Recently we "celebrated" my wife's 40th birthday at the Seven Seas Restaurant in Mandan, North Dakota with our two children.
This particular restaurant has been a favorite of my wife's. Over the years, we have enjoyed many good meals at The Seven Seas - usually during a celebration or special occasion. We celebrated 20 plus years ago for prom, stayed at the hotel on our wedding night (had the first breakfast of our marriage), and celebrated Christmas there with co-workers. There is history there for our family.
My wife loves The Seven Seas. One of the reasons my wife wanted to eat there on her birthday is because they provide a nice birthday cake. It is a nice way to celebrate...
When we arrived, we were the only people there. The food was ok to good. This time, the prices seemed high for what we received. The waitress was attentive and pleasant.
When we were finished eating our main course, I shared with the waitress that it was my wife's birthday and that we would like the birthday cake. What happened next shocked me.
Before I share the rest of the story, please allow me to share what an opportunity it is to find out that it is someone's birthday... One's birthday is typically very special to them. Therefore, whoever thought about the concept of providing a birthday cake on one's birthday at this restaurant is/was brilliant. Lots of positive emotion potential here. Positive emotions leads to a higher likelihood of repeat business.
Back to the story... I asked about getting a birthday cake for my wife... The response from the waitress was an immediate and pleasant, "We are not supposed to push desserts right now because it is Valentine's Day weekend." For the record, it was not Valentine's Day. It was two days before Valentine's Day.
Wait a moment. The Seven Seas is supposed to be a fine dining experience and desserts are not part of the menu? We were confused. "Shocked" does not describe how we felt. After the waitress left, my wife sadly said, "It isn't my fault I was born so close to Valentine's Day."
There was a time when it was a real treat to eat at this restaurant. The Seven Seas defined "fine dining" in the area. Unfortunately, that time has passed. Perhaps "fine dining" today really means, "hurry up, eat your food, and leave so that we may turn the table." If that is the case, the price should have been less than half what it was...
What happened next was perhaps even more fascinating. I went to the checkout counter to pay. The person behind the counter noticed that we seemed upset and said something to the effect, "Everything must not have gone well." I did not say anything back. I was still in disbelief.
A missed opportunity to make it right.
After departing, I called the restaurant manager. An apology was made and that was it. The manager acknowledged the "Valentine's Day no push on dessert policy". No offer was made to make it right. We spent a good deal of money on the meal that was in my opinion damaged greatly. I then called the hotel general manager. She acknowledged that the temporary "no push on dessert policy" had backfired. She offered to make it right and took my name and number. That was several days ago. No word yet.
Another missed opportunity to make it right.
What went wrong?
It is difficult to say exactly what one thing went "wrong" that lead to this Customer Service situation. If I were the management, I would want to understand how something like this could have happened. What "mindset" lead to this happening in the first place? More importantly, how does one make sure this does not happen again in the future?
My analysis follows...
From my experience it takes three strong "elements" working together to create a powerful Customer Experience - The Right Talent, Systems, and Culture.
The Right Talent - Without the right "type" of people, the Customer Experience will never be what it could be. The waitress did a pretty good job. She was attentive and sincere. She seemed to really care. She was doing what she was told to do. One cannot fault the waitress in this situation.
The Right Systems - Without a systematic approach, the Customer Experience will vary from time to time and person to person. For the most part, the system worked. However... I think a strong part of the Customer Experience is the presentation of meal options that maximize enjoyment of the experience. That did not happen. We were not allowed to have dessert. It was Valentine's Day weekend...
The Right Culture - Without the right culture that is carefully and continuously managed, the Customer Experience will likely be inconsistent. If one is building the Customer Mindset that your restaurant is a "fine dining experience" one does not cut corners on Valentine's Day or any day for that matter. The Culture of the organization is set by the leadership. All problems "start at the head". In my opinion, management "leadership" set the tone for this to happen. Management violated the culture of the restaurant in this case by encouraging the wait staff to refrain from offering desserts in order to deal with the anticipated heavy Valentine's Day traffic.
Whether you are a restaurant, ski resort, airline, or a hospital, there are lessons to be learned here.
Customer Service Recommendations
- Decide what you really are. Are you a fine dining experience or just another restaurant? I am not passing judgment. Just be what you say you are.
- Be consistent. Whatever you say you are - be it - consistently.
- Maintain integrity. If you are unable to be who you are when you are exceedingly busy, cut back. Do not "trade" who you are for making more money delivering something you are not.
- Recover quickly. Things do go wrong. It happens. Expectations are missed. It is life. It is what one does about the non-optimal Customer Experiences that matters. Recovery is an opportunity.
Next time I believe we will eat at Paradiso where the "chips are free" and "dinner is extra".
Seems like more and more the "hospitality" industry is failing to live up to its name. In the last few weeks I've eaten out several times. Once we waited for 15 minutes to get our order taken and had to ask for silverware twice (Grizzly's). Once we waited 30 minutes for our lunch to show up because the order didn't get placed(TGI Fridays). And once I got double-charged on my debit card, putting a substantial held charge on my account for several days.
Only once did we get great service... last night at the Ground Round. Fast, friendly, ACCURATE service. Thank you Krystal!
Like the Kevin Smith episode with Southwest Airlines, it sometimes takes calling a company out in public to make things right. I know I will take your report into consideration prior to my next "fine dining" experience.
Posted by: BeBizzy | February 17, 2010 at 10:21 AM