Some can be perfect all the time. All can be perfect sometimes. But everyone can’t be perfect all the time. It is true for restaurants as well. There will be times when the food that reaches the customer table turns out to be late, or cold or sometimes not what was ordered. It becomes very crucial to know how to handle such situations to recover your reputation and maintain good customer relation. Here we will walk you through three easy steps of listening, apologising and correcting the issue at hand to tackle any such situation in the best manner possible.

Identify the Problem

To be able to solve any problem requires the problem to be identified in the first place. To do this in most customer friendly manner we suggest you take care of the following.

• Listen to the customer without interrupting them as interruption may make them feel as though they should start over. Being attentive is important. Try to understand the situation from the customer’s point of view. Try and understand what is the actual problem instead of assuming what you think the problem is.
• Don’t contradict or argue with your customers, even if they may be wrong. This only increases frustration, complicating the situation instead of solving problems.
• Whatever you do, NEVER trivialize or minimize customer complaints. For example, if customer complains about food being cold, never say “It happens sometimes, it’s no big deal.” This would only make things worse.
• Be sure to clarify what the customer says. This can be done in two easy ways. First is where you ask the questions which would get you a reply with an explanation of what exactly the problem is. The other alternative is where you rephrase and repeat what the customer has said as a question; and if the reply is affirmative that means you have clearly understood what the customer was trying to convey.
• Stay calm, composed and express that you are concerned. Avoid smiling or laughing when listening to customer’s complaints. Have a concerned look on your face. If the customer uses profanity or yells rudely, never respond in the same manner.

Resolving the complaint

Once the problem has been understood clearly, you can work towards resolving them as effectively as possible.

• The first step to resolve any problem starts with apologising to the customer. While doing so make sure you sound sincere even if it is not your fault or if you don’t have any real reason to apologise.
• Most customers appreciate an explanation for the mistake but an excuse will surely put them off.
• A customer’s complaint must hold priority and should be acted upon quickly for instance if a customer’s complaint requires a re-order then the re-order should be brought ahead of other regular ones.
• Deciding a course of action as per situation crucial. Try to get inputs from the customer as to how he would have the situation rectified. Discuss it with your staff and superiors to see if it is possible. If it is, then act upon it instantly, else offer an alternative that will suit the situation.
• Make sure you share the issue with your teammates so that any such situation can be avoided in the future. Don’t forget to thank the customer for bringing the issue to notice and how it will help you improve quality of your service in future.

Mistakes do happen, we are all humans after all. It is how you react and take actions that define how much you care about improving customer’s experience and how valuable they are to you.

With these tips, you are now ready to deal with any such situation in the most efficient manner.