Here is another great question. Should I answer this as the customer or should I answer it as an employee or as an owner of a business? We have all heard this question a thousand times before, especially all of us in the hospitality industry. Some of us have even been lucky enough to have been called out in front of dozens of people when the “customer” is reminding you that they are always right. They start talking louder and louder to eventually you feel so uncomfortable that you give in and give them what they want just so they stop yelling in your face. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to bring up any bad memories you may have buried in the back of you mind. On the other hand, I am sure that there are some of us, yes, some of you who have thought that you were always right because you were the customer.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I care deeply about what I do. I want every guest to have a fantastic dining experience. I want everyone to have a great time from the second they walk in the door until they make it home. It used to be said that if you go out to dinner and loved it you may tell 3-5 people. On the other hand, it is also said that if you go out and have a bad experience you tell ten times that many people. Hmm. That tells me everything! In today’s world with sites like Twitter and Facebook, I think those numbers are very conservative. If I go out tonight and have a bad time because the service is lousy, bathrooms are filthy and the food is bad, how many people can I tell now? Within seconds I can hop on the internet and post my bad experience at “Restaurant X”, and with the few hundred of people who are following me on those sites the word spreads a lot faster than the thirty or so people I could have told years ago. Not only that but I could whip at my cell phone and take a picture of your filthy ass bathrooms. Think about how that could spread, nothing is a secret anymore! All eyes are wide open.
Now that you know that the power of the internet is massive, and your business is under the microscope. I hope you think twice before you decide to argue with the customer when they want to substitute the polenta for the risotto. Why would you not want to make them happy? You are going to let your business suffer because the chef thinks that the polenta is the only thing that would go well with the lamb chops. He can blow it out his a..!! We are in the hospitality business, people are coming out to have a good time and relax. They are not there to argue with the waiter because the stubborn ass chef who is sitting in the back is too lazy to go into the walk-in to get the risotto off the lunch shelf. See how motivated he is to go to unemployment when the restaurant goes out of business. He doesn’t care, and it’s your money invested into the restaurant. Fire him!! I don’t allow anyone to say “no” to the customer, I try my best to give them what they are looking for. Sometimes it is tough, you can be shorted handed or buried with tickets in the kitchen but it goes a long way to give them what they want. I know that there are certain customers that are always looking for something free. They are the ones that are always miserable and never happy. I doesn’t do anyone any good for the chef or the front of the house manager to argue with them if the customer thinks his filet mignon is overcooked. It doesn’t matter that the filet mignon may be cooked perfectly, they are obviously not happy, and we need to give them what they want immediately. Next time you are in this situation please think about who is right before you answer them. You may be right, but put on a smile and give them what they want. That is the most important thing to do if you want to succeed in business.
QUESTION OF THE DAY (QOTD) WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE RIGHT, BUT GAVE IN ?
THANKS,
BILL
Good advice! Plus, it’s nice to hear about it from the chef’s or restauranteur’s perspective. I rarely complain at the restaurant, but I definitely tweet and tell my friends what I think!
I totally agree with everything. Back in college we were taught that “the guest is always right”. The day I stepped foot in my first hotel my F&B Director told me, “the guest is not always right, however he is still your guest!” Good point. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. Do what you have to do to correct the situation! That’s
I once worked with a great chef ( two James Beard awards) who told me once “the customer is almost always and without a doubt wrong” At the time I thought he was just being difficult but after many many years in this business I have come to agree. What he was trying to say is that, at least in theory, your staff knows your menu and wine list better than the customer, they are trained and motivated to sell your product. They taste your food daily and have almost as much passion for it as you do. When a guest asks for a special order they might SUGGEST trying it the way it is prepared, unless its an allergy or religious thing. If someone says “I don’t eat beets, give me the salad without them”, maybe they shouldn’t have the beet salad. I am fortunate to work in a very busy restaurant and usually allow special orders about 99% of the time but have said no on occasion. We spend a lot of time training and motivating front of house staff and have found this alone will eliminate a lot of this,the more training they get the more ammunition they have when encountering these issues. We strive to make the guest happy but we also have to cook with integrity and passion, and your staff has to feel empowered. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to cook for the amount of people we do everyday ( sometimes over 1000), we feel strongly about the quality of the products we use so we might ( in a tactful way) try to not budge on wacky requests, although I usually give in, most of the time it’s just easier than arguing. But there are people you won’t make happy and I’d rather keep my staff happy than a small minority of customers.