Traditional marketing programs teach the “4 P’s of Marketing”: price, place, product and promotion. Today, we also have to think about the “3 C’s of Hospitality Marketing”: customer experience, customer service, and customer satisfaction. This month we explore how vital good customer service is in the food business — it’s all about personal interaction with customers as they enjoy your product or restaurant.
Keep Customers Happy. Customers who leave your restaurant happy are more inclined to spread positive word-of-mouth, which is still the most effective way to promote your restaurant. And you definitely want the word-of-mouth to be positive — unhappy customers are much more likely to spread negative comments farther and faster than the positive ones.
Renowned restaurateur and president of Union Square Hospitality Group Danny Meyer recently said, “When I’m dining out, I know that the restaurant and I have the same goal: that I leave there happier than I arrived.” Encourage your customers to alert the staff or manager if any problems arise, so corrections can be made on the spot.
Complaints are bound to happen and should be regarded with the utmost significance, not explained away as the fault of the customer. Unhappy customers usually speak silently by taking their business elsewhere, so consider yourself lucky if you have a chance to correct the problem. Even if the complaint is not your fault, show your customers that you care enough about their experience to do your best to make it a good one. Usually an acknowledgement of the problem and acceptance of responsibility will often go a long way towards a solution.
Also try to head off complaints by having your wait staff ask customers throughout the course of their meal if anything can be done to enhance their dining experience. Whether dealing with a regular customer or with someone you may never see again, good service is about building a relationship that will help you provide the best product.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for service personnel to react to special requests as if they’re an imposition. Everybody has a bad day now and then, but this is not acceptable at any time! Other food businesses have a “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude that severely limits their chances of success. It pays to be flexible when you depend on something as subjective as individual taste — excellent service could be the deciding factor when customers choose to give you their business. Customers should be made to feel welcome, comfortable, and even indulged.
What if a customer is just obnoxious? Rude customers abound, but surely everyone knows two wrongs never make a right. In this instance staff should try not to react defensively while any problems are graciously corrected and they continue to provide the best customer service possible. There may come a time when a customer acts so badly you don’t ever want them to return, and especially when you risk losing other happy customers. In extreme cases, it’s completely legitimate to refuse service. If that ever happens, make sure to be direct, professional, and respectful as they leave.
The Customer Relationship. This means building strong business relationships with customers, and taking customer service to the next level. Gather customer feedback with comment cards and surveys so you can identify opportunities and problem areas. This gives you a chance to correct mistakes after the fact and ultimately deepens the relationship on both sides. Once you know your customers better, you can develop services and products that will meet their ongoing needs. Not only will this give them more incentive to return, they will generate referrals that will compound your sales.
It’s important to extend your brand beyond the actual experience of your product by hosting special events and promotions, engaging customers in loyalty programs, and communicating with them regularly (but not too frequently) with printed or emailed newsletters or postcards.
Of course you should have a Web site, which not only can be utilized to stay in touch with customers but also to provide ready information for the press and other marketers. All of these tools help you bond with the customers while you gain a competitive advantage, generate positive word-of-mouth, and allow you to control the message you want customers to hear.
E-mail loyalty programs fall into the category of “permission marketing,” since a customer literally asks you to market to them when they give you their e-mail address. Savvy businesses realize that as the Internet grows by leaps and bounds every day, the success of permission marketing is growing right along with it. In recent years, direct marketers were satisfied with a 2-3 percent return on a promotion, but when someone invites you to market directly to them, their response rate increases to 25 percent.
Use your Web site to build your customer relationships in many ways. Ask for comments and suggestions, provide recipes, display photos and make them available to the press for download, promote special events, offer coupons, display your menu, promote your private parties, make announcements, and on and on. Get customers to visit your Web site through a link in an e-mail message or by a traditional advertising campaign, and think of ways to get them to interact with you once they get there. For example, if you have run newspaper ads on a special seasonal menu item, use it to direct customers to print out a coupon from your site. Contests, sweepstakes, and charity fundraisers are more good ideas for customer involvement.
Crisis Management. Most people don’t like to think about accidents or disasters happening, yet it’s wise to have a response plan just in case. What if you have an extended power outage? Think of how to deal with customers if this happens during service, as well as what to do with the food to prevent spoilage. Sometimes it will be necessary to cancel all the reservations and post signs on the door, so look at this an opportunity to show your customers you care about them by offering to have them reschedule with a dessert on the house at that time.
Be aware at all times if anyone on staff can administer CPR. If someone has a medical emergency while dining in your restaurant, call 911 so that professional help will be on its way as quickly as possible. Determine if there is a doctor in the house, and try to calm other customers. If someone claims to have gotten food poisoning in your restaurant, only the owner or manager on duty should handle this issue. Get as much information as possible, but realize that you may have no way of knowing whether or not such a claim is valid. Update the customer on the progress of the investigation.
Honesty is always the best policy. Stay on the customer’s good side by offering gift certificates if they have been inconvenienced, and be generous. Customers should know you care about them and want to keep their business. Even a crisis situation is an opportunity to provide excellent customer service!
