Recover Right!

Do you work for an organization where everyone is perfect and mistakes are never made? I didn’t think so. As long as people are responsible for delivering products or services, there will be mistakes. How you handle those mistakes says volumes about the level of customer service you offer and the length of time your organization will be in business.

My wife and I found a great restaurant shortly after we moved to Orlando. It came very close to becoming one of our least favorite places to eat. Let me explain.

During one of our first visits, I was having lunch with my family and some of our out of town guests. I had ordered a sandwich and had taken my first bite when it happened… There was something in my sandwich that did not belong there. (In case some of you are reading this around meal time, I will spare you the details.)

I alerted the server and she apologized and took the sandwich back to the kitchen. A few minutes later the manager arrived at our table and also apologized and wanted to know how they could make up for this situation. I ordered another item and went about our conversation with our friends. It was a good choice and I enjoyed it much more than the original selection.

To be honest, I was expecting that they would have given me my replacement meal for free. When they brought me the check, the entire meal for my party was complimentary. This exceeded my expectations and turned what could have been a bad experience into one that transformed me into a very loyal customer. This is called “Guest Recovery.”

Since that day nearly seven years ago, I have been back to this restaurant over 20 times. (We had a lot of out of town guests our first few years in Orlando. I worked for Walt Disney World and we gave many of our friends and family free lodging and admission.) We made it a part of each family’s visit to take them to our favorite restaurant. The restaurant’s policy of guest recovery and their training of all employees resulted in a considerable amount of revenue for them over the past years.

Any business should have a plan in place so that every employee knows how to respond when their company makes a mistake. Many organizations train their managers on how to handle these situations, but their front line employees do not have a clue on how to respond to the customer. Many times you will hear, “I just work here.”

During my time as a “Cast Member” at Walt Disney World they did an excellent job of educating every employee on the importance of appropriate guest recovery when a mistake occurs. Organizations like Disney and the Ritz Carlton Hotel understand that how they handle mistakes can make the difference between someone never returning or becoming a loyal customer.

Great customer service organizations see an opportunity whenever a mistake occurs, regardless of whose fault it may be. This allows for personal contact with the customer where you can demonstrate how valuable they are to your business.

A simple, “I’m sorry” can go a long ways towards reducing the tension with a customer when a problem occurs, yet those words seem to be missing from our vocabulary. Once an organization accepts responsibility for a problem, most customers are reasonable and willing to forgive and move forward. So many people, especially front line employees, get defensive when a customer has a complaint or offers a suggestion.

Take a few minutes and review your guest recovery practices at your business or organization.

Do all employees know how to respond when a problem occurs?
Are your recovery policies appropriate for the mistake?
Do you look at these mistakes as opportunities or annoyances?
If you spot a trend in complaints, is this information utilized by the group delivering the product or service to make improvements?

Recover Right!