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Sara's Story
- Part 2
Last month featured
a “what would you do?” dilemma.
Sarah, the waitress,
was torn between a wife whose husband had been served a meal while she waited
as her food arrived cold forty-five minutes later. The wife did not want
to pay while Sarah’s manager insisted that a meal had been served and
the customer would be charged. The question posed to you the reader was what
Sarah should do.
There was a
tremendous response from you, the readers! Reactions and suggestions
included:
“Give them discount coupons and ask them to
come back again.”
“Ask the manager to speak to the customers and explain the restaurant’s stupid position.” (There were many variations on the “Have them talk to her manager” theme.) “Charge them for the husband’s meal.” There were also
some editorial comments:
“Her boss is a bonehead and is never going to
make it in the restaurant business with an attitude like that.”
“Sarah should look for another job.” “The manager should be fired.” And my personal
favorite:
“The lady should get a new husband, the inconsiderate
bastard.”
A few of you
guessed what Sarah did:
She went to the couple, apologized, and told
them the meal would be taken care of and they would not have to pay.
She then went to her manager and told him that she had paid for the meal out of her own pocket. Sarah was able to avoid being insubordinate
and also able to avoid having the customer cause a scene.
Lest you think Sarah was not concerned about
her own needs, she left that job shortly after the incident.
PS: The restaurant is no longer in business. So what’s to
be learned from this story?
We are all in the personal-attention and quick-response
business with our customers and clients. No matter what we sell,
at the end of the day, that’s what we have to deliver. I would suggest that the more “Sarah’s” you
have in your company, the better you will be able to respond to your
customer/client needs. Company rules and policies for dealing with clients are necessary. Unfortunately, rules are often black and white and life is gray. Ask yourself
this question:
“How much leeway do I give my employees to use
their best judgment when dealing with a customer?”
You hire employees for
their brains. Make sure you let them use those brains.
Readers: Thanks for all the GREAT responses! Feel free to drop me a line at any time! |
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Michael Bryant is the founder of CTS Consulting,
Inc., formerly known as Career Transition
Services, a Baltimore-based career/management consulting
firm. He can be reached at 410-444-5857 or
mb3126@gmail.com
Visit his website at: http://www.go2CTSonline.com Need to START getting your personal and professional life under control? Nationally-renowned business consultant Michael Bryant has the answers for you in his STOP IT! series. Whether you have a problem succeeding in business, managing time, communicating effectively or balancing life's many demands; Michael's simple yet insightful suggestions will give you the tools you need to GET STARTED! It's time to STOP wondering how successful your life could be and START making the changes that truly matter! |
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