Great service / Poor food

I am sure you are like us and get tired of leftover turkey after the second or third day after Thanksgiving so you decide to go out to dinner for a change of scenery. You decide to try a restaurant that either someone has suggested or is new to you.

You are seated at your table and are greeted immediately. You think WOW great start… You order your food and decide to start with an appetizer. The drinks and appetizer arrive in a timely manner. The chips con queso appetizer doesn’t have a great presentation and has no flavor. The entrees arrive shortly after the appetizer and they look awesome. You can kind of overlook the appetizer now. You take a couple bites out of your entrees and they also have no flavor. The server is very attentive so decide not to complain. The manager visits your table at the end of the meal because you have a Groupon and he must scan it. He asks if you had been there before and you say a long time ago. He gives you a free appetizer and welcomes you back. How sad it is that you won’t be back even with a free appetizer card because food is so tasteless.

Great food / Poor service

Okay it’s Saturday night and you want to go have a nice casual dinner. You pick a nice location that serves BBQ food. The restaurant has nice decor however you get a small table in the event room and the room is very cold. You wait for your server and when she arrives after you have been waiting for quite some time you decide to order drinks and entrees at the same time. Drinks are served in a short time with some warm cornbread and butter. Entrees are served in 25 minutes and by this time you are starving. Food is great. Meat is tender just need a couple items and server doesn’t return for quite some time to check on you. At the end of the meal your server drops the check and never mentions dessert or takes the dirty dishes. The manager sees this and stops by to pick up plates and you then ask for dessert to go. How sad is it that you have quality food however probably won’t return to this location because of the slow service.

Do you value your customers?

If you value your customers then you must have great service and a quality product to give a great customer experience. Why would a customer refer or return when they don’t feel you value their business?

Positive word of mouth recommendations are considered the best way to generate new business. But, think of the value added when your customer can say that you “delivered” everything as promised? Your customer is in the “driver’s seat.”

If your customer is unhappy, their ultimate power is to take their money to your competition that values their business more than you do.

When you fail to meet the expectations of your customer, don’t expect that customer to refer or return…

I love helping restaurants give quality customer experiences. If you go out to dinner or lunch and you feel you don’t get the quality of food or service you deserve please feel free to email me Debbie@thehartexperience.com with the details of your experience. I will reach out to the restaurant owner and/or general manager and help them get a fresh perspective on their customer experience.

If you are a restaurant owner and you would like to know what happens in your restaurant when you aren’t there contact The Hart Experience to evaluate your customer experience. Debbie@thehartexperience.com 602.717.3271