Why Jon Brosio is Using Lessons From Food Service to Build Digital Trust

33. And how leverage creates engagement that ripples.

The slotted, metal spoon soared past my face like a throwing knife.

I remember watching it like a batter waiting for the pitch — as if I’d been crowding the plate. The sheet pan that followed collided with my tucked shoulder and head.

Catching sight of my own smirk, I snapped out of it and returned my focus to the zoom screen. Jon Brosio was describing how he thinks about serving value to folks in a digital age.

Before he became the go-to guy for building six and seven figure business with one offer, one funnel, and one post a day, Jon Brosio used to wait tables.

Here are the 5 main lessons he’s using from food service to build digital trust.

1. “People don’t pay for information they pay for implementation”

While jotting down the insight, I reflected on its implications. Emerging from the darkened backdrop into the well-lit foreground, everything about Jon conveyed professionalism.

“The hoodie’s a nice touch”, I thought. A page out of my own playbook, it reduced the polished veneer to a level of casual earnestness. While also maintaining his credibility. “Bravo, sir” I said to myself, admiring Jon’s self-awareness and his olive branch.

He sunk into a more relaxed perch on his elbow.

Then, he said, “Make it accessible and make it relevant”.

2. “Give them the thing up front. Be the bridge to using it”

The role of “villain” was assigned to him once upon a time in a restaurant job. Or, so he said. But, I struggled to see it.

“Share observations through your perspective and solutions from your lived experience”, he added. Jon’s background is in the food service industry. While scribbling in my notebook, I found myself nodding as he shared. He was doing it right now—giving us the thing up front.

Hearing Jon describe the useful, white-glove methods picked up in the world of fine dining, I was reminded of my own lessons learned from roles in hospitality. At 13, I’d begun bopping through the service industry in a way that I like to think would make the legend of Anthony Bourdain proud.

I’m sure the sheet pan to the face would’ve, at least, made him scoff a bit.

3. “Consistency isn’t everything; consistently doing the right thing is”

Jon continued, “the best way to create trust is by solving their problem. Done fast and done well”.

Damn. Such a simple concept. But massively important. Memories bubbled up while jotting quick notes next to Jon’s words on the page in front of me.

The sheet pan to the face had been an overreaction. It was on the 4th of July, and I’d f*cked up. As it turned out, Chef knew how to work the strike zone.

I’d been on a double as a server and my section was emptying out. Fireworks flashed through my head and I could already taste the shift beer waiting for me after the doors closed.

But there’d been a problem: my last table wouldn’t leave. They were just sitting there. “Doing ok over here?”, I’d heard myself ask it more times than I could count. “Yep”, they’d respond.

Jon hit the nail on the head when he clarified his comments on trust created by problem solving:

“The best way to do it well is to do it a lot.

But only if you’re consistently doing the right things.

Then, doing them a lot will make you fast.”

My mistake had really been a series of missteps. I was moving fast but I hadn’t moved well.

They’d never gotten their food.

I’d assumed their plates had been cleared by the busser.

The empty table of my hungry patrons hadn’t seemed abnormal when surrounded by other tables who’d finished their food already. Their affirmative response to “doing ok?” had been inconspicuous. Because I’d consistently asked them the wrong question.

Realizing my mistake, I’d gone straight back to the kitchen, where they were holding sponges, not spatulas. Woof. Grills were off, soap and suds were on.

I’d cleared my throat, “uhm..ch..Chef…?”. Determined to own it, I fought through the knot in my stomach and forced words out. First his jaw’d slackened. Then, it had set—and set firm. While his brow furrowed, I’d been resigned to accept the lasers boring holes through my face.

Seconds later, the throwing knife slotted spoon and sheet pan had been strikes one and two. Strike three was a string of expletives I shan’t repeat here.

4. “Find the levers that will maximize the effort you give for the impact you create”

It was fascinating to watch Jon approach the digital conversation on my screen like selling a daily special to a table of hungry patrons. It’s the same way he treats his writing.

I pictured Jon introducing himself to a table in a restaurant…

“Where are you all from?

Oh, then you have to try ___.

But, if it were me, I’d swap the side for this one instead —

Well, it goes better with the wine pairing… let me get you a glass, on the house, and if you like it, it’s a better deal for you to get a bottle for the table”

Back on the computer screen, he actually said, “Once you have consistency done well and done fast, it turns into a game of leverage”.

This was the upsell, but he truly walked the walk. Meaning, he wanted to make sure he was handing over a solution.

He paused to let it marinate, then continued, “what levers you can pull to maximize the effort you give for the impact you create?”.

• Low leverage = not much impact for the large effort required.

• High leverage = a lot of impact for the smaller effort required.

That’s when he shared a brilliant insight.

“When I comment on other content, I try to turn it into a stand-alone post as well. I know there’s interest in the problem/topic—they posted it—and I have a solution ready to go”.

Boom.

In addition, he encouraged a singular focus on one problem and one solution.

They’re hungry, you have a proven solution.

1. Invite them in.

2. Offer them a place to be helped.

3. Show them your solution.

4. Use social proof.

5. Provide an exceptional experience.

5. “We do not have customers in this restaurant; we have guests”

Jon smiled as he shared it. After a brief drift into his own memory, he emphasized the importance of what he was about to say, “One of the best restauranteurs I’ve ever worked with had 2 non-negotiables”.

I was ready.

My pen hovered over the page while he counted off the first of his upheld fingers. “No one comes in or out of this restaurant without being greeted or thanked”, he said emphatically. It wasn’t what I was expecting to be number one, but it made total sense.

Acknowledgment shows your appreciation for their end of the deal. They don’t have to dine with you, I reasoned.

Ticking the other finger, he then said,

“Most important of all, we do not have customers; we only have guests”.

Jon took a breath.

He sat back, slightly, and thought for a moment.

With a shrug, he concluded, “It’s about how you treat people. That’s how you get guests who keep coming back. Guests who recommend you to their friends”.

The 5 Food Service Lessons for Building Digital Trust used by Jon Brosio

1. “People don’t pay for information they pay for implementation”

2. “Give them the thing up front. Be the bridge to using it”

3. “Consistency isn’t everything; consistently doing the right thing is”

4. “Find the levers that will maximize the effort you give for the impact you create”

5. “We do not have customers, we have guests”

onward.

-dmac

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