Today, I had a downright perplexing situation at a local food chain. My son and I go in to share a "pick 2" off the menu. I get a strawberry poppyseed chicken salad (my favorite of the summer) and my son gets mac-n-cheese with bacon. The total was $18. That's a lot for one meal at a fast casual restaurant, in my opinion. We get the plate of food and my son's cup of mac-n-cheese is half full. Now, I'm generally not a big complainer, but when I see something that just doesn't feel right I will say something. Walking back to the food station with my plate in hand, I express my concern. To be clear, I wasn't rude, but I was direct. The manager pretty much brushed me off and said foods were portioned out. Now I realize most businesses, including myself, have used many cost-reducing tactics to stay profitable. She was incredibly dismissive, and I walked away saying I had been coming here for years and something wasn't right. As I took my plate back to the table, there was no way this was going to work for my son. I was going to have to buy something else for him to eat soon enough. In that split second, I had a choice to make as a customer. Let it rest and eat the food, or say no thank you. In my gut, I instantly knew what I would do. I grabbed the plate, my wallet and walked back up to ask for a full refund. The manager didn't blink and had an associate give me the refund, while she turned on her heels and walked back into the kitchen never saying a word.
What amazed me was how she could have reacted to my "complaint" with empathy, still explaining how the food was portioned out and apologizing. Instead, she completely disregarded me as a customer. I felt unheard, unwelcome and underappreciated. One additional scoop of macaroni would have solved the whole thing. Even worse, my full plate of food sat on the counter to be tossed into the garbage. She, the manager of a national food chain restaurant in Bellevue, WA, was so wrapped up in a scoop of macaroni and cheese, she lost a customer.
Immediately following, my son and I walked right into the neighboring Red Robin, ordered two full meals, with bottomless fries and drinks for $50 and great customer service. Paying more than double, it was never really about the money or the food. It was about the service.
This isn't the first time I've had bad customer service. In recent years, it is almost more surprising and a novelty to experience great customer service than not. This is not right.
Customer service has always been high on my priority list as a business owner. I have bent over backwards and lost money to ensure I didn't lose a customer. I started working at a fast-food burger joint at the age of 15 and many retail jobs after that. One of the best places I learned about true customer service was actually at a shoe store I worked at. The manager of the store was pretty diligent about making the customer happy. She even taught me how to properly count change back (a serious pet peeve of mine!) and keep an organized till. Over the years, I've learned a lot about de-escalating situations. As a business owner, I'm the only one to deal with these situations. Expedia also taught me a lot about customer service. I had many hotel partners yelling at me over the phone. Or, I had to get stern with a hotel partner or two who wasn't following the contract. However, I always tried to maintain a professional tone and stick to the facts.
In my decade of business ownership, I've really only had a handful of unhappy customers. It was usually a misunderstanding of expectations. One time, I totally messed up on an order. The arrangement was smaller than it was supposed to be. The recipient of the flowers sent a picture to the sender, who didn't like the size and complained. In this case, I totally messed up! I could have made excuses. I didn't. I apologized and explained what happened. To try and smooth things over, I offered a small refund or credit on a future purchase. I thought I'd lost her forever. To my surprise, she thanked me for the prompt action and honesty and said she'd be back in the near future to order more flowers.
10 Ways to De-Escalate an Angry Customer:
- Put yourself in the customer's shoes - Always start by thinking how you might feel if the roles were reversed. Empathy goes a long way. Say something like, "I'm so sorry you experienced this or thank you for bringing this to my attention." It doesn't necessarily mean you agree, but it means you acknowledge their experience.
- Sit on it for the night - Sometimes, a business owner can get pretty frustrated with a customer's delivery too. I've found responding in the heat of the moment is not a good idea. Take a night or at least a few hours to organize your thoughts and feelings before reaching out to the customer.
- Be honest. This doesn't mean you need to necessarily go into a big, long explanation of what happened but briefly explain the misunderstanding.
- Stick to the facts and don't point the finger. Leave opinions and assumptions out. I leave words out like you, I or me. Instead, use the customer or First & Bloom. It takes the directness out of the conversation.
- Offer the customer a peace offering - You don't have to refund the whole order. Depending on how difficult the situation is, offer a $10-20 credit or refund the delivery fees. If it's a major mistake, perhaps refund the whole amount or replace the item. Again, think about how you might feel in their shoes. We've all experienced mistakes as customers too. Refunding a small portion can go a long way! I always said, "to smooth things over or to make up for my error."
- Try to take the high road - What if you feel like they are taking advantage of you? This is definitely tricky, but I never burned bridges with blazing flames. I usually always took the high road and extended a refund of the delivery fees. Oftentimes, they actually turned down the refund because they just wanted to be heard and validated.
- Customers have a voice - Think twice. In this day and age, customers have a powerful voice. I've seen many people post on Facebook groups or websites who leave nasty reviews. This can be very damaging to a business. And, if a customer does leave a nasty review, respond in a professional manner. Follow the same steps as above. Other potential customers will be able to read between the lines and make their own judgement.
- Let it go - Think twice about whether it's worth it to keep going back and forth with the customer or moving on. Sometimes, it's just best to issue a refund and walk away politely.
- Room for growth - I admit I cringe sometimes at hearing negative feedback about my business. Consider this feedback an opportunity to improve overall. If many customers are complaining about the same scenario, maybe the business needs to fix the issue. Businesses MUST be willing to hear the bad in order to grow. Sometimes customers give feedback because they care. Absorbing that feedback and finding solutions can create customer loyalty. Don't just settle for a broken process. Fix it.
- Own it - When possible, make sure to let the customer know you are the owner. This makes a customer truly feel heard and important to the business. I have always been impressed with a restaurant manager who comes to check on the table or follow up on a whoopsie. Also, as the owner, use that time as a teaching moment to correct the staff or revisit the process.
Every situation is different, I know. I'm not perfect, either.
One time, I got into a tiff with a wholesale customer. We were working on a very large order together in a high stress situation. We had a disagreement about $40. Would he eat the cost or me? I said something I shouldn't have. While we worked it out in the end (I absorbed the $40), I regret saying what I said. Our businesses kind of went in different directions, but now we no longer partner together. I regret jeopardizing the business relationship in the first place. It just wasn't worth it.
The bottom line is, it's usually less about the mistake and more about the recovery. I can think of so many times in my past when I've been to a restaurant and the order was messed up in some way. A server or manager who sees the big picture will smooth it over by taking a drink or meal off the bill and say sorry for the mix-up. That's all that's needed is a simple apology and acknowledgement.
In the end, isn't that what we all want, to be heard?
