There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. (Roger Staubach)

I’ve heard it said that the goal of a business is to create customers who create customers. Such was the result of our yummy dinner tonight. Great customer service like the kind we experienced at Ristorante DaVinci during our last night Marco Island is a rare and pretty special thing! After five glorious days of sun, sand, loads of laughter and a few too many drinks this week, the six of us headed out for “the last supper” and decided to indulge in some Italian food.

Celebrating 77 years of marriage between us, Ann and Gerry Hepp, Chris and Rhys Helt, as well as Tom and myself have truly enjoyed our time in Florida.

Tonight’s dinner was the grand finale, mostly because of a beautiful and thoughtful server named Vanessa! Articulate, attentive and professional, Vanessa did not even find Ann’s signature “Meg Ryan” custom menu-ordering style challenging at all. She just smiled and said “no problem!” More than once, this Sarasota native humored Rhys with the fist bump that blows up when things went his way. If you know him, you will understand the joy this brings him.

The food at DaVinci’s was spectacular and the drinks were never empty. As the meal ended, Vanessa brought out some desserts we didn’t order to congratulate us on those 77 years and she posed with us for a picture.

Building a good experience for customers doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because terrific employees like Vanessa go the extra mile! Thanks for being “next level” amazing, Vanessa!! As for the rest of you, if you like good Italian food, check out Ristorante DaVinci the next time you are on Marco Island! You won’t regret it!