Restaurant
A was a new restaurant that opened in Downtown Duluth. I stopped by and
discovered that they had some unique soups on their menu. I'm not a big soup
fan, but these were unique enough that I had to try one. I ordered the soup to
go, and returned to my office. They placed my to-go order in a special bag with
company branding and handles. When I looked into the bag, I
discovered plastic-ware that was silver in color and a small
loaf of hot bread with melted butter wrapped in aluminum foil.
The
soup was okay and the bread was wonderful as I love hot bread with butter. I
don't ever remember getting hot bread like this in a to-go order. I
ranted and raved about the lunch for a few days when
a colleague and I decided to return. We both ordered soup to go and
you can imagine my disappointment when I returned and discovered no bread, but
plain crackers instead. My colleague was disappointed as well.
I
called the manager of the restaurant and asked, what do you serve with your
soup. He stated, " We serve it with hot bread. I then asked what they
serve with soup for a to-go order. He said, "crackers." I asked,
"why the difference?" He stated something about crackers
being easier with to-go orders. I told him the experience I had and he
didn't seem too concerned.
I
expect that the real reason for crackers instead of bread was because of the
cost of the nice bag and plastic-ware. It wasn't cost effective to include
bread. In an effort to give a great customer experience with a nice bag and
utensils, they forgot the real reason that I was there. After the first visit,
I came away with a very nice surprise. I talked about it, I shared it, and
other people wanted to experience it. I didn't return for the bag and
plastic ware, I returned for a repeat experience. Sadly, I didn't get
it. Instead I got an experience that I can get at any number of places.
Soup and crackers. And, I can get that experience at a much lower cost
elsewhere. I didn't go there to pay for fancy bags and
utensils. Fancy bags and utensils are nice, but not at the expense of the
things that really matter. Even with them, it was a soup and crackers
experience.
Restaurant
B was a place that I had been to a couple of times. On this occasion, I ordered
a salad to go. It normally came with a soy sauce dressing. When I returned to
the office, there was no dressing. The salad was actually very good without it.
I was
traveling for the next couple of weeks and later returned to the
restaurant for lunch. I was warmly greeted by first name with a sincere apology
for forgetting the dressing. I had completely forgot about the missing
dressing. They informed me that they had been waiting for my return to make
things right. They then bought my lunch that day. Wow! I have never had this
happen after the fact without first having to mention the error.
Restaurant
B gave me a knock-your-socks-off experience in a world where excellent customer
service is rare. Yes, they may make a mistake or two here and there, but they
have made a huge deposit towards my continued patronage. They have gained
a customer for life.
Think
about the things that you do for your customers on a regular basis. Are they
routine experiences like soup and crackers? What simple things can you do to
give your customers a knock-your-socks-off experience? These are all
things that will raise your company to a higher level
than your competitors. These small things will also gain you
life-long customers.
Thanks
to Restaurant B, The Zen House, in downtown Duluth for great food, and a knock-your-socks-off
attitude towards customer service.
