In a restaurant, not so far away, in the not so distant future, a telephone rings, a customer complains... and the battle begins!
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Handling customer complaints doesn't have to always be a battle, with the right tools and responses you can use complaints to your advantage; to help you build your business. B.L.A.S.T is a great tool that is used by companies such as Yum! (Parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, and Long John Silvers). Training their employees in the basics of handling customer complaints. The acronym stands for:
Believe
Listen
Apologize
Satisfy
Thank
How does your company deal with customer complaints? The easiest way to find out is to pick up the phone and play the role of the complaining customer. What happened? If you were an irritated customer, would you return? Using the B.L.A.S.T guidelines, allows you to create a standardized method for dealing with your complainers and turning them into loyal customers.
Believe
This is the cornerstone of handling a customer complaint. Yes, the customer may be lying and be incorrect about their situation. It is important to understand that your customer believes that your establishment has wronged them.
Listen
Stop and listen to your customer's complaint. I'm not certain whether it's natural instinct or just plain stubbornness. As soon as a customer starts to complain, we start to think of how we will respond to the accusation before we are done listening, and too often the case, already have the response ready to fight back. Take a second, relax, and listen. On occasion a complaining customer will be rude, angry, and use vulgar language, stay the course and remain calm and level headed.
When the customer is done venting; in a calm, non-judgmental tone, repeat their problem. An example I used in my KFC for a mispacked order:
"What I hear you saying is that, you came in ordered and paid for 10 Pieces of chicken and when you got home, you only received 8, is that correct?"
By repeating the problem at hand, you've demonstrated your ability to the customer that you koreatown spa heard and understood their problem.
Listen and clarify. Never defend or justify. The customer doesn't care if you were shorthanded or if you're having a bad day, they only care that they get taken care of. No excuses, just solutions.
Apologize
Always apologize even if you did nothing wrong. From your customers' perspective, they have a legitimate complaint, and they expect an apology. It could be as simple as "I'm sorry we've inconvenienced you." or "I'm sorry I know how frustrating it is to buy dinner for my family, only not to have everything there when I get home" A sincere apology will usually diffuse a lot of frustration that the customer has. There is an exception to this rule though, if a customer calls with a critical complaint, such as food poisoning, don't apologize, it may be construed as an acceptance of guilt, instead refer to your company's procedures for such events.
Satisfy
Make it right. Ask the customer "What can I do to make this right for you"? Be the judge of what is fair of course, but allow them the opportunity to feel empowered over the situation. Many times they may ask for the problem be taken care of on their next visit or maybe that you talk to the person who made the mistake and correct them. We used a great system of sending out a personalized postcard apologizing for the mistake, it was a couple of handwritten sentences (yes, many times with spelling mistakes from my team members), but it was personal and always well received. We always gave them the unexpected as well, maybe a free dessert or an extra side dish just to show that we cared about them.
Thank
At the beginning, at the end, in the middle; it doesn't matter, thank the customer for calling and complaining.
Why? With the simple act of complaining, your customer is telling you "I care about your business and your success". They are giving you the opportunity to fix the problem and invite them back so they can give you more of their money. Puts a different spin on it doesn't it? Thank them for giving you that second chance, for letting you know that something in your restaurant didn't work like it normally does, for giving you the chance to make it right, and for the opportunity not to damage your reputation!
Reputation? I had to throw that one in. You work hard, day in day out, trying the best to make your business the best, and yet one unhappy customer can take it away from you. A happy customer will tell two or three friends about a good experience, but an unhappy customer will tell at least ten friends about their experience and it always multiplies through word of mouth. Case in point, when I moved cross country to my new hometown, I was at a Chamber of Commerce event and being the new person in the group, I introduced myself and what we did. No sooner than five minutes passed did I get a list of 10 restaurants in my area that in their opinion were in "need of my services". Only one person gave me a good restaurant. I didn't ask, I was told. To this day I still haven't been to those restaurants as a customer, why do I want to give them my hard earned money, when they made my new friends unhappy? It may not be a rational thought, but it is human nature.
Will some people take advantage of your kindness? Of course, a rule of thumb I used in my restaurant was:
First time shame on me,
Second time shame on me, but I'm watching you,
Third time... Shame on you and I will make the decision on how I will deal with you as a customer.
Keep track of who calls to complain, names, phone numbers for follow up, addresses for your postcards. Using a binder and tracking your complaints, you will be able to detect and deter those that would take advantage of your new complaint procedures.
Adding B.L.A.S.T to your expanding toolbox of customer service tools will help you in dealing with customer complaints and turn them around so they can tell their friends what great service you have!
We always hear about men straying and having affairs. But we also know women can be capable of such things.
There are varied reasons why wives cheat on their husbands. Most often, unfaithfulness of wives stem from loneliness and boredom. Sometimes a liaison with another man is committed out of revenge for their cheating husbands. Here are some true stories:
Cheating Wife 1
A man notices his wife of twenty three years changes from being computer illiterate to an Internet addict in a matter of six months. His trust for her made him ignore the long hours she spent online with her "new friends" and even sending them gifts. Later on, her time for their children suffered too. It turned out she became obsessed with other men, even male prostitutes who solicit online.
His wife had become a totally different woman, influenced by the dark and perverted world she had embraced. She left her husband and family but not before doing as much damage as she can, making hideous accusations and horrid remarks to other family members.
Cheating Wife 2
Another man found out about his wife's three month long affair. She had slept with her lover several times over this period. Only after being confronted and being face-to-face with evidence did she confess. The husband was naturally devastated but forgave her so they can have a second chance and begin to rebuild their broken relationship. The wife was truly repentant and did her best to make up to her husband.
However, the pain remained inside. The husband did not know how to cope. He wondered if he should know more about the affair in order to get over it. The past just seemed to catch up and hurt him time and again. He forgave but could not forget.
Cheating Wife 3
Who could understand the madness that drove a man to kill his three year old daughter? A subsequent trial revealed the man had been depressed for months after finding out his wife was having an affair. He drugged his daughter with anti-depressant medication he had been taking and killed her with chloroform two days before her fourth birthday. He said he dealt with the deceit and wanted his wife to deal with the consequences for the rest of her life.
Cheating Wife 4
A couple got married after a year of meeting and falling in love while attending university. They later moved to Italy and back to Britain. A year after that, the wife filed for divorce. Minutes after that, he used a can of gasoline to set their home on fire.
But before the divorce papers, there were already marital troubles. Bad enough for the man to threaten his wife of burning their Italian flat so they can be together forever. Among his accusations were his suspicion of his wife having an affair.
Cheating Wife 5
One woman admitted to cheating on her husband every time she got angry with him. She had one-night stands with different men which left her unfulfilled. She wanted to get back on her husband through her infidelity but ended up destroying herself.
Some cheating wives blame their husbands for driving them to enter into affairs. But for marriage to really work, it takes commitment and effort from both husband and wife. Cheating on your spouse is a selfish act.