best thing= it’s the quickest way to turn a large amount of money into a small one. ok that was a bad joke. i guess the best thing besides being able to cook my food my way is being able to help someone out a little. i have a little old lady customer jean who to be honest i really didn’t like at first. she is extremely demanding and the one thing she loves is brisket which without a doubt is the mt. everest of bbq as no two briskets ever cook the same. however after listening to my wife(who i work for) i started asking jean questions. she can give exactly what she likes and doesn’t like in the most clear and concise form i have ever seen. she has taste buds that chefs would die for and the ability to communicate those thoughts (all though in a harsh manner but that’s what makes her so cool) ok that’s jean’s downside. her upside is while she is getting her brisket she is talking it up. due to matching her tastes buds we have gone from 4 ounces of beef sales in 4 hours to over 20 cooked pounds in the same time period. we didn’t see her for a few weeks and found out she has had eye surgery. 2 weeks back she showed up but didn’t buy anything. had my wife find out why by taking her a 1/4 pound sample no charge. turns out she has too much assets for medicare and was hurting and was embarassed to boot. long story short i offered to give her a pound of brisket but she wouldn’t hear of that so i came up with the idea of giving her a job. her job is simple she taste tests the brisket and then we set her up with a chair and small camp table near the rig and she eats brisket just like she loves and talks to people and she loves that and my sales go up and i love that. so i guess i turned my worst customer into my best and by so doing i am reaping the rewards of that and jean gets to eat while paying her doctors costs off. and that is the best part of having my own(opps i mean working for wife) food rig.
jack
ps. sorry the post was so long but the question came at the right time since i was taking a break from prepping brisket for "the customer from hell" my old name for jean
pps. glad i re-read the original post as the social engineering thing had me going off before anyone thinks i have gone soft[:0]