Customer Service Lesson Can Come From Anywhere
Recently, I went out to dinner to a new restaurant with some colleagues. We ordered appetizers, salads, and then the main course. For the first few items, everything was great. The service from the waitress was excellent and so was the food. When the main course arrived, we all dug in. I happened to order a NY strip steak to be prepared medium. From the first cut and bite, it felt and tasted more like fried beef liver. I cut into the middle of the steak, just to see if there was some pink there. No luck.
The waitress asked the standard question, “How is everything?” I lifted up the middle part of the steak. I told her as politely as I could, “I hate to tell you this but the steak was not cooked to medium”. She looked at the non-medium steak and said she would take care of it right away. Within ten minutes, the chef came out to apologize and brought a larger, much juicer looking steak. The steak was exceptional and I enjoyed it very much.
This is an example of good customer service in every day life. The waitress listened to my complaint. She and the chef presented the alternative. Both apologized for not getting it right the first time. I am a satisfied customer. In addition, the restaurant management is behind the focus of giving the customer what they want. My experience is, unfortunately, not always the reaction customers get at restaurants. Sometimes, you get a surprised look, or the server acts offended. As consumers, we should not pay good money for bad food.
Even in the steel industry, customer service aims to accomplish the same thing. If you focus on the customer, you are better able to handle issues when they arise.
• Listen to the customer. You have to care about solving the problem.
• Apologize for the mistake or problem. Be accountable.
• Offer alternative solutions as quickly as possible. The longer the customer must wait, the less happy he will be.
• Once you reach a resolution, work hard to make sure it does not happen again.
