Grow UR BIZ in 2013 – Fix It
By: Carol Ritter
I thought it was simple, you order something, they ring it into the machine and you get it. STOP thinking that! I recently went to a coffee shop, I ordered iced regular coffee with cream, I got hot decaf with no cream, I sent it back, I ordered oatmeal with no sugar, I got oatmeal with sugar that looked like wallpaper paste, I sent it back. I ordered an egg sandwich cut in half and I got one whole, I sent it back. I’m not done yet, I ordered decaf coffee with cinnamon flavor and I got regular with chocolate, I sent it back. Now, how can that happen to one person – one order- in about 5 minutes? I was wondering, “how many orders must be wrong in a day?” I understand most of us are in the people business but I don’t think I’ve ever had that many things go wrong with one simple order. By the time I left I was frustrated, didn’t enjoy my food and was asking myself WHY didn’t I eat at home. FIX IT!
On the contrary, I worked in New Jersey last week and found a wonderful seafood restaurant. I walked in and the hostess greeted me with a big hello and seated me within seconds. The bubbly waitress was at my table within a minute with water in her hand, introduces herself as “in training” and looking forward to serving me. Every waitress and waiter was dressed in sailor garb, pressed to the nines, a nice touch. I watched as the servers almost ran from table to table making guests comfortable. I was so pleased to see over the top service after my coffee experience. I ordered a salad with dressing on the side, I kept it. I ordered an unsweetened ice tea with lots of ice, I kept it. I ordered an entree with no butter on the veggies, in came out right, I kept it and, to top it off, I ordered decaf and got it, kept it. NO NEED TO FIX IT!
Fix it, owner, manager, leader, vice president or whoever is in charge of the restaurant. How can that much go wrong in one order and why doesn’t the owner, manager, leader, vice president know they are providing horrible service? Fix it! The leadership is clearly responsible for the failure. Conversely, the restaurant owner, manager, leader, vice president of the seafood house is also reaping the rewards of over the top service.
Everything begins and ends with the leader. Here is how you fix it..
- The coffee shop could have offered the meal complimentary
- Better yet, an apology, didn’t even get that
- A coupon to visit again and get free coffee
The end of the story is, I’m never and I mean never going back, I’ve told many family and friends what happened and this all could have been avoided just by FIXING IT! The end of the seafood house story is the waitress at the end brought out a survey, they actually cared enough to ask me what I thought. I will be going back, the tip went up and I’ve told many friends and family to go there. See what happens when you FIX IT!
Carol serves as a featured writer for the Home News and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Blog.
Carol is an accomplished professional speaker, coach and educational consultant specializing in innovative leadership, outrageous fundraising, million dollar marketing, and building organizational alliances throughout the country. Carol’s creative leadership with bullet proof ideas for recruiting MORE MEMBERS, MORE MONEY AND TER LEADERS. www.caroltalks.com
