Have you ever had to wait an extremely long time for your food at a restaurant when you were starving? Asking the wait staff for an update on the food seemed to bother them from their already busy agenda. Meanwhile we believe that death is at our door.
Upon asking the wait staff for an update, they seem not to care sometimes. Sometimes we might get a part of the order taken off our bill. Maybe the manager has to get involved to resolve the issue. Tips are dwindled and the likelihood of returning to the establishment decreases by the second.
I was in Franklin Tennessee which is about 30 minutes south of Nashville this past summer. It’s a great city where a lot of country singers live and other wealthy individuals. It is a great little downtown filled with restaurants and shops. There is one establishment that people rave about so the group of us decided to stop in.
We weren’t starving, but we decided to venture in and check it out. I won’t give the name away, but they have these things called BONUTS that are delicious. We ordered a set to go as well as some sweet tea. You can’t go south without having sweet tea!
After we ordered the person taking the order advised us to wait at a table in the middle of the room. After about 15 minutes the waitress came by with a plate with BONUTS on them and we were confused because we asked for “to go”. She dropped these off and then said she would get us some to go.
Another 15 minutes went by and nothing. Now we had already paid so we were getting ready to just stand up and leave. Figuring we had gotten what we paid for so no really harm done just some time spent waiting.
We had asked someone working there to see if the order was coming soon and they went to check. When they came back, they gave us a refund, gave us the to go order, and then another order because we sat for so long. They also refused repeatedly to take the money back. I mean we got what we paid for, but they were insistent that we be refunded.
The running total now is three orders of BONUTS and a full refund because they were sorry for the wait. I mean that is over and above customer service. Not just here is your order, but here is your money back as well and oh let’s give you another order. That is exceptional service and that is what drives customer loyalty.
When we go back to the Nashville area again, where do you think we will be going. When I hear friends and family are traveling there, what do you think I will tell them when I mention places to stop?
When we are serving customers, we need to think about the customer experience. Not that others should perform the job that are supposed to, but if we come in contact with the customer and they express a need we need to serve them well also. We need to make sure we do our best to give the customer a great experience.
If we do serve the customer well and provide an exceptional experience then they will be like sales people for us. Just like I am writing about my story to share with all of you. Our customers will share with all of their friends and family about the exceptional experience.
Keep that in mind when serving customers and how we approach them. We need to give them an exceptional experience if we want to drive customer loyalty. Not just a punch card, but experience is what generates customer loyalty.
Now the flip side to that is if we underserve and provide a poor customer experience, what do you think they will say about our organization.
We reap what we sow. Plant seeds of exceptional experience and we will reap a great harvest in the future.
Have a great week!
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet
https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book
https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training
https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training