Here's a similar story. A friend of mine runs a (very) small chain of coffee shops. Two years ago he was on holiday in Southern America, and happened to be in

Here's a similar story. A friend of mine runs a (very) small chain of coffee shops. Two years ago he was on holiday in Southern America, and happened to be in the same city as one of the major coffee exporters of the continent. Since he's a true coffee geek he called them up, told them that he owned a very small chain half-way around the world and asked if he could come visit. They agreed, and when he got there he was treated to a whole day of tasting, talking, and generally doing what coffee geeks do with people fairly high up in the company. When he asked why they had spent so much time on him when, at best, he would becme a very minor customer they said that they did this to everybody no matter how small. The reason was that many years before another random guy had called up and asked if he could come down for a visit from the US. They treated him well, extended him some credit and generally gave him excellent service. He also ran a small chain of stores. They bonded and he stayed a loyal customer for many years because he was treated well. The small company he owned was called Starbucks.