How to Make Up for a Bad Guest Experience

I recently splurged on a nice dinner. The food was great, but the servers were absent. And I’m okay with that.

My partner and I sat next to each other at a Brazillian steakhouse. We could see two parties on the other side of the restaurant – each taking up two to three long tables. The servers were rushing around, and the restaurant was full elsewhere, too, so we got the least attention.

Still, when servers came and went, we were always pleasant. After all, it genuinely wasn’t their fault. How were they supposed to fully control two large and rowdy parties while maintaining an entirely full restaurant?

The manager approached us just before we got our check (we never complained) and handed us two vouchers for free food. We were already thrilled by that!

He handed us a dessert menu, but we turned him down because we had already racked up a decent bill.

“Free of charge,” he said, “It’s on me.”

We picked out our favorite dessert, which was brought out on a plate with chocolate sauce, and read, “Thank you.”

The service during the meal was nonexistent, but I’m so excited to go back again.

Of course, free desserts and fancy plates are a lot to ask for – there are much simpler and cheaper ways to bring a customer back in.

It can be as simple as addressing the issue; 64 percent of customers get frustrated when “their problems fail to be acknowledged” when they have a bad experience.

Just an acknowledgment can be easy enough to soothe your upset customer – it’s as simple as that.

Pick the right person

Having a good sense of communication is important.

If the manager couldn’t express himself effectively, my partner and I probably wouldn’t have felt as good as we did. He defined the issue and why it was a problem. He thanked us for our patience and explained why he gave us all the perks he did (other tables weren’t as forgiving as us). And he did it all with a smile.

It’s important to pick the right person to smooth things over – but also be sure to pick the right customers. Someone making a scene or being excessively rude over a small, accidental issue might not deserve the benefits you’re ready to give them.

Train your employees

No one likes owning up to their mistakes, but sometimes, when things go south, it is our fault. The situation never would’ve happened if we just did something a little bit differently. This is the case with untrained employees.

One place my partner worked at hardly trained anyone. They’d bounce new hires from department to department, never allowing them to learn one or the other fully.

So, of course, things would become a mess, and customers would be disappointed.

Prevent bad experiences from ever happening by giving your employees the attention and training they need.