You’ll lose customer’s trust if you break your promise
Marketing Tips 101 – Fulfil the promises you made to your customers, and you will gain their loyalty.
Marketing Tips 102 – Good things travel fast via word of mouth…but bad things travel faster.
Last year, I’ve had this bad experience of dining in an Italian-based restaurant in Avenue K. It was my 2nd time eating there. The food was quite good, though a bit pricey. That was why i asked the waiter whether the previous discount was still valid – 30% for Citibank card holder. He said yes. So my friends and I sat down, ordered our food and eventually went to the counter to pay our bill.
Funny thing was…when I handed my Citibank card, the discount was only 10%. I asked the cashier to check properly since the other waiter told me it was 30%. So the cashier asked the waiter to come, and the waiter actually acted stupid and said no, he did not say that. My friend and I looked blankly at each other. And the cashier has this look on her face that I really hate – it’s as if I was trying to cheat her.
I’m not someone who becomes angry easily especially in public places…… but at that moment, i said loudly at the cashier and the waiter “If you said it wrongly, then you should apologize. I am OK with it. But you didn’t, and your expression is trying to say I lied. Sorry, THIS IS THE LAST TIME I COME HERE. And you don’t expect my friends and colleagues to come here too”.
I paid and walked off. Since that day, none of my friends go there anymore.
This is a classic example of customer relationship went wrong. What the waiter should have done was to apologize and things would not be as bad as it has become. But well….things like this do happen a lot…. such as the shop telling you if you buy A, you’ll get B for free……but in the end, they said there are some technical issues and decided to give you C instead.
People should really start learning the 2 marketing tips above – I’ve learnt them both from the legendary Seth Godin. 
That’s a classic. I have a feeling the waiter just wanted to save his butt. Somewhere along the way, we learn that telling the truth can be more painful than telling a lie, especially when livelihoods are at stake. Common human problem.
Damien Tan
23 Jul 08 at 8:23 am
@ Damien
Yea, in the end, both the cashier and the waiter don’t own the business. Who cares if the business lose one customer?
Alvin Lim
23 Jul 08 at 4:50 pm
this is the power of ”word of mouth”…hehe~
one last time, i was part time sales associate in a boutique. one of the customers, i took a the ‘right’ which she used to wear and she requested for it…after tailored..she said –> THIS IS NOT MY SIZE…<–@@”
i was panic but i still want to fight for it as i didnt think that was my fault…at last, i proved it by provided the last purchase slip to her…
almost the same situation mah…just that, this time was in cutomer’s side…what can I do then?…
sometimes, people just do not want to admit their faults or mistakes..lies are the thing we learned for all these while…telling the truth, isnt a good idea…this will make ourselves feel embarrass..even i myself, i will not admit it but i will turn a way round to tell a nicer ‘lies’..-_-”
sugarbaby
25 Jul 08 at 1:44 pm
You’re right, the owner probably wouldn’t ever know about this incident. That’s why you should email the owner.
As for the waiter, I think it was “survival instincts” that prompted him to lie. On the other hand, he wasn’t smart enough to realise that there wasn’t any way to back out from this matter, and it would have been better to be honest and gain sympathy instead of contempt.
Then again, he probably thought a job as “simple” as a waiter’s doesn’t require any brain power. Having worked in the food and beverage industry, you’d be surprised by the extent employees believe in “low pay = low brain wattage”. They defy common sense to the point that you’d never ever entrust these people to watch over your kid for more than 5 seconds. But the worst part is how this mentality, or lack of, actually causes more harm to themselves than to the company, e.g. your experience. If the waiter who served you had given some thought, he could have salvaged the situation. Instead, now he’s about one email or phone call away from unemployment.
The Big Movie Freak
25 Jul 08 at 2:34 pm
@ sugarbaby
yeap, i do know that some customers are idiots. they always think that “customers are always right”, but customers are NOT always right. sometimes, they just want to save face for themselves in front of everyone, and start blaming the poor shopkeepers.
The other day, i was in Honda service centre, and i saw this uncle who was just driving a civic or accord (not ferrari or BMW). The person attending to him at the counter went out for toilet break or to run some urgent errands, and that old uncle started shouting (it was only 5 min) and wanted to cut queue (the next person was me). How unreasonable. =_=
In terms of telling better “lies”. sometimes it’s useful, but in my opinion, i still think the best thing to do is to admit you don’t know and you’re sorry. don’t try to act smart and tell people “lies”. if he sees through your “lies”, you’re doomed.
@ The Big Movie Freak
I wouldn’t bother emailing the owner. It happened > 1 year ago anyway.
To be honest, if he was being honest, i will surely go back to the restaurant again, and so will my colleagues n friends.
Hmm…but i think those waiters should know that if they can spend just 20% more of their brainpower when they work…..they might just excel and become the supervisor =_= Why wanna stay the same with the rest of the group?
Alvin Lim
25 Jul 08 at 4:04 pm
Because there are not enough supervisor jobs to cater to everybody. So some of us has to become the ones that are contented with what they have in life, and there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that. That’s the problem we have in our Asian culture; if we’re not a manager/supervisor, we’re worse than worthless, which is unfair and untrue. In the Western countries, the garbage collectors are paid enough to have a decent life (unlike here), and they’re happy and contented to the point that they can be such polite and smiling people (also unlike here).
On the other hand, I agree that low pay shouldn’t give you the licence to be dumb. You may think you’re only causing inconveniences to everybody except yourself, but that is actually quite far from the truth.
The Big Movie Freak
28 Jul 08 at 11:05 am
@ The Big Movie Freak
I think what you meant is developed countries. Also, those staying in a small town in the States might have very different situation from those in big cities.
Actually, not all western countries are like that.
And in asia, i think those in SG are not as bad as those in Jakarta. Different countries have different cultures kua.
Mmm, but those who chose not to utilize their brain…maybe that’s why they’re at the bottom of the food chain? :-\
Alvin Lim
28 Jul 08 at 8:18 pm
I work with waiters everyday and some are great but many others are just in a cloud. When they make a mistake the hotel, restaurant, or bar pays the price with a lost customer.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager
banquet managers last blog post..The Tables Are Turned
banquet manager
26 Aug 08 at 1:26 am
@ banquet manager
Maybe that is why the floor mgr or supervisor should monitor them closely to ensure they don screw up. Because nowadays, everything is so competitive….u screw up, u chased 1 customer away…and he most probably will not return to ur place ever.
Alvin Lim
26 Aug 08 at 10:17 am
Well said Alvin, but managers are spread so thin that monitoring the staff takes second place to the other 25 things many of us are forced to do. I don’t like it but it is a fact of life in this business. Take care.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager
banquet manager
29 Aug 08 at 11:11 am
@ banquet manager
That’s always a case. The “bosses” would fully utilize everyone they have, including the managers. When you are too occupied with other things, monitoring the staff might not come into the top 10 things you need to prioritize. And there you go….the staff doing things which may screw up the business…and the managers got penalized for not monitoring the staff………but in the end the person who got “hurt” the most would be the business and the business owners.
Take care and thanks for coming.
Alvin Lim
29 Aug 08 at 1:02 pm