Rule #2 in recovering from a service mistake is to never argue with your client or patient. That will only make matters worse.
Point in case, I was at dinner the other night with a couple of clients at this very cool Irish Restaurant called Raglin Road. The food is superb, the beer selection top notch and they have stages where performers sing and dance (Think Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance)
When I do a Disney Boot Camp, I always take my clients there.
One of my clients is Jewish and does not eat pork to remain kosher.
We all heard him order a beef short rib sandwich.
But BBQ ribs were delivered to the table as his entree.
When my client told our server about the incorrect dish, the server immediately retorted, “Sir, you ordered the ribs”
Ummm… No I didn’t.
Yes, sir, I have it written down right here, as he proceeded to show us his handwritten order.
It only said “ribs”.
Since I was entertaining clients, I was not going to permit this conversation to continue. I told the server to remove the BBQ ribs and have the kitchen make the sandwich quickly.
He looked at me like I had the 7 dwarfs on my shoulder… You know the look!
The server let out a VERY audible SIGH. So much so, that his glasses fogged up. (He was wearing a mask). He took the ribs back to the kitchen.
It was the manager who delivered the replacement dish.
The first words out of his mouth were “I am so sorry we screwed up your order, here is the correct sandwich, on the house”
Please accept my apologies for the mistake. And if you will permit me, I have a table right by the stage and I would be happy to buy you a round of drinks after you finish dinner.
Great Recovery!
The manager apologized for the issue, solved it and offered a solution that was comparable to the mistake.
Of course it could have all been avoided if the server had just kept his mouth shut.
Because we are human, mistakes will be made in the delivery of our service or product.
Mistakes are inevitable.
But with the right recovery system in place, mistakes can be corrected quickly and with ease. Sometimes your recovery system can create more goodwill with a client than if nothing had ever happened at all.
Based on how the manager handled our situation, I will continue to take clients to Raglin Road.
If you don’t have the training or the system in place to recover quickly from a mistake, you will lose clients or patients. It is only a matter of time.
But with the right system in place you and your employees can be service super stars.
March’s Mouster Class “Profitable Service Recovery” will give you that system.
https://www.deliverservicenow.com/invitation-to-become-a-dsni-inner-circle-cast-member/
But don’t dilly dally, this months Mouster Class goes into the DSNi vault at midnight on 2/28/21.
