were paid for by a business – which makes my luck even better! I’ve been asked dozens, or maybe hundreds of times about my favorite places to eat. This was especially true about 10 – 15 years ago when I was traveling globally. Although I’ve been exposed to styles and delicacies that I never imagined, I have to admit that the answer to “my favorite restaurant” inquiry is pretty boring. The best restaurant I’ve ever been to is located in Orlando – just a few miles from my house.
Christner’s Prime Steak & Lobster is my favorite restaurant. Founded by the Christner family in 1993 as the first Del Frisco’s to be located outside of Texas, and forced to change its name to Christner’s in 2013 (click here to learn more about the history). Since my close friend Andy Kissenberth’s 30th birthday almost 21 years ago, I’ve made it a point to eat at Christner’s as often as possible, including every special occasion.
About five years ago, I was introduced to Linda’s La Cantina. Since its founding in 1947, Linda’s has been a staple in Orlando. Orlando was a tiny community before Disney and NASA stimulated growth to make it today’s 19th largest metropolitan area in the US. Linda’s has been here the entire time. For some reason, I never ate there. I think my hesitation was caused by Linda’s reputation as having great steaks that are cheap and fast. I don’t really want a cheap and fast steak.
Then I tried Linda’s. Wow. For about $35, I had an excellent ribeye, salad, and spaghetti. They serve spaghetti as a side. Seriously … spaghetti. It was incredible. Less than half the price and about 85% as good as Christner’s. We started eating at Linda’s more often and eating at Christner’s less often. In fact, I don’t think we ate at Christner for a couple years. Linda’s was more convenient – 75 minutes vs. 150 minutes. It was less expensive. And every time we ate there, my perception of the little gap between the quality of Christner’s and Linda’s shrunk. I remember saying this during one of our meals at Linda’s: “You know what … I think Linda’s is just as good as Christner’s.”
During the holiday season of 2018, a friend asked us to join him for his wife’s birthday at Christner’s. “Of course,” was my immediate response. My wife and I were excited to visit our former favorite restaurant. I’m glad we did. From the time the valet took our car until he brought it back to us, the experience was amazing. Just like we remembered … and then forgot. Everything: the salads, the wine, the appetizers, the desserts, and of course the steaks. Wow! Wow! Everything was incredible. Even the bread. Yes, the bread!
We still eat at Linda’s. In fact, we eat there more frequently than we eat at Christner’s. It’s more convenient, doesn’t require a short-term loan, and truly is about 85% as good as Christner’s. But it ain’t Christner’s! We went to Christner’s four times last year – including my 50th birthday celebration – and will continue to hold all special occasions there. I think we have a good mix between the two restaurants – much better than we ever did when we were exclusively one or the other.
Since the middle of March, we’ve been forced to work virtually. There have been gazillions of articles and podcasts and webinars and blogs about the benefits of virtual selling. No commuting, less wasted time on site, less expensive, and the video calls are just like being in front of each other.
Don’t buy into the hype. If you’re selling something that cost more than $100 to human beings, shaking hands and walking sites and reading body language and having a meal together will always be more valuable to your success than a Zoom call. Always. Please read that again – always! No one opens up about their fear of being fired during a virtual meeting. No one can make you feel like that extra split second of a handshake makes you feel – knowing that saying hello or introducing yourselves is not being dismissed by the next task. All other things equal, no one will buy from someone over Zoom instead of someone that visits them in person.
Don’t dismiss virtual selling, either. We’ve learned a lot of efficiencies that benefit you, your company, and your customers over the last few months. Let’s use those lessons to create the best process that will enable you to sell the greatest amount of your services. I believe that process will include more virtual work than it did in February, but remote selling won’t be the entire process.
Using my analogy above, make sure you return to Christner’s and remember how great it is. Then, figure out how to mix in Linda’s and Christner’s to strike the perfect balance. I’m sure glad that we did!
