…continued from part 1,
Now, on to ‘dessert’. One evening during the convention, my boss, a client and I wanted to grab some dinner. We ended up settling on Mexican food and made our way to Oh! Mexico restaurant. We had reservations already but were given the option of eating outside. Our hostess suggested indoors since the sky that night suggested rain. We were seated and our orders were taken. Suddenly, the roof above us began leaking water down onto our table and drinks.
The hostess came over and promptly apologized, relocating us to another table. The owner then stopped over and informed us that our entire evening’s bill would be on-the-house. We were blown away by the swift response, politeness, and fantastic customer service shown to first-time patrons. Just to be clear, we had only been sitting at the first table for five minutes. No food had been served. No water had landed on us. Yet the owner simply did the right thing, actually more than the right thing. I would highly recommend any traveler to stop by their establishment.
Well, there you have it. My high’s and low’s of customer service experiences. First impressions are sometimes everlasting. I urge you to think about the impression that you and your marketing material are making upon others. Whether it’s your logo, staffing website, brochure or sales force, or even your receptionist, make sure you send a consistent corporate message and it creates the correct first impression. It may be the only chance you have.