Service Strategies

By Marlene McIntyre, CPC

Paying attention to your own attitude is half the battle in a service quality effort

Restaurants and Institutions magazine offers the following list of hands-on recommendations for turning individual service problems into successful stories:

• Offer a sympathetic ear.

Sometimes being heard out is all a customer needs. This is easier said than done; defensiveness comes naturally. Make a conscious effort to separate yourself from criticism. Choose not to let that person make a negative impact on your attitude.

• Take the blame, whether you’re wrong or right.

There are times when a customer is wrong, and there may even be times when it’s appropriate to tell the customer that. But taking that stance aloud virtually assures a bad ending to a critical event. If your goal is to turn the customer’s attitude around to create a positive word-of-mouth in place of negative, the more gracious you can be, the better. An apology should be your starting point. Upon hearing the complaint, tell the customer, “I’m sorry.”

• Keep things light.

Treat customers’ problems with due seriousness, but don’t be afraid to interject some fun. Laugh at yourself and at the situation. Mickey Hornick, manager of the Chicago Diner, Chicago, says, “Honest to God, I’ve had a person screaming at the top of their lungs in the middle of a Friday night dining room. I just said to everybody, ‘Well, we’re not going to charge you for entertainment tonight. We hope this isn’t going to interfere with your digestion.’ I make a joke of it.

“To utterly go bananas because your to–go order was wrong, “Hornick says, indicates a larger problem, one you can’t address merely by correcting an error. So correct the error, but go a step further. Try to win over the customer with a combination of goodwill and good humour. If you can’t turn the complainer’s mood around, you may at least be able to ensure onlookers tell the story in a way that’s beneficial to your service reputation.

Content provided courtesy of Marlene McIntyre, CPC
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