A few days ago I was having lunch with a friend and after a few bites we both agreed that something was not right with the chicken. My friend, who happens to be a member of the club, knew just what to do. Call one of the chefs! After a few minutes the chef called back with an answer. He explained that the cooking method used on that particular day was different from the norm. He further revealed that there had occurred a few changes in the kitchen as some new personnel had been recruited. Well, to cut the story short, we switched to a different meal and even though they took away the chicken and waived the bill we couldn’t help but wonder how far the story went. Did the manager find out about this? If he did, did he investigate what the cause was and what steps were taken to avert such situations in the future?
I believe that once in a while we all experience service that is way below our expectations. Most of the times we are not in a position to call the chef or the manager so we go ahead to let out our anger on the waiters and other people who are not to blame at all. In most cases these people do not have the confidence to report back to the relevant offices and as a result, mediocre services and poor products become part of the company and within a while the effects can be felt all over. All well to do companies need a pro-active customer response and complaint handling systems. There should exist a functional system that encourages customers to give feedback after acquiring a service . This could mean offering forms online or at the point of sale. It could even go as far as recording phone conversations from customers and reviewing of the same. All frontline staff should be well equipped to handle complaining customers.
You should however remember that this is not where the back stops .The entire complaints managements system should see to it that accurate analysis, reporting and solving of the issues takes place and in the shortest time possible. It is also important to remember that unhappy staff can hardly make customers happy. Most companies fail with customers because they fail with their own people/staff first. Your ability to inspire and keep them motivated to deliver happiness to customers is paramount.
At www.horseproperties.net, we realize and value our clients’ feedback and encourage you to actually keep us on our toes because it’s all about you! Yes. The customer is always right. Your success also matters to us and you are invited to employ the tips above on your businesses whether big or small scale.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
