Contrary to popular belief, I actually met a couple at the restaurant who reads this blog. Who knew? While the few comments I have received have been from co-workers and family, it was refreshing to learn that perfect strangers, up till yesterday that is, occasionally dropped in to see what was on my mind. Interesting. Although, that is the point of a blog, isn’t it?
Well, I am back this week with a few words about service. What is it about great service? It can be something as small as a friendly smile welcoming you to the restaurant for the first time or a much appreciated glass of complimentary champagne to welcome you back for the tenth. Truth be told, quantifying service is rather difficult, it is the intangibles, the details and ultimately the feeling you get after you leave the restaurant that really makes the difference.
I will always remember the reception I got when I ducked into a wine shop on a cold and rainy afternoon in the small town of East Lansing, Michigan. The gentleman at the counter greeted me with a smile offered a towel to dry my head and face and proceeded to pour me a steaming cup of coffee. We talked at length about wine and food, his passion radiating with every word. Truth be told, I did not buy one bottle that day, but subsequently became my shop of choice during my “wine education” days at university. I always felt like I was going to visit a friend who just happened to know a lot about wine. I was a customer for life.
With every good service experience there seems to always be two or three bad ones not far behind. But, what I have learned that matters most is not necessarily the action but the reaction of the individual or business that matters most. One can simply shrug their shoulders and pretend that nothing happened or admit that they did not deliver on said promise and turn the situation around. Most of the time people understand and appreciate being looked after especially after something or someone has spoiled their experience. Human beings realize that things happen, and all they want is a sincere apology or acknowledgement of the situation. Honesty always trumps incompetence.
I would really like to hear feedback from all of you. Do you have a story about a great service experience, or one that simply made you furious?
Please tell. Till next time….
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About Me
- ChefTJM
- Thank you for your interest. I would like to welcome you to my blog. I am so grateful to be able to share with you my thoughts, inspirations and daily commentary. Many of you will recognize me from my time at WineGarage and now I am moving on to new and exciting projects here in Singapore. As always, please feel free to contact me, I would love to here your comments, questions and queries. Hopefully the second time around on this blog I will be able to write more frequently. All the best. Cheers!
1 comment:
Hi Travis,
On Valentines Day Jet Blue had a major PR/Customer Service debacle that had some major public backlash.. 9 hours on the runaway !! Yikes
Well last Fri. I was fortunate enough to go see family in Florida and also was taking my 89 year old grandmother w/ me. This was not the most stress free atmosphere (Logan Airport) at 9am!! and I was Flying JetBlue for the first time...
My grandmother was in a wheel chair and I was going thru the Security Area where the TSA agents deemed my grandmother a security risk and made her take off her shoes and made her get out of her wheel chair to go through the metal detector. During this period I had to make sure that all of our carry on bags made it safely thru this process additionally I had to then take the wheelchair back 25 yards thru another entry point so we could pick it up on the other side..needless to say things were happening quickly and were getting stressful .. behind us there was a man in a pilot's uniform but I really didn't notice much else.. as we were trying to take care of all these task's the TSA agents waived him ahead of us... he politely declined and helped me w/ the bags. We finally made it thru after the TSA deemed my Nana's pocketbook safe to travel. I then looked up to see that same pilot walking out of his way to get the wheelchair for us...He brought it over and I shook his hand to let him know how much I appreciated his help.. I didn't get a chance to see who he flew for at first... but once we got moving again we passed him and I noticed that he was a Jetblue pilot.
No wonder why JetBlue has such a great reputation .. little things like that encounter made a lasting impression on me as a consumer and a business owner.
JetBlue did all the right things after that incident on Valentines day (Customer Bil of Rights) (Public Apology) etc.. but acts such as that anonymous pilot is what true "Customer Service is all about"
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