What do you have in place to help protect your customers from themselves?

They were all staring at her. I don't just mean the person directly in front of her that seriously was looking at her with tons of curiosity. I mean people who worked there were peeking out from behind walls to see who she was and what they could learn about her just by looking at her.

There was something unique about her order, after all. And they wondered if she was someone famous. Or if she was working for someone famous. After all, she clearly had money to burn.

I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you're crossing paths with famous people, but there's a buzz in the air.

I was in Hawaii a few years ago with another couple. We were sitting at an outdoor cafe when an entourage of bodyguards walked out of the doors of the restaurant next to us. Just the quantity of men, and their sizes, told me someone was walking between them that was important. And at that moment my eyes caught those of Floyd Mayweather and we nodded at each other. I swear I felt the electricity in the air change.

I think he liked my stingy brimmed fedora with Hawaiian leaves all over it.

Anyway, I can only imagine that the folks working in the restaurant that night felt a bit of that electricity. They were chatting about the customer, no doubt. She saw it. And wondered about it.

When the host gave her the first part of her order, it was already a massive bag of food – it could have fed 8-10 folks. But then the host told her to wait for the rest. And it was clear that it was this part of the order that had everyone chatting.

That woman was (and still is) my wife. She's not famous to anyone except those folks working that night at the Olive Garden.

But to them, I imagine, they still talk about the lady that ordered 18 dozen breadsticks. Not a dozen. Not 18 breadsticks. 18 dozen. Who does that?!?

You may wonder what this has to do with running an agency. Or how it will help you sell plugins or other software more effectively. I'll tell you.

Ready?

Sometimes people make mistakes.

Sometimes online ordering isn't as clear as you think it is.

And when the two come together, sometimes you end up with crazy things like 18 dozen breadsticks (on top of tons of individual meals).

I once ordered 24 pizzas instead of 14. The company called me back and asked if I meant 24. They just wanted to confirm. I corrected my mistake and ordered 14 instead.

But on that night, Olive Garden was happy to deliver the crazy take out order to the special lady who ordered 18 dozen breadsticks.

What mechanisms do you have to validate what looks like a mistake, or could even be fraud? That's the question I'm asking you today.